Owner at iTechGear
Greater Chicago Area
- Current
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- Owner at iTechGear
- Project Leader - Quality Assurance & Integration Testing at Rush University Medical Center
- Sr. Content Editor at WUGNET
- Past
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- Sr. Team Member at Gear Diary
- Sr. Manager, Quality Assurance & Testing at Crawford and Company
- Director, Quality Assurance & Compliance at LocalLaunch an R. H. Donnelley Company
- Manager, Quality Assurance at LocalLaunch!
- QA Team Lead at Qualifacts Systems, Inc
- Owner at ParaBasic Development
- Lead Data Quality Analyst at American Healthways
- Director of QA at medibuy
- Executive Manager, Quality & Regulatory Affairs at Leica Microsystems, Inc.
- Education
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- Stephen F. Austin State University
- West Bloomfield High School
- Recommended
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16 people have recommended Chris - Connections
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247
connections
- Industry
- Internet
- Websites
Chris Spera’s Summary
QA Manager/Director with over 18 years of QA Management experience, including 7+ years at the Director level or above. Detailed, team oriented, dynamic problem solver with concentrations and emphasis in process engineering and human interactions.
Chris Spera’s Specialties:
Quality Mangagement System Development and Implementation,
Software Development Live Cycle/ Methodology Development & Implementation,
Release Management System Development and Implementation,
Change Management System Development and Implementation,
On/Off Shore Development and Testing Management,
Business Process Engineering/ Reengieering
Chris Spera’s Experience
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Owner
iTechGear
(Internet industry)
August 2009 — Present (4 months)
Internet property. Technology product reviews and news.
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Project Leader - Quality Assurance & Integration Testing
Rush University Medical Center
(Non-Profit; 5001-10,000 employees; Hospital & Health Care industry)
May 2008 — Present (1 year 7 months)
Establish & create a software quality assurance program at RUMC to incompass all hospital (clinical and non-clinical) and university software development efforts. Supervise and lead a matrixed team of 20+ testers in a Windows and Unix development and testing environment. Establish standardized Release Management process for non-standard clinical (Epic) development efforts. Responsible for complete testing life cycle, including tool selection, recommendations and budgeting. Responsible for company-wide Change Management process.
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Sr. Content Editor
WUGNET
(Information Technology and Services industry)
1997 — Present (12 years )
Create and edit online content for WUGNET Publications and WUGNET.com and their online partners. Create an manage an online tips database for daily/weekly publication on Microsoft Windows branded, based products and Windows compatible hardware. Provide weekly columnar content to AOL/CompuServe on multiple technology subjects and arenas over a period of 10 years.
Manage online software vendor relationships with WUGNET and Microsoft partners. Manage SPoW (Shareware Pick of the Week) Review program, provide feedback to shareware publishers, assist with testing and consult on development practice/methodology improvements. -
Sr. Team Member
Gear Diary
(Internet industry)
September 2006 — September 2009 (3 years 1 month)
Write product reviews (hardware and software), write articles (opinion and editorial pieces) on IT and Technology covering any operating system, any computer system, and any mobile device platform. Provide support to site visitors, and in general (as with every other team member) help keep the team on track with scheduled articles and reviews.
Work directly with domestic and international hardware and software vendors to obtain review products and samples. Manage vendor contacts and relationships. -
Sr. Manager, Quality Assurance & Testing
Crawford and Company
(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; Insurance industry)
January 2008 — May 2008 (5 months)
Establish QA and Release Management Process and SDLC Methodology. Staff and evaluate Software QA Department and define the partner points and interfaces within the overall organization, manage defects, and provide guideance to the RiskTech project implementation on all Software Quality Assurance issues. Manage a team of 17 resources in both the Lake Zurich, IL and Atlanta, GA locations.
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Director, Quality Assurance & Compliance
LocalLaunch an R. H. Donnelley Company
(Internet industry)
March 2007 — February 2008 (1 year )
Expansion of duties from LocalLaunch (a wholly owned subsidiary of R. H. Donnelley) when both combined to form R. H. Donnelley Interactive. Responsibilities are identical, but include Quality Systems located in Denver office (formerly Dex Media), but expanded to include Sarbanes-Oxley and Release Management for DexKnows as well as LocalLaunch product offerings.
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Manager, Quality Assurance
LocalLaunch!
(Public Company; 51-200 employees; Internet industry)
March 2007 — July 2007 (5 months)
Reporting to the Chief Strategy Officer, establish QA and Release Management Process and SDLC Methodology. Staff a new Software QA Department (including Test, Process, Configuration Management and Release Management) and define the partner points and interfaces within the overall organization. Manage defects, and be the overall QA Guy.
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QA Team Lead
Qualifacts Systems, Inc
(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
April 2005 — August 2006 (1 year 5 months)
Lead and manage a QA Team of up to 7 in Nashville, TN office. Insure proper testing is completed before software release. Develop QA Process. Develop Configuration Management Process.
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Owner
ParaBasic Development
(Information Technology and Services industry)
October 2002 — December 2005 (3 years 3 months)
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Lead Data Quality Analyst
American Healthways
(Public Company; Information Technology and Services industry)
January 2002 — March 2005 (3 years 3 months)
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Director of QA
medibuy
(Information Technology and Services industry)
2000 — 2001 (1 year )
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Executive Manager, Quality & Regulatory Affairs
Leica Microsystems, Inc.
(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Medical Devices industry)
February 1997 — May 2000 (3 years 4 months)
Managed department responsible for implementation & operational effectiveness of ISO 9002/ FDA/cGMP quality systems in 3 domestic & 1 international locations. Managed a team of 13 + quality system auditors. Responsible for a $225,000+ budget.
• Designed a paperless documentation system compliant with FDA & ISO 9000 requirements
• Reengineered Customer Complaint & Product Performance data systems. New process included internal & external data sources, a centralized database, & Lotus Notes/ Web Enabled front end
• Responsible for operational effectiveness of Customer Complaints & Comments related to Product Performance. Effective process operation required engaging the organization to manage product returns, Product & Project feedback and the implementation of Continuous Improvement.
• Reengineered in-warranty repairs & return authorization processes to reduce shipping and warranty costs. Maintained inventory levels dropped by 20%, creating a realized annual savings of $250,000.
Chris Spera’s Education
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Stephen F. Austin State University
BA , English & Technical Writing , 1988 — 1990
- Activities and Societies:
- Theta Chi Fraternity, Art and Jewelery
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West Bloomfield High School
Additional Information
Chris Spera’s Websites:
Chris Spera’s Interests:
Mobile Devices, Computers, Photography, Jewlery Design and Music (Country and Solid Gold)
Chris Spera’s Groups:
ASQ
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LinkedSEO -
Windows Mobile Enthusiasts -
LocalLaunch Alumni -
Chicago Quality Assurance Association (CQAA) -
Software Inspection -
Arkon Resources, Inc. -
waze
Chris Spera’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
