Chris is #OpenToWork

Hi, I’m Chris Armstrong, and I am currently available for work, new opportunities, connections, conversations, and collaborations.

I am seeking a role that involves strategic thinking and implementation, leadership in quality and testing, quality coaching, mentoring, narrative building (including personas, communities of practice enablement & ensembling), and agility.

With extensive experience in software testing and quality engineering, I am dedicated to building and empowering teams and organisations that embody the 5 C’s:

• Curiosity
• Critical thinking
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Context

You may know me as a community builder, contributor, podcaster, conference volunteer, speaker, and organiser who is driven by a passion for creating quality products, teams, and culture.

As a leader, my style is encapsulated in the mnemonic LEAD:

• Learning: Continually being a student of the field
• Enriching: Constantly improving and optimising
• Availability: Being accessible to avoid blocking my teams
• Doing: Practicing what I preach to maintain integrity with my teams, peers, and myself.

I’m seeking a partnership with an employer based on trust, respect, opportunity, and transparency. I prioritise a company’s vision, values, and commitment to continuous improvement over its benefits or tech stack.

I am a pragmatic agilist experienced in various methodologies inspired by agile principles, including Kanban, Scrum, and SAFe. I hold certifications in FMEA, ISTQB, and Agile Testing Fellowship, where I also trained as a coach for the Holistic Testing: Strategies for Agile Teams course.

My career spans sectors such as gaming, academia, utilities, test & measurement, aviation, fintech, and Salesforce. In addition, I have held various roles as a tester, automator, scrum master, manager, strategist, pre-sales and customer experience manager, consultant, and director.

Some quotes that resonate with me are:

• “Quality is everyone’s responsibility”
• “It depends on the context”
• “Everything has the opportunity for improvement”
• “Knowledge is power when we share that knowledge”
• “Quality can be well-defined as the removal of unnecessary friction”
• “Feedback is a superpower – use it wisely and use it positively”
• “Assumptions are the termites of relationships”
• “Software development is a social activity”
• And Ted Lasso’s “doing the right thing is never the wrong thing”

I am comfortable collaborating with CXOs, directors, heads of departments, facilitators, customers, clients, vendors, and the crucial individual contributors – quality is everyone’s responsibility.

Based in the UK, I am open to remote and hybrid roles, primarily seeking permanent positions but open to contract discussions.

You can reach me via LinkedIn DM, email me at [email protected], or arrange a call directly through my Calendly https://calendly.com/armstrong-cj.

Please like, comment, share, and inform anyone with a quality gap I can help fill.

I am thrilled about the next chapter of my career, brimming with opportunities to learn new and exciting things. I am eager to help others in the industry and make a meaningful difference. My passion for bringing simplicity to complexity drives me, and I look forward to contributing to innovative projects that have a significant impact. This role represents a pivotal moment for advancing my professional career, and I am enthusiastic about the chance to grow alongside a dynamic team dedicated to excellence and progress.