Lutz Hühnken - Fractional CTO, Interim Engineering Manager, Architect

Q: Where is Lutz based?

Lutz is based in Hamburg, Germany and can operate in on-site , hybrid , and remote work models.

Q: What languages does Lutz speak?

Lutz speaks the following languages: German (Native), English (Advanced) .

Q: How many years of experience does Lutz have?

Lutz has at least 29 years of experience. During this time, Lutz has worked in at least 10 different roles and for 9 different companies . The average length of individual experience is 2 years and 3 months . Note that Lutz may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

Q: What is Lutz's latest experience?

Lutz's most recent position is Fractional CTO, Interim Engineering Manager, Architect at independent .

Q: What companies has Lutz worked for in recent years?

In recent years, Lutz has worked for independent , Upvest , and Hamburg Süd - A Maersk Company .

Q: Which industries is Lutz most experienced in?

Lutz is most experienced in industries like Banking and Finance , Transportation , and Retail . Lutz also has some experience in Aerospace and Defense , Tourism , and Information Technology .

Q: Which business areas is Lutz most experienced in?

Lutz is most experienced in business areas like Information Technology , Product Development , and Project Management . Lutz also has some experience in Human Resources , Operations , and Strategy .

Q: Which industries has Lutz worked in recently?

Lutz has recently worked in industries like Information Technology , Banking and Finance , and Transportation .

Q: Which business areas has Lutz worked in recently?

Lutz has recently worked in business areas like Information Technology , Strategy , and Product Development .

Recommended expert

Hamburg, Germany

Check rate

Experience

Jul 2025 - Present

1 year 1 month

Fractional CTO, Interim Engineering Manager, Architect

independent

Strategic technology leadership and architecture consulting.

Fractional CTO & interim management for startups, scale-ups, and enterprises – technical strategy, team building, architecture oversight, and delivery.
Architecture consulting on cloud-native, distributed, and event-driven systems: reviews, design partnerships, and ongoing advisory.
Event-driven architecture training – a hands-on 2-day course for engineering teams
Conference speaker on distributed systems

Jul 2024 - Jun 2025

1 year

Head of Engineering Excellence

Upvest

Setting up Upvest Engineering for the next level of growth, by

Driving technical excellence and innovation across the organization, setting standards for high impact and quality solutions.
Guiding the organization through major change initiatives, ensuring successful adoption and cultural alignment.
Driving adoption of AI coding assistants across engineering, ensuring access for all engineers and building an internal AI Champions community to explore good practices and share them across the organization.
Contributing hands-on to architecture decisions through ADRs, architecture reviews, and prototyping.

Tech stack: Go, Kubernetes, Google Cloud, PostgreSQL, Kafka, Docker

May 2022 - Jun 2024

2 years 2 months

Head of Engineering

Upvest

Tribe Lead ('lead of leads') of the Investment & Custody Solutions tribe. Building an effective software engineering organization at Upvest. Ensuring the architecture is fit to serve a future global fintech platform.

Built and led the Investment & Custody Solutions Tribe, consisting of four teams.
My teams built essential components of the investment API, such as corporate actions processing and a portfolio management engine.
Stepped in as interim team lead for two of my teams until I hired a suitable Engineering Manager for the role.
Actively involved in architecture decisions, design reviews, and solving performance and scalability problems.

Tech stack: Go, Kubernetes, Google Cloud, PostgreSQL, Kafka, Docker

Apr 2019 - Feb 2022

2 years 11 months

Head of Enterprise and Technology Architecture

Hamburg Süd - A Maersk Company

Managing the Enterprise and Solutions Architecture team. Advancing strategic development of enterprise architecture. Coordinated evolution of software architecture and agile product organization.

Built and led a team of architects as 'enabling team' to support the product teams.
Drove the migration to cloud-native microservices and event-driven architecture.
Hands-on contributions through ADRs, architecture reviews, and prototyping, with a focus on performance and scalability.

Tech stack: Java, Kafka, Azure, CosmosDB, Oracle, Docker

Jun 2018 - Mar 2019

10 months

Hamburg, Germany

Hybrid

Consultant

INNOQ

Established the Hamburg office for INNOQ.
Architecture consulting and training for clients from diverse domains, including financial services, construction, and stockbreeding.
Hands-on work in architecture reviews, ADRs, and prototyping.
Topics: Microservices, Event Storming, Software Architecture, Domain-Driven Design

Jan 2017 - May 2018

1 year 5 months

Consultant

independent

Software architecture and proof-of-concept development for highly scalable, high availability IoT system.
Coaching, mentoring for software development in Scala (e.g. for Kreditech, Zalando, ista).
Training courses and workshops on functional programming, distributed systems.
Tech stack: Scala, Akka, Play, Kafka, Cassandra, AWS; multi-region architectures, performance

Apr 2014 - Dec 2016

2 years 9 months

Solutions Architect

Lightbend (formerly Typesafe)

Enabled clients to successfully design and implement software based on the Lightbend platform, through workshops, mentoring, reviews etc.
Software architecture and proof-of-concept development for Akka based systems in the financial industry (ING, Lloyds).
Review of Scala projects and development of templates and best practices (ING, Otto, SAP Hybris). * Teaching Scala and Akka training courses.
Tech stack: Scala, Akka, Play, Kafka, Cassandra, AWS; multi-region architectures, performance

Feb 2008 - Mar 2014

6 years 2 months

Entrepreneur

altocon

Heading the development of various e-commerce projects, both web and iOS, e.g. for Lufthansa Technik, ebook.de, go7seas-kreuzfahrten.de.
Scrum master and team lead for a successful in-cabin entertainment system for cruise ships.
Interim CTO for start-up allyve.com.
Recruitment and management of altocon software development team.
Tech stack: Java, PHP, MySQL; performance optimization, database sharding

Apr 2005 - Jan 2008

2 years 10 months

Consultant

independent

Development of bespoke online shop for maritime equipment (Toplicht).
Consulting and software development for customers in logistics (Kuehne + Nagel) and finance (PPI, EOS Health).
Tech stack: Java, relational databases, web technologies

Aug 2003 - Mar 2005

1 year 8 months

IT Manager

ITA Logistik

Lead the development of letmeship.com.
Management of external contractors and suppliers.
Recruitment and management of development team.
Consulting and software development for clients Geopost, DPD.
Tech stack: Java, relational databases, web technologies

Jan 2002 - Jul 2003

1 year 7 months

Consultant

independent

Consulting and software development for clients in logistics (ITA) and finance (Bundesbank).
Tech stack: Java, relational databases, web technologies

Feb 2000 - Dec 2001

1 year 11 months

Hamburg, Germany

On-site

IT Project Manager

SinnerSchrader

Software architect and development team lead for projects in retail (conleys.de, impressionen.de), logistics (letmeship.com), and finance (Deutsche Bank).
Tech stack: Java, relational databases, web technologies

Apr 1997 - Jan 2000

2 years 10 months

Hamburg, Germany

On-site

Software Developer

Xtranet

Software development and architecture for projects in finance (Euler Hermes, LV1871).
Tech stack: Java, relational databases, web technologies

Industry Experience

See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time.

Experienced in Banking and Finance, Transportation, Retail, Information Technology, Aerospace and Defense, and Tourism.

Banking and Finance

Transportation

Retail

Information Technology

Aerospace and Defense

Tourism

Business Area Experience

See which departments and functions this freelancer has contributed to most.

Experienced in Information Technology, Product Development, Project Management, Human Resources, Operations, and Strategy.

Information Technology

Product Development

Project Management

Human Resources

Operations

Strategy

Summary

Experienced Engineering Manager with strong Software Architecture background. Able to advance both a productive software engineering organization and the architecture to support it.

Skills

Fractional Cto
Interim Management (Engineering)
Software Architecture
Event-Driven Architecture (Eda)
Architecture Review
Distributed Systems / Microservices
Cloud-Native Architecture
Tech Due Diligence
Technology Strategy
Engineering Leadership

Languages

German

Native

English

Advanced

Education

Oct 1993 - Jul 1994

University of Edinburgh

- · Computer Science · Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Exchange year as a visiting student for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence

Apr 1993 - Jun 1997

University of Hamburg

- · Computer Science · Hamburg, Germany

Oct 1992 - Mar 1993

University of Dresden

- · Computer Science · Dresden, Germany

...and 1 more

Statistics

Experience

Total positions 13

Experience in Banking and Finance 15.5 y

Avg length 2 y 2 m

Longest experience 6 y 1 m

Global Experience

Countries worked in 1 (Germany)

Primary country Germany

Expertise

Recent roles Fractional CTO, Interim Engineering Manager, Architect, Head of Engineering Excellence, Head of Engineering

Main industries Banking and Finance, Transportation, Retail

Main business areas Information Technology, Product Development, Project Management

Qualifications

Highest degree Bachelor

Profile

Created

July 2026

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Frequently asked questions

Have questions? Find more information here.

Where is Lutz based?

Lutz is based in Hamburg, Germany and can operate in on-site, hybrid, and remote work models.

What languages does Lutz speak?

Lutz speaks the following languages: German (Native), English (Advanced).

How many years of experience does Lutz have?

Lutz has at least 29 years of experience. During this time, Lutz has worked in at least 10 different roles and for 9 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 2 years and 3 months. Note that Lutz may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

What roles would Lutz be best suited for?

Based on recent experience, Lutz would be well-suited for roles such as: Fractional CTO, Interim Engineering Manager, Architect, Head of Engineering Excellence, Head of Engineering.

What is Lutz's latest experience?

Lutz's most recent position is Fractional CTO, Interim Engineering Manager, Architect at independent.

What companies has Lutz worked for in recent years?

In recent years, Lutz has worked for independent, Upvest, and Hamburg Süd - A Maersk Company.

Which industries is Lutz most experienced in?

Lutz is most experienced in industries like Banking and Finance, Transportation, and Retail. Lutz also has some experience in Aerospace and Defense, Tourism, and Information Technology.

Which business areas is Lutz most experienced in?

Lutz is most experienced in business areas like Information Technology, Product Development, and Project Management. Lutz also has some experience in Human Resources, Operations, and Strategy.

Which industries has Lutz worked in recently?

Lutz has recently worked in industries like Information Technology, Banking and Finance, and Transportation.

Which business areas has Lutz worked in recently?

Lutz has recently worked in business areas like Information Technology, Strategy, and Product Development.

What is Lutz's education?

Lutz holds a Bachelor in Computer Science from University of Edinburgh, a Bachelor in Computer Science from University of Hamburg, a Bachelor in Computer Science from University of Dresden and a Bachelor in Computer Science from University of Bremen.

What is the availability of Lutz?

Lutz is immediately available part-time for suitable projects.

What is the rate of Lutz?

Lutz's rate depends on the specific project requirements. Please use the Meet button on the profile to schedule a meeting and discuss the details.