Active Directory Experts in Cologne

Responsible for the IT operations of a medium-sized mechanical engineering company (approximately 2 000 employees, annual revenue of approximately 400 million euros worldwide). Direct responsibility for 13 employees. At the same time, project manager for an internal carve-out (commercial and technical separation of the two business units worldwide).

Industry: Mechanical and plant engineering

Function: Director IT

• Responsibility for outsourced IT operations; provider management and service management.
• Responsibility for the complete separation of the two business units (applications, SAP R//3, Active Directory, IT infrastructure, ...); project planning and management; selection and management of service providers.
• TiSAX certification for one business unit; budget planning 2025 ff.
• Establishment and structuring of application operations, including the definition of operating models, SLAs/KPIs, and provider management in the SAP environment.
• Preparation of the operating organization for application operations of S/4 Hana (private cloud).

With project PRIZMA, DB will modernize its infrastructure on the one hand, and develop a fail-safe IT landscape on the other hand, which can be restored quickly and securely in case of a disaster.

• Capture current architectures of existing systems as well as methodical consulting and development of target architectures
• Deepen and maintain the building plan / target IT landscape
• Implement technical architecture concepts & architecture descriptions
• Implement migration concepts for updating and further developing the platform and information systems
• Assess submitted improvement suggestions as part of the project
• Capability management: identify capability gaps, develop target visions, and support transformation planning within the enterprise architecture.
• Create a compatibility matrix of the components in use and compare dependencies of specific versions
• Create an IT concept for extending the platform with the following topics: hardware and software requirements, security, licensing, high availability, load balancing, backup & recovery, update strategy, monitoring integration, etc.
• Coordinate with business architects as well as technical architects from the cross-functional architecture area of the PRISMA program for the topics (backup, Active Directory, monitoring, Citrix, and business applications ...)
• Status meetings and alignment of project planning with the Release Train Engineer / Project Manager
• Advise the Release Train Engineer / Project Manager in identifying project risks
• Advise the System Architect Engineers in steering the implementation of the concept
• Implement the IT concept
• Document the infrastructure

Label: MS Project, LINUX, Windows, ORACLE, Java, REST, SharePoint, Microsoft Exchange, UML, Enterprise Architect, BPMN, AZURE, AWS, V-MODEL, Micro Service, VisualStudio, SAP S/4HANA, SCRUM(SAFE), ESB (TIBCO), Python, Innovator, LeanIX (TOGAF), Ansible, Ansible Tower, Ansible Automation, ROBOT, SpringBoot

Project: Rollout of new infrastructure components

• Defined and managed the implementation of an overarching management framework with clear roles and responsibilities as part of the hardware rollout.
• Designed and established governance and control mechanisms, including the development of compliance requirements and processes for continuous quality assurance, supported by ServiceNow.
• Coordinated technical activities between service, infrastructure and specialist teams to ensure the smooth delivery and commissioning of printers and notebooks.
• Created a detailed rollout plan with specific timelines, milestones and responsibilities.
• Managed the procurement, delivery, testing, configuration, installation and on-site commissioning of hardware, including integration into existing IT systems.
• Established and continuously optimized processes for the procurement, distribution and use of printers and notebooks.
• Developed and implemented standardized provisioning processes, analyzed existing procedures, harmonized the processes involved and ensured compliance with security, compliance and quality requirements.
• Introduced agile methods to continuously improve the hardware provisioning process.
• Promoted collaboration through clear responsibilities and communication structures between internal IT teams and external service providers.
• Documented and monitored rollout progress, created rollout reports and tracked hardware implementation in real time.
• Supported change management and organized and delivered training sessions for end users.
• Created user manuals and online resources.
• Analyzed the existing hardware landscape, created hardware inventories, assessed current equipment and checked hardware compatibility.
• Developed detailed infrastructure mappings.
• Planned, organized and conducted structured interviews with key stakeholders and created requirements documents.

• PRISMA project
• Ansible automation
• Windows third-level support for Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows 2013, Windows 2016, Windows 2019

• Developed a SCIM-compliant Python interface to connect external systems
• Expanded and enhanced UCS modules in Python
• Extended and newly developed Helm charts for container orchestration in Kubernetes
• Maintained and further developed CI/CD pipelines in GitLab
• Implemented automated tests with Pytest and Playwright

'Nubus' is based on a microservice architecture, relies on open source technologies, and runs in Docker containers.

UCS is an IAM complete solution based on Debian, used as an alternative to Microsoft's Active Directory. The work was characterized by the close integration of infrastructure and application logic.

• Regulated environment within a German banking group (approx. 8,500 employees, hybrid cloud strategy).

• Responsible for operating, provisioning, and continuously securing business-critical platforms – including a GenAI chat application, a big data/AI platform, and data science workspaces based on Azure Virtual Desktops and VMs. Ownership of Azure DevOps projects for ShaiHulud and React2Shell, as well as BSI alerts – Security Operations improvements across the SDLC.

• Deployment responsibility for the GenAI chat application, big data/AI platform (BDAI), and data science workspaces (AVD/VM-based) in the respective landing zones.

• Deployment & release management: end-to-end responsibility for deploying portal and service applications across multiple Azure landing zones, including technical approvals, compliance with development team deployment guidelines, and ensuring ITIL-based change and release processes via ServiceNow.

• Azure landing zones & network architecture: design, provisioning, and operation of Azure landing zones for 3-tier web applications with enhanced network segmentation, VNet peering, hub-and-spoke architectures, private endpoints, and firewall integration across separate subscriptions and tenants.

• Azure DevOps governance & operations: ownership of the Azure DevOps organization, including projects, repositories, and CI/CD pipelines; implementation of governance requirements such as branch policies, approval gates, permission models, and audit-ready operating structures.

• Infrastructure as Code (Terraform): design, implementation, and operation of a modular Terraform architecture for standardized cloud infrastructure deployment, including state management, provider versioning, reusability, and policy-as-code approaches.

• CI/CD pipeline engineering: design, operation, and optimization of complex YAML-based CI/CD pipelines with multi-stage deployments, template standardization, self-hosted agents, integrated secret management, and automated quality and security checks.

• Git migration & platform consolidation: planning and execution of repository and pipeline migration from Azure DevOps to GitLab CI/CD, including automated scripts, full Git history transfer, pipeline porting, and platform consolidation.

• Container & platform operations (AKS): operation and security assessment of containerized workloads on Azure Kubernetes Service, centralization of on-premises container registries for ACR.

• OpenShift (OCP) security reviews: security assessment of code baselines, build pipelines, and deployment processes for on-premises OpenShift clusters with critical applications, and derivation of specific hardening recommendations.

• Shift-left security & DevSecOps transformation: introduction of a company-wide shift-left approach for early security integration in development and deployment processes, enabling developers to perform self-led security checks and sustainably reduce vulnerabilities before production (IDE integrations, pre-commit hooks, local scanners).

• Software supply chain security: analysis and mitigation of supply chain risks in NPM- and Yarn-based applications through dependency audits, CI/CD pipeline hardening, token rotation, and restriction of risky build and lifecycle mechanisms.

• Frontend & framework security (React / Next.js): security assessment and coordination of critical vulnerability remediation across platform applications and web frameworks, including coordination and complementary technical mitigations with all teams following BSI alerts.

• Software composition analysis (SCA): introduction and operation of automated vulnerability scans for container images, pipelines/artifacts, and third-party dependencies, including SBOM exports within CI/CD pipelines.

• SAST/DAST integration: design and piloting of static and dynamic application security tests in close collaboration with security architecture and development teams, for continuous improvement of code and runtime security, and establishing operational acceptance tests.

• Artifact & registry consolidation: analysis and consolidation of all package and container repositories for service applications and AKS workloads, aiming for a centralized, secured registry strategy with centralized vulnerability scanning and governance.

• Dependency-Track & SBOM strategy: advising the compliance board on introducing a central SBOM and vulnerability management platform to increase enterprise-wide dependency transparency and accelerate CVE response capability.

• CI/CD pipeline hardening: security analysis and cleanup of the existing pipeline landscape by removing unused pipelines, improving secrets hygiene, implementing least-privilege principles, and isolating build agent environments.

• Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) optimization: analysis and tuning of existing Azure WAF rules (OWASP Top 10 Core Rule Set, DSR/SDC, custom rules) to defend against known vulnerabilities and exploit patterns, including reducing false positives and improving threat detection.

• Documentation & stakeholder communication: creating and maintaining technical documentation, runbooks, and architecture overviews in Jira and Confluence, as well as active knowledge transfer between operations, development, security, and compliance stakeholders.

• Full product responsibility from a business perspective: requirement analysis, UX design, product strategy, and go-to-market implemented without an internal dev team using fully AI-supported development (Claude Code / Anthropic)
• Technical differentiation: KRITIS-compliant air-gapped deployment (Windows/NSIS), GDT interface for PVS integration, DATEV-LODAS export for payroll
• Managed pilot operation with initial external client (Dormagen medical practice): structured requirement gathering, test support, error analysis, and release management
• Developed rollout and sales strategy for market entry in the segment of private practices and small medical centers
• Human-in-the-Loop development principle: business decision → AI implementation → manual review → approval → release – each sprint documented in Jira (TIME project), every change traceable via co-authored commits
• Product outcome: Tauri/Rust desktop app with GDT watcher, multi-tier model (Starter/Professional/Enterprise), cloud mirror on Hetzner/Traefik, complete ISMS framework based on ISO 27001 and BSI basic protection as product foundation
• Direct method validation for the test manager role: hands-on experience with quality assurance of AI-generated products from a user perspective, review gate discipline, release approval under GDPR and the EU AI Act

• Further development of the application landscape for Planing, Forecasting and Pricing

• Communication with internal stakeholders to standardize the application landscape across all companies

• Optimization of vendor management

• API and batch processing

• Creation of operating concepts

• Ensuring compliance with requirements and operating processes

• Supporting solution design as well as the implementation and further development of new applications and services

• ServiceNow

• Virtual Machines (Windows / Linux)

• M365 Products

• Azure DevOps

• Web Applications

• Developed a shop website
• Integrated an AI language model
• Developed tools for AI-powered webhooks
• Technical tools: REACT.js; Elevenlabs; MCP; n8n; HTTP

• Network elements, network, operational and operator-related systems
• Supporting around 20 different products (managed agile)
• Requirements analysis and management (functional and non-functional)
• Test concept and planning (scope, test phases, effort, schedule, resources, organization, etc.)
• Aligning approach with clients and service providers
• Managing and assisting in creation of test cases for system, integration and end-to-end tests
• Guiding and supporting test execution
• Defect management and planning bug fixes with external providers
• Preparing and facilitating workshops
• Regular reporting and creating automated test reports
• Further development of agile testing methodology and configuration of supporting tools
• Conceptual support in developing a quality seal for rating product and service quality of internal and external providers
• Requirements engineering based on ISO/IEC 25010, Scrum, SaFE
• BMC Remedy, Atlassian Confluence, Atlassian Jira (including plugins Xray, Structure), Microsoft Office (incl. Visio), Obsidian, doxis document management system, Gitlab, Obsidian

• providing technical assistance to the sales force during sales calls
• providing pre-sales technical support
• providing technical support during first time installation of new AudioCodes products together with partner/ end-customer
• pre-sales technical interface to the channel/partner and managing of technical knowledge transfer to the partners
• giving customer presentations and hands-on product demonstrations (e.g., AudioCodes Live Cloud, Express, OVOC)
• providing product training to customers, prospects and sales during the pre-sales phase mainly AudioCodes endpoints like e.g., IP Phones, MTRs
• leading RFPs/RFI technical responses
• providing technical assistance to marketing for regional events (e.g., seminars, roadshows)
• mainly focused on AudioCodes IP Phones (Generic SIP/Native Teams), AudioCodes MTRs, AudioCodes Collaboration Bars, Jabra endpoints, Sennheiser/Epos endpoints
• management of endpoints like above via AudioCodes One Voice Operation Center and maintaining of this environment for customer workshops/ calls
• management of AudioCodes IP Phones via Microsoft Endpoint Manager/ Intune and maintaining of this environment for customer workshops/ calls
• building of automated cloud workflows (Power Automate) for internal AudioCodes DACH processes
• trusted advisor for Microsoft products which interfere with AudioCodes products for DACH region

• Acted as the primary bridge between Legal, Engineering, and Business units to ensure zero compliance violations while maintaining product velocity.

• Led the development of a GDPR-compliant AI aggregator platform, managing a roadmap that balances legal constraints with aggressive feature delivery.

• Scaled the engineering team from 4 to 9 developers, establishing hiring protocols and technical onboarding processes to support rapid product iteration.

• Boosted the development process by introducing structured sprint cycles and backlog refinement, resulting in a 20% reduction in feature delivery time.

• Architected and prototyped agentic AI workflows with n8n and RAG pipelines on Langchain.