Nikola Pavićević, Developer in Belgrade, Serbia
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Nikola Pavićević

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Quality Assurance Developer

Location
Belgrade, Serbia
Toptal Member Since
December 26, 2020

Nikola has a master's degree in electrical engineering and computer science, significant expertise in system development and testing in the automotive industry, and general-purpose software development and testing skills. Strong technical skills in software and electronics development, along with cross-platform testing and QA process know-how combined with great soft skills, make him a good fit for technically complex projects—as an individual contributor or in a leadership or managerial role.

Portfolio

Rivian
Android, Agile Software Development, Agile Software Testing, Appium...
Toyota Material Handling, Inc - Main
Black Box Testing, Black Box Development, Test Cases, Test Case Creation...
Symphony
Agile Software Development, Agile Software Testing, API Testing, UI Testing...

Experience

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Python, System Testing, QA Testing, Automated Testing, QA Automation, Test Management

The most amazing...

...thing I've done was leading a 15-man strong engineering R&D team for four years with no internal or external turnover.

Work Experience

Senior Software Integration Engineer

2023 - PRESENT
Rivian
  • Built and managed infotainment system bench setups for the team to ensure an efficient and effective working environment.
  • Developed test plans for new feature integration to verify core functionality.
  • Worked with software development teams and performed bench testing in the lab during feature development and validation phases.
  • Collaborated closely with cross-functional groups to troubleshoot, isolate problems, and support root cause analysis.
  • Supported vehicle-level feature verification and validation related to the infotainment system.
  • Collaborated with the QA automation team locally to ensure a tight feedback loop.
Technologies: Android, Agile Software Development, Agile Software Testing, Appium, Automated Testing, Automated UI Testing, Python, QNX, ISO 26262, UDP, CAN Bus, Firmware over the Air (FOTA), Test Scripting, Non-functional Testing, Quality Control (QC), SDET, API Testing, Internet of Things (IoT), Linux, System Integration Testing (SIT), Python 3, Continuous Integration (CI), QA Automation

Senior Test Lead

2022 - PRESENT
Toyota Material Handling, Inc - Main
  • Ensured 100% test coverage and test bi-directional traceability.
  • Introduced standards in test management and elaboration.
  • Designed full system-level test suits for functionalities: vehicle interface adapter, connectivity manager, network manager, cloud communication, time services, power management, and thermal management.
Technologies: Black Box Testing, Black Box Development, Test Cases, Test Case Creation, Test Case Development, Firmware, Quality Assurance (QA), Test Design, Windows, Test Automation, Quality Management, Leading Quality Assurance (LQA), Test Planning, QA Leadership, Smoke Testing, E2E Testing, Test Automation Frameworks, Firmware over the Air (FOTA), Architecture, Test Scripting, Non-functional Testing, Quality Auditing, Quality Control (QC), SDET, Internet of Things (IoT), Linux, System Integration Testing (SIT), System Architecture Design, System Architecture, System Design, Python 3, Continuous Integration (CI), QA Automation

Senior QA Automation Engineer

2021 - 2022
Symphony
  • Acted as a consultant and set up a test strategy from scratch for Prolaera LMS.
  • Set up a test strategy and toolset from scratch for the Mach149 SaaS platform using Playwright (TypeScript), Socket.IO, k6, Jira, GitHub Actions, Xray, Postman, and AWS.
  • Introduced a different approach to automated testing location-wise using Playwright, mainly focusing on its built-in feature of multiple independent browser contexts.
  • Set up continuous regression testing suite inside GitHub Actions CI.
  • Created automated exporting of test results into test report files and exported them to Jira for an easier status overview for non-technical stakeholders.
Technologies: Agile Software Development, Agile Software Testing, API Testing, UI Testing, Automated Testing, JavaScript, Postman, Jira, Cypress, Robot, Python, Selenium, Quality Assurance (QA), Testing, APIs, REST APIs, Website Testing, HTML, Software QA, Test Cases, Test Case Creation, Test Case Development, Test Design, Jira REST API, Test Automation, CI/CD Pipelines, Performance Testing, Quality Management, Leading Quality Assurance (LQA), Test Planning, QA Leadership, Smoke Testing, Node.js, E2E Testing, Load Testing, Test Automation Frameworks, Test Scripting, Non-functional Testing, Playwright, Quality Auditing, Quality Control (QC), SDET, JavaScript Testing, Continuous Integration (CI), QA Automation

Test Manager

2019 - 2022
Continental Automotive
  • Managed discipline projects according to the company's established development and project management methods within the planned budget. Led and coordinated the team to meet the project and customer's timing and quality targets.
  • Managed and optimized the use of resources on the project.
  • Developed and maintained the Discipline Project Plan with cost, quality, risk analysis, and timing throughout the life of the project.
  • Spearheaded the planning of tasks and assigning them to project team members.
  • Coordinated and controlled project activities and assured they were in line with the project plan.
  • Oversaw regular progress control of development activities and reported the status to the technical project leader and project manager to escalate issues.
Technologies: Agile, Automated Testing, Manual Testing, ISTQB, LabVIEW, CANoe, System Testing, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Functional Testing, Regression Testing, Stress Testing, QA Leadership, Test Management, QA Test Plan Management, Electronics, Test Planning, Robot Framework, Embedded Hardware, Quality Assurance (QA), Project Management, Firmware, Testing, APIs, Software QA, Black Box Development, Test Cases, Test Case Creation, Test Case Development, ISO 26262, Test Design, Jira REST API, Windows, National Instruments, Test Automation, CI/CD Pipelines, Performance Testing, Quality Management, Leading Quality Assurance (LQA), Smoke Testing, E2E Testing, Load Testing, Test Automation Frameworks, AUTOSAR, Firmware over the Air (FOTA), Test Scripting, Non-functional Testing, Quality Auditing, Quality Control (QC), SDET, System Integration Testing (SIT), System Architecture Design, System Architecture, System Design, Jenkins, Python 3, Continuous Integration (CI), QA Automation

Team Lead of System Engineering

2017 - 2022
Continental Automotive
  • Provided and approved work package estimations and quotes for the team.
  • Planned and monitored the execution of all activities and tasks to meet due dates according to the client's requirements.
  • Assigned tasks to team members according to their internal function, competencies, and capabilities with the involvement of the direct superior when necessary to increase team performance.
  • Organized technical training for automotive protocols, system testing, test techniques, and test automation on a worldwide level inside Continental VNI CE and VNI CCN business units.
  • Contributed to the talent acquisition process. Conducted over a hundred interviews with several dozen successful hires while initiating and overseeing the creation of a written test for pre-interview screening.
  • Developed a highly productive and stable work culture with low fluctuation (zero both internal or external after 600+ man-months) thanks to high employee motivation and satisfaction.
  • Initiated, led, and contributed to multiple in-house projects, including ESCL test HW, multiple CANoe simulation improvements, and PASE antenna acquisition and conditioning board. Those solutions are being used in other Continental R&D centers.
  • Oversaw multiple manual and automated HiL systems and other electronics laboratory equipment.
Technologies: Communication Protocols, QA Testing, QA Automation, QA Leadership, Black Box Testing, QA Test Plan Management, Manual Software Testing, Manual Testing, Manual QA, UDS Diagnosis, Test Planning, Automated Testing, Test Management, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), ISTQB, Automotive SPICE, Embedded Systems, Electronics, C, Functional Safety, Automotive Testing, Automotive, Digital Signal Processing, System Testing, CANoe, Jira, Rational DOORS, TestStand, LabVIEW, Robot Framework, Embedded Hardware, Quality Assurance (QA), Project Management, Firmware, Testing, APIs, Software QA, Black Box Development, Test Cases, Test Case Creation, Test Case Development, ISO 26262, Test Design, Jira REST API, Windows, National Instruments, Test Automation, CI/CD Pipelines, Scrum, Performance Testing, Quality Management, Leading Quality Assurance (LQA), Smoke Testing, E2E Testing, Load Testing, Test Automation Frameworks, AUTOSAR, Firmware over the Air (FOTA), Architecture, Test Scripting, Non-functional Testing, Quality Auditing, Quality Control (QC), SDET, System Integration Testing (SIT), System Architecture Design, System Architecture, System Design, Jenkins, Python 3, Continuous Integration (CI)

Lead QA Engineer

2021 - 2021
Foodvine
  • Led the creation of a test strategy and test plan with the project team.
  • Created test scenarios for manual tests to ensure optimal coverage.
  • Automated regression testing using Python and Appium to ensure a shared test base for Android and iOS.
  • Set up cloud-based testing (Experitest) to ensure test execution on multiple platforms, versions, and devices.
Technologies: Appium, Python, Android, Cross-platform Testing, Mobile App Testing, Quality Assurance (QA), Testing, APIs, REST APIs, Mobile Device QA Automation, Software QA, Test Cases, Test Case Creation, Test Case Development, Test Design, TestRail, Windows, Test Automation, Automated Testing, Quality Management, Leading Quality Assurance (LQA), QA Leadership, Smoke Testing, E2E Testing, Test Scripting, Non-functional Testing, Quality Auditing, Quality Control (QC), SDET, API Testing, Python 3, Continuous Integration (CI), QA Automation

Infotainment Test Engineer

2016 - 2017
Audi AG
  • Developed a test tools and scripts for integrating multiple relevant inputs (TA logs, communication bus logs, debugging output logs and display screenshots) for more precise defect detection using Python and MySQL.
  • Served as the sole test engineer in system stability analyses covering entire portfolio of AUDI Infotainment systems using more than 30 active automatic test benches weekly.
  • Contributed to Audi's business decision to outsource four positions to the P3 System office in Belgrade thanks to high performance and commitment shown.
  • Automated test reporting for navigation and cross-application tests while providing much more information and statistics to test managers and function owners.
Technologies: Communication Protocols, QA Testing, QA Automation, SQL, Black Box Testing, Software Testing, QA Test Plan Management, Manual Software Testing, Manual Testing, Manual QA, Automated UI Testing, ISTQB, C++, Jira, UI Testing, Automotive Testing, Automotive, System Testing, MySQL, Python, Rational DOORS, CANoe, Embedded Hardware, Quality Assurance (QA), Firmware, Testing, APIs, Software QA, Black Box Development, Test Cases, Test Case Creation, Test Case Development, Test Design, Windows, Test Automation, Performance Testing, Automated Testing, Smoke Testing, E2E Testing, Load Testing, Test Automation Frameworks, Test Scripting, Non-functional Testing, Quality Control (QC), SDET, QNX, System Integration Testing (SIT), Python 3

Automation Quality Assurance Programmer

2016 - 2016
P3 Systems
  • Designed and developed a USB over IP server for remote or automated control of mobile phones used in infotainment system testing with Raspberry PI and Python.
  • Developed level shifters for use in infotainment system testing.
  • Built additional nodes and panels in CANoe simulation to significantly reduce the effort in testing the power management functionality of infotainment systems.
Technologies: Communication Protocols, QA Testing, QA Automation, Manual Software Testing, Manual Testing, Manual QA, Digital Electronics, Embedded Systems, CANoe, Python, Embedded Hardware, Quality Assurance (QA), Firmware, Testing, APIs, Software QA, Black Box Development, Test Cases, Test Case Creation, Test Case Development, Test Design, Windows, Automated Testing, Smoke Testing, E2E Testing, Test Automation Frameworks, Test Scripting, Non-functional Testing, Quality Control (QC), SDET, System Integration Testing (SIT), Python 3

Mach49's 2401

https://www.mach49.com/what-we-do/growth-at-scale-2401
2401 is an easy-to-use SaaS platform that provides end-to-end guidance for building market-disrupting ventures. It makes the best of Mach49—our people, methods, and tools—available 24/7. Once your team understands our methodology, they can apply it repeatedly.

Testing was split with manual UA testing executed during active spring test automation that was included in the regressions suit run by the CI/CD GitHub Actions pipeline. It was both API, which was aiming at 100% coverage, and E2E UI tests, which covered most user-relevant paths. Also, there were k6 load tests to test the AWS infrastructure set up.

XXM for Rivian R1T, R1S, and EDV

https://rivian.com/
An experience management module for the entire lineup of Rivian vehicles based on QNX for functional safety relevant functionalities and Android for navigation and entertainment.

The testing was automated and included in the GitLab CI/CT pipeline, covering both low-level operating system-specific functionalities as well as end-to-end functionalities, including UI testing.

TMH DHUnx Telematics

https://manuals.plus/toyota/dhunx-controller-manual#axzz8TpYq8HJT
DHUnx is a telematic node intended to be mounted into a Toyota forklift. It is always stationary and installed in a forklift with several wired connections (e.g., power, can buses, and more). It also communicates wirelessly with LTE, WiFi, and Bluetooth with cloud-based services and mobile applications.
The test lead was in charge of creating the test strategy and test plans for each release and ensuring bi-directional traceability and requirement coverage. I also actively worked with the system design team on requirement refinement.

RSA EZ1 Zone Control Unit

https://www.continental-automotive.com/en-gl/Passenger-Cars/Architecture-and-Networking/Zone-Control-Units
New ECU platform for server-zone vehicle architectures from Continental.

Continental is successfully driving forward the implementation of server-zone architectures in vehicles. The pioneering development and delivery of High-Performance Computers (HPC) are now followed by Zone Control Units (ZCU), another key component for the software-defined vehicle. Zone Control Units reduce vehicle network complexity and costs by supporting centralized architectures and the increasing separation of soft- and hardware. Additionally, they are a prerequisite for continuous updates, improvements, and function deployment services to support the transformation toward the software-defined vehicle.

Foodvine Mobile

Foodvine is a new way to discover and order authentic food from home chefs, local farmers, and food truck operators. The app has a React Native front end with Django and PostgreSQL back end. As a QA engineer, I completely controlled the end-to-end testing.

PSA IDB Body Control System

A new generation IO body network control unit.

Initially, my main contribution was automated testing. After a few months, I was put in charge of test management, which includes quotes and estimations (communication with the project manager, quality assurance, SW/EE/ME development, and production testing), creating and monitoring test strategies and test plans, monitoring and escalating resource topics, test task delegations, and mentoring of test engineers.

Nissan CMF-B HFM Access Control System

A classic PASE system for the electronic steering column lock, immobilizer antenna, several LF antennas, and the main ECU.

Initially, my main contribution was system testing, including a review of customer specifications, creating system test cases, maintenance of the test environment, test automation, test execution, and results logging.
After two years, I was put in charge of test management, including quotes and estimations (communication with the project manager and other disciplines such as quality control, software development, and communication directly with the customer), creating and monitoring test strategies and test plans, monitoring and escalating resource topics, test task delegations, and mentoring of test engineers.

MIB2 & MIB2+ Infotainment Systems

MIB2 and MIB2+ infotainment systems are massive projects involving thousands of engineers from dozens of companies.

In the early phase of my involvement, I was part of the navigation and cross-application testing. My main contribution was developing test tools to integrate multiple relevant inputs as a means of defect detection, which was still (nearly two years after I left) in use the last time I checked.

USB Over IP Mobile Phone Server

A USB over IP server for the remote/automated control of mobile phones used in infotainment system testing with Raspberry PI and Python. The purpose was to allow test engineers to have only paired mobile phones with them while testing the infotainment system and other phones used for calls or messages connected to this server and available to all engineers.

Languages

Python, Python 3, JavaScript, C, C++, SQL, HTML, TypeScript

Tools

CANoe, Jira, Postman, Automotive SPICE, TestRail, JavaScript Testing, LabVIEW, MATLAB, TestStand, GitHub, Jenkins, GitLab, GitLab CI/CD

Paradigms

Automated Testing, Manual Testing, Test Automation, Agile, Functional Testing, Continuous Integration (CI), Scrum, E2E Testing, Non-functional Testing, Testing, Load Testing, Software Testing, Agile Software Development, Stress Testing, Azure DevOps

Other

Embedded Systems, System Testing, Automotive Testing, Test Management, Black Box Testing, Manual QA, QA Automation, API Testing, UDS Diagnosis, Quality Assurance (QA), Firmware, Regression Testing, Black Box Development, Test Cases, Test Case Creation, Test Case Development, Test Design, Quality Management, Leading Quality Assurance (LQA), Smoke Testing, Test Automation Frameworks, CAN Bus, Test Scripting, Quality Auditing, Quality Control (QC), SDET, Electronics, Rational DOORS, Test Planning, QA Leadership, QA Testing, Automated UI Testing, Embedded Hardware, Agile Software Testing, Software QA, QA Test Plan Management, APIs, Website Testing, Manual Software Testing, Cross-platform Testing, Mobile Device QA Automation, National Instruments, Functional Safety, ISO 26262, CI/CD Pipelines, System Design, System Architecture, System Architecture Design, Performance Testing, AUTOSAR, Firmware over the Air (FOTA), QNX, Architecture, Internet of Things (IoT), UI Testing, ISTQB, Digital Signal Processing, Digital Electronics, Communication Protocols, Mobile App Testing, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Agile Product Delivery, UDP, System Integration Testing (SIT), WebSockets

Frameworks

Appium, Selenium, Robot Framework, Flask, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Cypress, Robot

Libraries/APIs

REST APIs, Playwright, Jira REST API, Node.js

Platforms

Android, Linux, Windows, Docker, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Industry Expertise

Automotive, Project Management

Storage

SQLite, MySQL

2008 - 2015

Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

University of Belgrade - Belgrade, Serbia

SEPTEMBER 2021 - SEPTEMBER 2022

Certified SAFe® 5 Practitioner

Scaled Agile, Inc.

DECEMBER 2020 - DECEMBER 2021

Certified SAFe® 5 Agilist

Scaled Agile, Inc.

OCTOBER 2019 - PRESENT

Coaching

Ascendis

NOVEMBER 2018 - PRESENT

Leadership Developement Program

Ascendis

APRIL 2017 - PRESENT

ISTQB Certified Tester

ISTQB - International Software Testing Qualifications Board

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