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Experience

13 years across AI, cybersecurity, and high-growth startups.

experience — zsh
mariana@proofpoint ~ % whoami
Senior Manager, Platform Engineering · 13 yrs
mariana@proofpoint ~ % cat about.txt
AI · cybersecurity · high-growth startups.
Where I've worked13 years · 9 companies
Proofpoint

Senior Manager, Platform Engineering

Proofpoint

2024 — Now
  • Leading Platform DevEx — the team providing the engineering foundation for all BU engineers — while serving as initiative champion for a P1 international expansion across 10+ teams.
  • Proposed and drove the org design that unified Platform DevEx and QEE (Quality Enablement Engineering, a framing I originated) under one management line.
  • Promoted to Senior Manager Oct 2025.
  • Introduced DORA dashboards, AI-assisted management workflows, and async-first culture.
  • Launched the first EM leadership forum across the BU; mentored 20+ peers.
Tessian

Tech Lead & Manager, Quality Assurance Engineering

Tessian

2022 — 2024
  • Built the first QA function at a Series C cybersecurity startup from scratch.
  • Grew the team from 1 to 4, introduced creative KPIs, API testing frameworks, and incident-informed prioritisation.
  • Drove BC/DR efforts, redefined engineering syncs, launched the QA hiring pipeline, and coached through sensitive performance processes.
  • Lateral move from Tech Lead.
Rasa

Head of Quality Assurance

Rasa

2020 — 2022
  • Promoted from Senior QA Engineer to Head of Quality Assurance.
  • Built and scaled QA for a leading open-source conversational AI platform, co-designing a custom SDLC that cut lead time by ~20% and stabilised the release cadence.
  • Rolled out company-wide testing, CI/CD, and performance/visual tooling.
  • Defined the QA roadmap and drove cross-functional alignment with CSEs through adoption of observability tools.
  • Created and launched a DEI-focused hiring pipeline and manager onboarding programme.
  • Grew the QA team from 1 to 5 engineers.
Snap Inc. (Zenly)

Release & QA Manager

Snap Inc. (Zenly)

2019 — 2020
  • Built and scaled Zenly's QA function following the Snapchat acquisition.
  • Grew my team from 1 to 5, introducing mobile automation, device farming, and the first end-to-end test framework.
  • Reduced manual testing by ~30%, stabilised a fortnightly release train, and improved bug resolution rate by 15% through revamped triaging.
  • Rolled out new test tooling, redefined QA strategy with C-suite support, and coordinated directly with Apple and Google for smooth App Store releases.
Dataiku

Product Delivery Manager

Dataiku

2017 — 2019
  • Promoted from QA Automation Engineer to Product Delivery Manager at a fast-growing enterprise AI platform.
  • Built and owned the frontend automation framework (Python, Selenium, Allure) and expanded to backend testing and CI tooling.
  • Led an SDLC overhaul — creating a feature development handbook and onboarding process for ~80 engineers.
  • Ran customer UX research interviews (including with Pfizer), surfacing 20+ prioritised roadmap items and enabling the first design system rollout.
  • Founded the company's first DEI initiative.
Dashlane

QA Engineer

Dashlane

2016 — 2016

QA Engineer at a leading password manager and digital identity platform. Contributed to test coverage and release quality during a period of rapid product growth.

Wincor Nixdorf

Software Tester

Wincor Nixdorf

2015 — 2016

Software Tester on banking and retail automation systems. Executed functional and regression test suites across point-of-sale and ATM software in a regulated environment.

IntraWorlds

Technical Support Specialist

IntraWorlds

2014 — 2015

Technical Support Specialist for a talent relationship management SaaS platform. Handled customer-facing technical issues, contributed to documentation, and supported onboarding workflows.

Openmatics

Software Tester & ICT Administrator

Openmatics

2012 — 2013

Combined software testing and ICT administration at a telematics platform company. Validated fleet management software, maintained internal infrastructure, and supported development teams with deployment and systems tooling.