ANT+ Experts in Cologne

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

• Served as point of contact for Disney Studios GSA
• Identified growth hacks to increase cinema ticket bookings, maximize reach, optimize frequency, and achieve 100% VTR
• Managed stakeholder relationships and collaborated with an interdisciplinary team
• Performed hands-on optimizations based on operational implementations on Meta (Facebook, Instagram), TikTok, Pinterest, Reddit, and Snapchat

• Managed end-to-end data workflows for LCA and carbon footprint assessments, including data collection, validation, structuring, and LCI modeling for metal alloys, ensuring high data quality and traceability.
• Developed a basic Excel automation tool to simplify carbon footprint calculations of metal alloys, replacing repetitive modelling in the software that previously took several hours.
• Communicated environmental impact results through quantitative analysis, visualizations and reports to support the broader project strategy.
• Performed environmental hotspot and scenario analysis to identify key impact drivers and assess opportunities for emissions reduction.

• Support in steering complex projects in agile, classic, and hybrid environments
• Setting up and implementing governance structures for clear roles, responsibilities, and decision paths
• Designing and moderating workshops (e.g. kick-offs, retrospectives, lessons learned)
• Developing and introducing standardized processes and templates for project, portfolio, and change management
• Supporting companies in their development toward agile or autonomous structures
• Analyzing and improving cooperation between line organization, project management, and operations
• Introducing role profiles and competency models for new ways of working
• Developing guiding principles for decision-making (e.g. based on company strategy, profitability, customer focus)
• Moderating conflict discussions and decision-making meetings between stakeholders
• Developing and applying guidelines for communication in change processes
• Supporting managers with feedback and reflection formats
• Visual preparation of complex topics for management decisions
• Developing use cases for AI-supported automation in project work
• Supporting the evaluation and introduction of digital tools to improve processes
• Operational responsibility for Citrix & AD/Access: ensuring stable IT operations incl. incident management, handovers, and quality assurance in day-to-day business
• Eliminating operational gaps through clear separation of responsibilities between BTC, BITS, and service providers
• Carrying out a structured gap analysis of existing service descriptions, make-or-buy decisions, and role clarification with KPI anchoring
• Escalation management with fast intervention in case of conflicting goals and unclear responsibilities

Covering a vacancy in HR Operations, hiring HR Manager, active search, Personio automation and workflows, ATS implementation, setup of interfaces to HRMS

Analysis and optimization of end-to-end processes in different business areas such as sales, procurement, order processing and logistics. Redesign of the ERP. Identification of optimization potential, especially in areas with media breaks and manual tasks, as well as creation of a prioritized transformation roadmap with clear business cases and implementation recommendations. Management of automation initiatives. RPA at the production site in China. Evaluation and introduction of relevant AI use cases as well as building basic AI competence in the organization. Training internal employees of the project team and supporting them in the transformation process to develop a continuous improvement culture. Close collaboration with IT and external implementation partners, reporting to senior management.

Main tasks and achievements:

• Analysis of business processes and design of automated processes
• Training and support for employees in China and Germany
• 20% cost savings in logistics
• Regular status reports to management

• 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.

• Planning, optimization, and analysis of SEA and Meta campaigns
• Planning and execution of automations and mailings
• Optimization of landing pages (funnel, structure, copy, image)
• Creation of creatives, media plans, and reports
• Planning and support for the move to server-side tracking

• Advising primarily mid-sized companies on growth and transformation topics
• Developing business models, positioning, and strategies, including implementation plans and KPI roadmaps

• Corporate management, business consulting and interim management in leadership, general-, business-, change management & transformation, e2e supply chain, procurement
• Building the go-to-market and sales organization of a software company to launch a new HR ERP solution
• Supporting investor search for a legal tech start-up offering AI-based software for law firms

• Building company-wide change methods
• Designing an overarching transformation project
• Transformation coaching for managers and employees (ongoing)

• Primary point of contact for works councils
• Design & negotiation of company agreements & policies
• HR labor support during transformation, restructuring & organizational changes
• Coaching and training managers on works council relations and co-determination rights

PLANT-MY-TREE®-per-order

The application enables Shopify merchants to automatically place tree-planting orders for every incoming order. By integrating ecological contributions directly into the purchase process, the manual effort for tracking and billing reforestation initiatives is eliminated. The system increases transparency for end customers through real-time visualizations of the ecological impact directly in the storefront. The architecture is based on a modular monolith with Spring Boot in the backend and an integrated React app inside the Shopify admin area. The solution uses webhooks to capture order data in an event-driven way and integrates the weclapp ERP system for automated monthly invoicing. An app proxy mechanism provides dynamic statistics such as CO2 compensation and planted trees without any performance loss for the merchant shop.

Tasks:

• Design of the modular software architecture based on Spring Modulith to ensure high maintainability
• Development of the event-driven business logic for evaluating Shopify orders via webhooks
• Implementation of automated invoicing by connecting the weclapp REST API
• Building the frontend using React Router and Shopify App Bridge for native integration
• Design of the database model and implementation of the persistence layer with JPA/Hibernate and Prisma
• Integration of internationalization processes for global use in the frontend and email communication
• Automation of deployment processes using Docker and GitLab CI/CD

Project skills: Java 25, Spring Boot, Spring Security, Spring Modulith, Hibernate, JPA, REST API, PostgreSQL, Maven, Liquibase, React, TypeScript, React Router, Vite, Node.js, Prisma, Zod, Docker, Docker Compose, GitLab CI/CD, Shopify CLI, Shopify App Bridge, Polaris, weclapp, i18next, Lombok, Vitest

• Planning and managing cross-media marketing and content projects for a provider in the high-end designer and luxury furniture space
• Developing and improving the customer journey for a design- and luxury-oriented target group
• Managing external service providers as well as internal campaign and content processes
• Responsible for customer communication and service processes in the premium segment