Oita Coleman
R&D Vice President of the Quality User-driven Enterprise Software Testing (QUEST) Division at SAS
Oita Coleman is a change agent who doesn’t shy away from opportunities to create innovative solutions to complex challenges. Throughout her career, she is distinguished by an innate talent to “connect the dots” that wind through an organization — bringing people and processes together into a coherent whole.
Oita currently serves as R&D Vice President of the Quality User-driven Enterprise Software Testing (QUEST) Division at SAS. She has overall oversight of the quality of SAS products and solutions with the implementation of processes, standards, and policies for the software development life cycle, directed towards improving overall customer satisfaction of the product portfolio. She is responsible for the leadership, coordination, and direction of over 800 software testing professionals in the United States, Scotland, China and India. With over thirty years of experience in the software industry, she has led teams responsible for enterprise software testing, software development, user interface design, systems administration, and computer game testing. Her various roles have given her expansive experience with a broad range of technologies — mainframe to microcomputers to personal computers to handheld devices, powerful programming languages and methodologies, as well as new business models of cloud services and software-as-a-service.
Active in the community, her life motto is “to whom much is given, much more is required” which fuels her desire to give back. Her passion is helping to inspire the next generation of STEM knowledge professionals – focusing on advancing educational and career development opportunities for underrepresented minorities and women in STEM disciplines. She recently received the inaugural Great Place to Work® For All™ Leadership Award recognizing women leaders from companies on the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For. Additionally, her efforts were recognized by US Black Engineer & IT Magazine as “Women Who Make a Difference in Technology”. She serves on the Board of Trustees at North Carolina Central University. She represents SAS on the Wake STEM Early College High School Business Advisory Board, and is on the UNC-Greensboro College of Arts and Science Advancement Council.