RAYMUNDO PENALOZA-LOPEZ
Clovelly,Australia
Summary
Degree-qualified IT professional with 20+ years of experience delivering business analysis solutions across financial services, banking, education, and insurance. Skilled in requirements elicitation, stakeholder engagement, process mapping, and solution design, with expertise in both Agile and Waterfall methodologies. Adept at facilitating workshops, documenting business needs, and ensuring requirements are translated into actionable outcomes that support organizational goals. Building on a strong background in test analysis, test management, and UAT delivery, I bring a quality-first mindset to business analysis activities. Experienced in guiding stakeholders through discovery, planning, and acceptance phases, I ensure clarity, transparency, and value at every stage of delivery. Recognized for adaptability, clear communication, and cross-cultural collaboration, I consistently help teams deliver effective business and digital transformation initiatives.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Business Analyst (Permanent)
Suncorp Group, Sydney
Sydney, Australia
04.2022 - Current
- Project Scope: Consumer Tribe working in the Home Claims Experience area. Digital Insurer program in the digital squad for the Motor and Home products for AAI brand in New Zealand. Wide variety of projects in the digital area across CTP and Business Insurance products.
- Responsibilities
- Proactively elicit and refine requirements during discovery workshops, identifying opportunities for improvement
- Act as liaison between delivery teams and stakeholders, ensuring alignment on requirements and expectations
- Raise, track, and support mitigation of risks and issues to safeguard delivery outcomes
- Coach Associate and Business Analysts
- Lead planning and coordination of analysis activities across initiatives
- Actively participate in Agile ceremonies (tribe/squad stand-ups, Scrum of Scrums, retrospectives, showcases, planning sessions)
- Key Achievements
- Completed Suncorp’s Aspiring Leader Course (May 2025)
- Served as Chapter BA Coach (since 2023), mentoring two BAs to enhance their skills as part of the BA Coaching Framework
- Delivered all BA activities for Release 1 of the Digital Insurer Program (AAI NZ) (June 2025) with positive stakeholder and squad feedback
- Nominated for the Digital Insurer Diamond Award (June 2024) for exceptional contribution during a critical sprint
- Acted as Scrum Master in the Digital Tribe (2023) and Digital Insurer Program (2024), facilitating key Agile ceremonies (stand-ups, retros, QPE planning)
- Completed the Scrum Master Learning Pathway with the Digital Tribe Agile Coach (March 2023)
- Recognised as Team Hero Nominee for the ED Chapter (October 2023)
Release and Test Lead (Fixed Term Contract)
Suncorp Group, Sydney
Sydney, Australia
11.2021 - 03.2022
- Project Scope: Project implementing a new delivery model within Suncorp using an Agile methodology and principles
- Responsibilities
- Develop and implement the Tribe Test Strategy using Agile testing principles
- Advise Tribes and squads on Agile testing best practices
- Coach and mentor test practitioners as required on Agile testing ways of working
- Advise the Tribe on Test Governance best practices
- Facilitate process improvement for testing within the Tribe
- Key Achievements
- Provided Testing expertise to the Home Tribe (pilot for implementing Momentum principles and ways of working).
- Coached and mentored test practitioners in the tribe around Agile testing best practices.
- Setup an Agile testing framework model in the Home Tribe.
Test Lead (Fixed Term Contract)
Suncorp Group, Sydney
Sydney, Australia
09.2020 - 10.2021
- Project Scope: Regulatory project to migrate Suncorp from a Duty of Disclosure to a Misrepresentation approach for all direct retail products in the Australian market.
- Responsibilities
- Develop and implement the project Test Strategy
- Define of the types of testing needed for the project, test approach, test schedule and QA processes
- Develop and maintain Test Management reporting
- Coordinate with Technology teams the Test Environment and Test Data setup for the various test phases
- Document the UAT Test Plan
- Maintain traceability between business requirements and test scenarios
- Work with Business SME’s to identify test scope, test conditions, and test data requirements
- Follow up on defects
- Facilitate Testing ceremonies
- Participate and run defect triage meetings as required
- Monitor and report of testing status and progress
- Key Achievements
- Developed and implemented the project Test Strategy, which setup the testing team for success in all testing related activities.
- Coached the Test Analysts assigned to the project around testing best practices and Agile principles to help further develop their skillset.
Senior Test Lead (Contract)
TAL Insurance, Sydney
Sydney, Australia
04.2020 - 09.2020
- Project Scope: To bring the Suncorp Life suite of products into the TAL Claims Management System.
- Responsibilities
- Create test cases and test criteria based on user stories (requirements)
- Hands-on functional end-to-end testing of user stories on TAL Claims Management System (web-based application)
- Log defects into JIRA
- Review User Stories and provide feedback to Business Analysts where appropriate
- Participate in the daily stand-up meetings to raise any testing-related risks or issues affecting the project
- Key Achievements
- Assisted the Test Manager and Test Director with providing test estimates on test preparation and test execution for the different releases, which led to an improvement in the accuracy of the testing timelines throughout the project/releases.
Senior Test Analyst/Business Analyst (Permanent)
Ingogo, Sydney
Sydney, Australia
11.2018 - 03.2020
- Project Scope: Functionality developed for mobile applications and web applications to support the taxi service platform for bookings and payments.
- Responsibilities
- Oversee the requirements in JIRA and also specify test plans and test conditions for the new features and changes.
- Manage the functional requirements in JIRA, creating the user stories, and seeking approval from business and technical stakeholders
- Conduct a walkthrough of functional requirements with developers
- Participate in the sprint planning sessions and provide test estimates based on the information provided in the user stories
- Create test plans and test criteria based on user stories
- Hands-on functional end-to-end testing of user stories for mobile applications and web applications on different platforms and devices
- Key Achievements
- Performed a dual role as Business Analyst and Senior Test Analyst, which significantly reduced the test execution timeframes by at least 30%.
- Participated in the sprint planning sessions to provide test estimates, leading to more accurate test execution timeframes/timelines.
Test Lead (Contract)
Suncorp Group, Sydney
Sydney, Australia
07.2018 - 10.2018
- Project Scope: reporting regulatory changes required for QLD CTP insurance.
- Responsibilities
- Manage UAT phase of testing with the Business SMEs
- Creation of test plans and test scenario matrices
- Conduct walkthrough of test scenarios with business SMEs
- Assist the Business users and SME’s as required to review the testing scope for UAT
- Prepare the Test Summary and Test Completion reports
- Review test deliverables (test conditions and test cases) to ensure their compliance with testing standards and internal guidelines
- Key Achievements
- Facilitated the sprint planning sessions in my squad.
- Provided guidance and coached the business users around UAT estimates which assisted the Scrum Master in putting together Flight Plans with at least 85% confidence.
Test Lead (Contract)
TAL Insurance, Sydney
Sydney, Australia
08.2017 - 06.2018
Test Lead (Contract)
Westpac Group, Sydney
Sydney, Australia
05.2015 - 07.2017
Test Manager (Contract)
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, Sydney
Sydney, Australia
10.2011 - 11.2014
Education
Postgraduate Diploma - Information Technology
Macquarie University
SydneyBachelor of Science - Computer Science
Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM)
Mexico CitySkills
- Discipline
- Negotiation
- Adaptability
- Problem-solving
- Critical Thinking
- Strategic Planning
- Project Management
- Teamwork & Leadership
- Effective Communication
- JIRA, Confluence, MIRO, Visio
- MS Suite
- Zephyr
Certification
- 2022 | Live Online Agile Testing - SoftEd
- 2006 | ISTQB Foundation Certification - ANZTB
LANGUAGES
English (C2)
Spanish (Native)
Italian (A1-A2)
EXPERTISE
- Business Analysis
- Test Management
- Global Project Delivery
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Team Leadership & Mentoring
- Stakeholder Communication
- Process Improvement
- Quality Assurance
- Collaboration
KEY CAPABILITIES
- Test preparation and execution based on requirements/user stories
- Design and prepare test objectives and test cases to meet the project scope
- Liaise with business users
- Provide input to the Test Summary/Completion report
- Recruit test resources based on project demands
- Manage internal resources for Business Analysts
- Oversee management process and coordinate meetings
- Oversee quality of test deliverables
- Set the test strategy aligned to each project’s priority, shape, and risk
- Mentor Test Analysts and promote cross-skilling
- Work closely with the Quality Assurance team
- Administration of Rational Portfolio
- Conduct performance reviews of staff
- Forecast project testing estimates, needs, and capabilities to execute
- Develop the testing principles, guidelines, and standards
- Manage of and report on testing resources and capabilities
- Tracking and progress management of testing schedules, priorities, defects, risks, and issues
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
- Bikram Yoga Teacher Training course (Thailand) 11/14 to 05/15
- Bikram Yoga certified teacher giving classes across different studios in Sydney. Since 2022
- Surf lifesaver volunteer
Timeline
Senior Business Analyst (Permanent)
Suncorp Group, Sydney
04.2022 - Current
Release and Test Lead (Fixed Term Contract)
Suncorp Group, Sydney
11.2021 - 03.2022
Test Lead (Fixed Term Contract)
Suncorp Group, Sydney
09.2020 - 10.2021
Senior Test Lead (Contract)
TAL Insurance, Sydney
04.2020 - 09.2020
Senior Test Analyst/Business Analyst (Permanent)
Ingogo, Sydney
11.2018 - 03.2020
Test Lead (Contract)
Suncorp Group, Sydney
07.2018 - 10.2018
Test Lead (Contract)
TAL Insurance, Sydney
08.2017 - 06.2018
Test Lead (Contract)
Westpac Group, Sydney
05.2015 - 07.2017
Test Manager (Contract)
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, Sydney
10.2011 - 11.2014
Postgraduate Diploma - Information Technology
Macquarie University
Bachelor of Science - Computer Science
Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM)