Azure Landing Zone Experts in Germany

• Led client projects end-to-end — from scoping and cloud strategy to sprint planning and stakeholder alignment
• Planned and implemented secure Azure Landing Zones using Infrastructure as Code
• Developed governance frameworks and cloud security controls tailored to enterprise environments
• Executed cloud readiness assessments and managed cloud migration initiatives from evaluation to handover
• Facilitated client workshops and agile ceremonies (sprint planning, backlog refinement, standups)
• Built internal Cloud Competence Centers to foster knowledge sharing and best practices across teams
• Development of a general Cloud Service Portal

• 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.

• 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

Projects:

Project: RWE – Development of a company-wide Zero Trust cybersecurity architecture (CITADEL) Role: Senior Enterprise Cybersecurity Architect / Zero Trust Architect Company: RWE AG Description: Concept and implementation of the strategic CITADEL cybersecurity target architecture at RWE, based on the Zero Trust architecture principle and aligned with regulatory requirements such as NIS2, ISO 27001 and company-wide security governance policies. The goal was to build a measurable, auditable and scalable security architecture with a strong focus on Identity Governance, compliance transparency and operational manageability. Responsibilities & Achievements:

• Zero Trust architecture design: Developed a company-wide Zero Trust reference architecture (Identity, Device, Network, Application, Data) including trust zones, control points and enforcement mechanisms according to NIS2.
• Identity & Access Governance (IGA): Designed and introduced IGA governance structures including role models, recertification processes, segregation of duties (SoD) and lifecycle management for identities and access.
• Security governance & KPIs: Defined and implemented security KPIs and metrics to manage Zero Trust maturity, identity risks and compliance at the management level.
• Compliance & reporting: Built standardized compliance reports and dashboards to support internal audits, external assessments and regulatory evidence (e.g. NIS2).
• Architecture & stakeholder alignment: Worked closely with Enterprise Architecture, IT operations and business units to integrate the CITADEL architecture into existing IT and security landscapes.
• Strategic security consulting: Advised programs and projects on Zero Trust compliance, identity centricity and regulatory requirements in the energy and critical infrastructure (KRITIS) environment. Technologies & Methods: Zero Trust Architecture, NIS2, Identity Governance & Administration (IGA), IAM, RBAC, SoD, Entra ID, SailPoint, Zscaler, Terraform / IaC, Policy as Code, security KPIs, compliance reporting, NIST 2.0, ISO 27001, Enterprise Security Architecture, governance frameworks, risk & control management

Project: Scalable AI Workbench Platform on Microsoft Azure Role: Cloud Architect & Engineer Company: Siemens Energy Description: Design, development and operation of a secure, modular cloud infrastructure to support Data Science, Machine Learning and AI applications for various engineering teams at Siemens Energy. Responsibilities & Achievements:

• Cloud architecture: Designed and implemented an Infrastructure-as-Code solution (Terraform) for automated provisioning of Azure resources (Resource Groups, Storage Accounts, Cosmos DB, Application Insights, networking, PostgreSQL Flexible Server, Azure Container Apps, Azure Container Registry).
• Developer portal: Used Backstage with custom frontend and backend plugins (Node.js, TypeScript, React.js, PostgreSQL, Container Apps) to enable self-service and empower developers, data scientists and AI/ML engineers.
• Role-based access control: Implemented Azure RBAC to grant targeted access (e.g. Storage Blob Data Contributor, Reader) to engineering groups (e.g. AI Engineers) for relevant resources.
• Data platform engineering: Built and configured a multi-layered storage landscape (Raw, Curated, Vector data), including automated container creation and access control for advanced analytics and AI workloads.
• DevOps integration: Integrated with Azure DevOps for CI/CD pipelines to automate deployment, monitoring and compliance.
• Security & compliance: Implemented Private Endpoints, network policies and Managed Identities to ensure data protection and regulatory compliance.
• Collaboration: Worked closely with cross-functional teams to align the cloud infrastructure with business and technical requirements and drive digital transformation at Siemens Energy. Technologies: Azure, Terraform, Azure DevOps, Cosmos DB, Application Insights, Azure Storage, Private Endpoints, Azure Synapse, Azure Machine Learning, Azure Entra ID, RBAC, Backstage, Node.js, React.js, PostgreSQL, Python (automation), Git

• Operation of the group-wide vehicle data platform
• Service management
• Facilitation of the Program Increment (PI) planning
• Management of service risks
• Transition management of new services
• Problem and incident management
• Monitoring
• Reporting and alignment at executive level
• Standards: AWS, Azure, MS Teams, Jira, Confluence

• Azure Landing Zone architecture: Design and implement a hub-spoke, multi-region-capable Azure landing zone that provides the secure, scalable and highly available foundation for autonomous driving and parking data/ML platforms.
• Compliance through Azure Policy: Enforce security and compliance standards across Azure subscriptions via Azure Policy (guardrails, deny/audit/deploy-if-not-exists), consistently achieving top-tier infrastructure security scores.
• Infrastructure-as-Code: Automate provisioning and configuration of Azure resources with Terraform and Bicep, with changes delivered through reviewed CI/CD pipelines.
• Azure Databricks and Unity Catalog: Extensive experience operating Azure Databricks with Unity Catalog for centralized data governance, access control, lineage and auditing across workspaces.
• Monitoring and observability: Built and run infrastructure monitoring and logging with Azure Monitor, Prometheus, Grafana and Loki, covering platform health, alerting, troubleshooting and capacity trends.
• Platform at scale: Architected and operate cloud data/ML platforms supporting multi-PB vehicle data ingestion and simulation; orchestrate Argo Workflow-based recompute and autolabeling services scaling to 100k+ concurrent pods on AKS.
• Reproducible ML: Established reproducible training environments with dataset versioning and provenance tracking, enabling auditing and experiment reliability.
• Operational excellence: Automated GitHub organization management and CI/CD pipelines, improving developer productivity and deployment reliability; automated recurring operational processes.
• FinOps: Developed transparent resource utilization and cost-tracking for multi-project Azure environments.
• Leadership: Technical lead for infrastructure topics, collaborating with development, DevOps and security teams; technical interviewer and recruitment panel member for scaling the engineering team.