GitLab CI/CD Experts in Cologne
in minutes from over 15,000 CVs with vetted, available specialistsHire experts who set up GitLab CI/CD pipelines, review jobs and runners, and automate build, test, and deployment workflows across GitLab. You get precise matching with vetted, available freelancers who can join quickly and work cleanly with your team.
Meet FRATCH Experts in Cologne, who have recently used GitLab CI/CD
Halil Oeztoprak
Last position:
Senior Cloud Operations & DevSecOps Engineer (Azure / Terraform / CI-CD) at KfW Bankengruppe
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.
Marc Smyk
Last position:
Fullstack Developer at PLANT-MY-TREE
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
Stanislaus Stelle
Last position:
Security Consultant at Rohde & Schwarz AG at Star Labs GmbH
- Worked on FPGA enhanced network encryption device with secure boot, TPM2.0 and smart card integration for BSI approved usage with Post Quantum Cryptography
- Developed and audited Linux drivers
- Collaborated using GitLab, Gerrit, Confluence and Jira
- Technologies: C, C++, Secure Boot
Markus Glagla
Last position:
Full Stack Developer at REWE Digital
- A warehouse valuation system was reimplemented using Java, Spring Boot, and Camunda. The backend solution focuses on integration and batch calculations, the frontend on managing formulas and reviewing results.
- Java 21
- Spring Boot
- JPA
- Maven
- REST
- Kafka
- PostgreSQL
- DB2
- Liquibase
- Google Cloud Storage
- Keycloak
- GitLab CI/CD
- Helm
- Terragrunt
- SonarQube
- Angular
- IntelliJ
- JUnit 5
- Mockito
- Open API
Ayhan Gezer
Last position:
Senior QA Engineer / Test Automation Engineer / SDET at Rewe digital
Consulting, designing, and implementing the software testing lifecycle for multiple Android apps and backends Introducing test automation with Appium, SpringBootTest, RestAssured Setting up and managing emulators Developing an E2E library, an integration library, a Testcontainers library, and other libraries Developing, implementing, and advising on CI strategies Building the test environment with Testcontainers and virtualization Developing and implementing test cases for integration tests and end-to-end tests Establishing a maintainable test architecture with low entry barriers to simplify the creation of automated tests Some tools and technologies used: JUnit, RestAssured, Testcontainers, Kubedock, Appium, Android emulator, Jira Xray, Mockito, WireMock, Spring Framework, Kotlin
Alexander Vasiliev
Last position:
Senior DevOps / Platform Engineer at Kaufland e-commerce / real.digital (ex hitmeister.de)
- Evolved the platform from bare-metal infrastructure with a monolithic PHP application to a hybrid Google Cloud architecture with Go microservices on Kubernetes
- Managed and scaled a production infrastructure with 300+ VMs and dozens of clusters, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, RabbitMQ, Redis and Elasticsearch clusters
- Designed architecture, deployment, monitoring, performance analysis, and upgrades for all platform services using Terraform and Ansible
- Migrated observability systems from ELK and Prometheus to Datadog, managed with Terraform
- Introduced Jenkins CI/CD with SonarQube integration and automated tests to speed up feedback cycles
- Containerized the testing environment and implemented GitLab CI pipelines for Docker image builds, static code analysis, and infrastructure tests
- Performed zero-downtime migrations of MySQL and MongoDB clusters to Google Cloud
- Developed reusable Ansible roles for database clusters and automated data obfuscation for staging environments
- Decomposed monolithic databases and migrated to microservice architectures
- Built tools to detect and optimize slow queries in MySQL and MongoDB
- Conducted online schema migrations with pt-online-schema-change without downtime windows
- Developed internal Go applications for batch queries, GitLab-Jira integration, and MongoDB backup recovery
- Technologies: Debian, Ubuntu, Alpine, Go, Bash, Python, PHP, SQL, GitLab CI, Jenkins, Drone CI, MySQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Redis, Elasticsearch, RabbitMQ, Kafka, Docker, Kubernetes, Nomad, Ansible, Terraform, Grafana, ELK, Prometheus, Datadog, Nagios, Zabbix, Nginx, HAProxy, Vault, Helm, SonarQube, Filebeat, Auditbeat, Google Cloud, AWS
Andreas Kosubek
Last position:
Backend Developer at Univention GmbH
- 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.
Jacqueline Haefke
Last position:
Kitchen Appliance Manufacturer
Setting up and enhancing an international subscription management system
Migrating and decommissioning a Hybris-SAP system and integrating Zuora
Implementing numerous interfaces to various systems (external and internal)
Setting up and improving monitoring with Grafana, Prometheus, and Databricks
Introducing logging with Loki
Implementing business requirements using jQuery, Thymeleaf, Spring Boot, Java, Go, and Python
Adjusting and extending the GitLab CI pipelines
Setting up and extending infrastructure as code with Terraform and ArgoCD on AWS
Setting up and running E2E and performance tests
Expanding the Databricks business intelligence solution to provide various KPIs
Responsibilities: Architecture, DevOps, development, unit tests, coaching employees and apprentices, E2E, smoke, and integration tests, agile methods consulting (Kanban, Scrum)
Technologies and methods: Java, Go, Kotlin, Node.js, Spring Boot, SOAP/REST, Quarkus, Thymeleaf, Vaadin, Slack, Jira, Confluence, IntelliJ, GitLab, SQS, Kafka, AWS, Kubernetes, Terraform, Maven, Gradle, GitLab CI, Databricks
Andreas Beckers
Last position:
Senior Frontend Developer at Roadex
- Development of an app
- Technologies: React Native, Expo, SupaBase, TypeScript, GitHub, Trello
Last position:
Rewe Digital
- Creation of Spring Boot integration tests
- Creation of JUnit tests for the coupon system
- Creation of component tests for Kafka topics
- Creation of CI/CD pipeline scripts
- Creation of UI tests with Playwright
- Creation of UI tests with Cypress
- Review of developer unit tests
- Planning the test architecture for integration tests
- Creation of the test automation concept
- Evaluation and creation of test reports
Ronny Herold
Last position:
Förderbank Deutschland
- Extraction and transformation of relevant data from the SAP system developed for the bank and consolidation into the existing reporting environment
- Integration of the data into the existing BI model (extending the star schema to a galaxy schema) for generating the funding committee report and the business development report
- Ensuring data quality
- Knowledge transfer to department staff (SAP, SQL database, Power Pivot, DAX)
Sara Schönherr
Last position:
Senior Software Developer with a Focus on UI/UX at vGen GmbH
Development of an interactive prototype for the concept of an AI-supported Enterprise Architecture Management tool. The goal was to present complex relationships between IT systems, business processes, and departments in a way that is easy to understand and to support decision-making in the context of IT transformations.
The prototype combined data-driven analyses with guided questions and interactive visualizations. A central part was the integration of a RAG process to provide domain-specific EAM knowledge in context. The focus was on quick idea validation, user-centered interaction design, and the technical feasibility of a scalable overall concept.
Design, implementation, and validation of a RAG process for domain-specific EAM knowledge with Python, LangChain, and graph/vector databases (Neo4J, Milvus)
Business and technical requirements analysis as well as definition of an MVP
Development of the architecture and technology concept using Angular, Spring Boot, GraphQL, and Kubernetes
Design of an interaction concept and creation of a brand style guide with Figma
Development of interactive prototypes with Angular, Konva.js, and TypeScript
Integration of CI/CD processes with GitLab CI/CD
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
Statistics of experts using GitLab CI/CD
Aggregated from the professional profiles of matched freelancers.
Experience
18 years (Germany: 17 years)
Position duration
1.6 years (Germany: 2.7 years)
Positions per freelancer
13 (Germany: 12)
Top business areas
Information Technology, Product Development, Quality Assurance
Top industries
Information Technology, Banking and Finance, Telecommunication
Certification focus areas
Information Technology, Product Development, Business Intelligence
Bachelor's degree or higher
88% (Germany: 90%)
Master's degree or higher
63% (Germany: 55%)
Certifications per freelancer
4 (Germany: 3)
Most common languages
German, English, French
Speak two or more languages
100% (Germany: 98%)
Based on our profile pool as of 30 Aug 2026.
Daily rate distribution
The chart shows how the daily rates of freelancers in this technology in Cologne are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows how many freelancers charge within that range.
Average rates of experts in Cologne using GitLab CI/CD
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.
The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.
Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 30 Aug 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
About the technology
Pipeline setup
GitLab CI/CD is used to define how code is built, tested, and deployed inside GitLab. Strong specialists design pipeline flows that fit the repo structure, release rhythm, and approval process. They keep the setup readable so teams can maintain it without guesswork.
Core skills
- Write and review .gitlab-ci.yml files
- Configure stages, jobs, artifacts, and caches
- Work with runners, tags, variables, and environments
- Set up merge request checks and deployment gates
- Troubleshoot failures across build, test, and deploy steps
Where it fits
GitLab CI/CD is common in product teams that want source control and delivery in one place. It is also a good fit for regulated environments, internal tools, and cloud-native services. In Cologne, companies often look for experts who can work with local teams on site while keeping delivery smooth for remote colleagues.
Tooling around it
Good professionals know the full GitLab ecosystem, not only the pipeline file. They work with GitLab runners, container images, secrets handling, artifacts, environments, and release automation. Many also connect GitLab CI/CD to cloud targets, Kubernetes, security scans, and package registries.
When to bring in help
Bring in freelance expertise when pipelines are slow, fragile, or hard to understand. It also helps when a team is moving from another system to GitLab, splitting monolithic jobs into reusable templates, or standardizing delivery across many repositories. A strong specialist leaves behind clear patterns, not hidden fixes.
What strong specialists deliver
A strong GitLab CI/CD specialist writes pipelines that are easy to extend and simple to debug. They document variables, job rules, runner setup, and deployment paths so the next change is safe. The best experts think about developer flow, release control, and long-term maintainability at the same time.
Frequently asked questions
Before you brief your next project: the most common questions about GitLab CI/CD.
GitLab CI/CD automates the path from code change to tested and deployed release. Companies use it to run builds, tests, security checks, packaging, and environment deployments from the same place where the code lives.
GitLab CI/CD is often chosen when teams want source control, pipeline configuration, and release flow in one product. Jenkins can offer deep flexibility, while GitHub Actions fits well inside GitHub; GitLab CI/CD tends to stand out when the team already works in GitLab and wants a tighter delivery setup.
A strong GitLab CI/CD specialist usually knows shell scripting, Docker, and basic cloud or Kubernetes concepts. Experience with artifact management, secrets, branching strategies, and deployment targets also helps a lot.
The right level depends on the state of your pipelines. A small setup with a few jobs may only need focused help, while a complex delivery flow with shared templates, multiple runners, and release controls needs a specialist who has solved similar problems before.
GitLab CI/CD work can often be done remotely because pipeline changes, runner tuning, and troubleshooting happen in code and logs. On-site time in Cologne can still help when teams need faster alignment on release rules, access, or handover between product and operations groups.
Look for clear examples of pipelines they improved, not just pipelines they wrote. A good GitLab CI/CD expert explains trade-offs, keeps job definitions readable, and can show how they handled failures, caching, secrets, or deployment permissions.
If pipelines are slow, flaky, or hard to maintain, GitLab CI/CD expertise can save time quickly. Other signs include duplicated jobs across repositories, unclear runner behavior, manual deployment steps, or merge requests that break because the pipeline logic is not robust.
Before bringing in GitLab CI/CD help, share your repo structure, current pipeline files, runner setup, and the main pain points. It also helps to define whether the goal is migration, cleanup, speed, or safer deployments, so the specialist can focus on the right outcome.
The average hourly rate of freelancers in Cologne, Germany who have used GitLab CI/CD in their recent projects is 93 €, which corresponds to a daily rate of about 744 € based on an 8-hour working day.
Of the freelancers in Cologne, Germany who have used GitLab CI/CD in their recent projects, 88% hold at least a Bachelor's degree and 63% hold at least a Master's degree.
On average, freelancers in Cologne, Germany who have used GitLab CI/CD in their recent projects have 18 years of professional experience, with a single engagement typically lasting around 1.6 years.
The most common languages among freelancers in Cologne, Germany who have used GitLab CI/CD in their recent projects are German (100%), English (100%), and French (25%).
The most common industries among freelancers in Cologne, Germany who have used GitLab CI/CD in their recent projects are Information Technology (83%), Banking and Finance (58%), and Telecommunication (58%).
The most common business areas among freelancers in Cologne, Germany who have used GitLab CI/CD in their recent projects are Information Technology (100%), Product Development (92%), and Quality Assurance (83%).
Main locations of FRATCH Experts, who have recently used GitLab CI/CD
Our freelancers and interim experts are at home across the DACH region — available on-site in the major business hubs or fully remote. Choose a location to discover matched specialists, local market insights and up-to-date availability.
Berlin 
Hamburg 
Munich 
Frankfurt 
Stuttgart 
Dusseldorf 
Leipzig 
Hanover Request a free demo
Get in touch with the FRATCH team and we will get back to you within 4 hours.
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Philipp Thomaschewski
FRATCH CEO
