Attila Szőke
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Budapest, Hungary
Toptal member since August 22, 2022
Attila helps teams every day as a scrum master and scrum of scrums master with more than two years of experience. He has a background in test engineering with six years of experience in the automotive industry. As a scrum master leading multiple teams, he has developed strong communication and servant leadership skills while improving team efficiency at a company with more than €6 billion in revenue. Attila gained experience as an entrepreneur in eCommerce by building and running a webshop.
Project Highlights
Education Highlights
Certification Highlights
Expertise
- Agile
- Jira
- Jira Administration
- PSM-2
- PTC Integrity Lifecycle Manager
- QA Testing
- Scrum
- Scrum Master
Work Experience
Scrum Master
Knorr-Bremse
- Promoted to Scrum master in my team due to proven capabilities in leading, management, and communication while working as a test engineer on an advanced driver assistant system.
- Led two teams as a servant leader, including team members in different countries, and enabled self-management, autonomy, and motivation among team members.
- Assisted the product owners with creating and communicating vision, roadmap, and goals. Facilitated higher satisfaction and a lower fluctuation rate.
- Created a new structure (Scrum@Scale) for better predictability and visibility—as a scrum-of-scrums master—which increased engagement during meta-level meetings and initiated and supported CPOs and POs.
- Led a team of scrum masters to solve organizational issues and initiated the filling out of the Scrum@Scale health assessment. Actively contributed to multiple scrum master communities of practice events.
- Experimented with Scrum, Kanban, Scrumban, estimation techniques, and retrospective activities.
- Enhanced the restructuring of Jira for a business unit of around 100 people by utilizing my experience as a Jira administrator in my team. Received Jira administrator training and became a Jira administrator for the entire business unit.
- Solved issues with Jira plugins—eazyBI and ScriptRunner REST API with Python—including addressing questions about board settings, new fields, issue migration, automated story point mapping, and generating reports for stakeholders and the team.
- Introduced new colleagues to Agile and Scrum. Onboarded new PO and emphasized the importance of creating product vision, goals, and clear releases. Educated the entire department on Agile and Scrum. Interviewed scrum masters during job interviews.
Senior Test Engineer
Knorr-Bremse
- Joined the team as a junior test engineer, then became senior test engineer responsible for testing activities of an advanced driver assistant system.
- Handled the testing and planning of the software and system from MIL to VIL in an agile environment. This included coordination of test activities and managing 1–3 people during vehicle tests.
- Created automated test cases in MATLAB and CANoe based on requirements and experience. This supported the team in creating releases more often, efficiently, and quickly.
- Demonstrated the system for team members, colleagues from other teams from different countries, and different customers multiple times. Gave honest feedback to stakeholders and supported application teams in different countries.
- Contributed to building the test strategy for this product which included which tools to use, how and what to test on different levels, and how to document test cases and test results using PTC Integrity.
- Mentored new colleagues, introduced them to the processes, taught about testing and tools, and focused on giving a great initial experience in the team.
eCommerce Owner
Self-employed
- Planned and built a WordPress-based webshop from scratch in my free time. Researched product ideas and created a brand name and logo. Created the product pages and eCommerce capability (paying, automated billing) using Divi and WooCommerce.
- Developed marketing strategy with different levels of products, including lead magnet, product for first use, and refill product for steady revenue.
- Created different marketing channels to bring customers into the funnel, including email automation with Mailchimp, a chatbot with ManyChat, and Instagram and Facebook organic and paid ads based on customer persona.
- Handled white-label manufacturing and negotiated with manufacturers, delivery, order fulfillment and dropshipping companies, and influencers.
Design Engineer Trainee
IKARUS Egyedi
- Created CAD models for the Modulo M168D bus chassis using Creo.
- Designed the bus brake system based on a prototype.
- Used Creo to draw the chassis and brake system parts.
Project History
Building and Running a WordPress Online Store
Created an online store from scratch and managed the business.
Built a WordPress online store for my teeth-whitening kit brand and negotiated and ordered white label manufacturing. The project included setting up and running ads and social media sites, creating a chatbot, handling the delivery, and communicating with partners.
Advanced Driver Assistant System at Knorr-Bremse
Led an agile team developing an advanced driver assistant system.
• Led a team of developers and testers to develop an advanced driver assistant system for a customer in rough times as scrum master at a multinational automotive company.
• Earlier team members left the company, and new members haven’t joined yet.
• Helped the team set and focus on our goals during these challenging times of the project, helped keep a can-do attitude, and protected the team from disturbance from outside.
• Taught the team members about the importance of Scrum values and empiricism, resulting in higher transparency and shorter feedback loops.
• Finally, we delivered the software in time with only a minor change.
Reorganization and Jira Restructuring
Actively participated in a business unit reorganization and Jira restructuring that included items, estimations, plans, and user story maps.
Before the reorganization, the teams focused on components, and these hand-offs caused delays in product development, besides dependency and communication issues. To solve that, scrum masters changed the business unit’s organization, moving toward feature teams and restructured Jira to provide better predictions and transparency.
Education
Master's Degree in Leadership and Management
Eötvös Lóránd University - Budapest, Hungary
Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) - Barcelona, Spain
Bachelor's Degree in Vehicle Engineering
Budapest University of Technology and Economics - Budapest, Hungary
Certifications
Registered Scrum@Scale Practitioner
Scrum Inc.
Registered Scrum Master
Scrum Inc.
Registered Product Owner
Scrum Inc.
Six Sigma White Belt Certification
The Council for Six Sigma Certification
Professional Scrum Master Level II (PSM II)
Scrum.org
CTFL Automotive Software Tester
International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB)
Professional Scrum Master Level I (PSM I)
Scrum.org
Certified Tester Foundation Level
International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB)
Skills
Tools
Jira, Confluence, Atlassian Suite, CAD, MATLAB, Creo, Atlassian, WP eCommerce, EazyBI, Mailchimp
Paradigms
Scrum, Servant Leadership, Testing, Agile, Kanban, Six Sigma, B2C
Platforms
WordPress, WooCommerce
Industry Expertise
Digital Marketing, Lean Six Sigma
Other
Scrum Master, QA Testing, Software QA, English, Communication, Jira Administration, Agile Practices, PSM-1, PSM-2, Facilitation, Microsoft Teams, Python 3, PTC Integrity Lifecycle Manager, Mathematics, Physics, Analytical Thinking, Automotive Controller Area Network (CAN), Psychology, Leadership, Economics, Research, Business, Business Law, Systems, Facebook Ads, Chatbots, Entrepreneurship, Time Management, Strategy, Test Automation, Verification, Validation, Test Planning, DSpace, Vectors, Empathy, Active Listening, Coaching, Teaching, ISO 26262, Organization, Marketing, eCommerce, Test Cases, Automotive SPICE, Defect Management, Digital Marketing Strategy, Web Marketing, Product Owner, Product Management, Scrumban, Teams, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Transparency, Product Vision, Jira REST API, Agile Software Testing, Coordination, Product Demonstrations, Testing Strategy, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Mentorship, Jira Query Language (JQL), Divi, ManyChat, Customer Journey, Scrum@Scale
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