Java Experts in Düsseldorf

• Optimizing and accelera­tion of our Gitlab CI pipeline

• Conceptual work for the PoC of the Zero Trust system

• Extension of the policy-engine backend in Go

• Extension of the policy-testing mechanism in Python

• Architectural design of the PEP component of Zero Trust

• Documentation of the product

• Technologies: Zero Trust, Go, Python, Gitlab CI, Docker, JWT, Domain-Driven Design

Successful delivery of projects on behalf of customers:

• -> 2023 – present: Project management for the consolidation of sites/data centers for a large telecommunications provider (infrastructure project, customer: Telefonica)

• Opening and preparing new sites

• Application migrations

• Decommissioning and handover of old sites

• -> 2021 – 2022: IT multi-project management for a large car leasing company (customer: Athlon)

• Migration of applications to the cloud and to another data center

• Additional projects to expand and optimize the application landscape

• -> 2021: Project management for the development of a platform providing internet access on aircraft operated by various airlines (customer: m3Connect/German Telekom)

• -> 2017-2020: Responsible management of an IP network consolidation (infrastructure project, customer: Cisco/Vodafone) at a large telecommunications provider

• Planning and coordination of migrations and their rollout

• Team leadership and integration of different teams (network operators, hardware and service providers)

• Training AI models, evaluating images and text UI/UX, turning the provided data into insights through OpenAI Feather as part of the machine learning workflow

Technologies: OpenAI Feather

• Supporting the DevOps team in Terraform-managed, multi-region AWS infrastructure to achieve environment parity.
• Developed end-to-end CI/CD pipelines using AWS CodePipeline, CodeBuild, and CodeDeploy, automating the build and deployment.
• Maintained pre- and post-deployment scripts to automate critical tasks such as database schema migrations and environment sanity checks.
• Implemented CI/CD flow specifically for hotfixes via separate Git branches, managing back-merge activities from feature branches to release branches to ensure code integrity through automated conflict resolution.
• Deployed a dedicated, lightweight sanity check application hosted cost-effectively on Azure Container Apps to run automated health and basic functional checks as a post-deployment activity triggered via pipeline.
• Investigated production incidents through code changes and AWS CloudWatch logs.
• Coordinated integration of Dynatrace APM and its APIs for monitoring purposes.
• Full stack QA strategist for a high-traffic e-commerce platform built on a layered architecture for the back-end testing of core platform services, especially the order management system in Zed and Glue layers.
• Managed automation activities, testing process, and refactoring practices.
• Responsible for framework migrations, setup, and training for new automation frameworks.
• Promoted a shift-left approach within the QA team and created the test concept.
• Participated in meetings with IT managers, business owners, product owners, and team members.
• Designed and implemented contract testing to validate API schema compatibility between the order management system and the Zed and Glue layers, reducing production-relevant breaking changes by approximately 3%.
• Led the migration to a multi-environment framework that enabled test execution across 4 country configurations from a single codebase.
• Integrated automated unit and functional tests directly into the GitLab CI/CD pipeline, reducing pipeline runtime by 32%.
• Coached and trained 5 QA engineers across Germany and Hungary in test automation, framework architecture, and best practices.
• Architected a layered backend test automation framework separating business logic, API request builders, and the database layer.
• Piloted AI-assisted testing with Playwright Agents, the Playwright MCP Server, and GitHub Copilot for automated test generation, execution, and self-healing Playwright scripts.

• Overall project planning for resources, budget, costs, license and service contracts, cost optimization and negotiations
• Leading and managing the project team and achieving the project goals
• Leading digitalization projects and their phases such as concept, planning, change and requirements management, configuration, implementation, testing, interfaces, communication and approval
• Conducting planning meetings
• Organizing, planning and conducting team, customer and requirements workshops with up to 50 participants at operational and management level
• Main contact for technical and functional topics as well as project coordination
• Recording and maintaining backlogs (user stories and EPICs) in Jira and turning requirements into user stories and prioritizing them
• Approval and publication of online services in the Wirtschafts-Service-Portal.NRW (WSP.NRW)
• Creating and maintaining project documentation
• Planning and designing the nationwide rollout/reuse as part of the once-for-all principle via WSP/FIT-Connect
• Communication between stakeholders, customers, authorities and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy (MWIKE)
• Work according to the SCRUM method

• -- ENGLISH Version (Deutsche Version unten) ---

Experience

• Ex-BCG Platinion: 14 years as Manager & Chief IT Architect, leading large-scale IT transformations in complex group structures
• 20+ years of C-level consulting across AI/IT strategy, enterprise architecture, IT organization, transformation, M&A due diligence, project recovery, and interim management
• IT leadership experience with cross-functional, intercultural teams of up to 100+ people
• Hands-on background in software engineering, IT architecture, and project management
• Fortune Europe 500 focus; numerous international projects; SME and start-up experience

Core services:

• IT strategy, enterprise architecture (EAM), target architectures and roadmaps
• PE/M&A/carve-out IT/tech due diligence, asset valuation, cost estimation
• GenAI transformation, process automation, and AI governance
• IT reorganization, target operating model (TOM), agile transformation
• IT governance, development and ITSM process optimization (BizDevOps, SAFe)
• Review and recovery of critical large-scale IT programs
• Planning and steering of transformation programs and IT project portfolios
• IT vendor and platform selection (RfI / RfP)
• Coaching & Interim management

Industries (selection): Insurance, financial services & banking, energy & utilities, telecommunications, retail & consumer goods, logistics, media, industry & engineering, healthcare, professional services

Projects (selection):

• M&A Buy-side IT/Tech Due Diligence of an Acquisition in the Energy Sector (Utility, Smart Home) — AI-augmented with Anthropic Claude

• AI Initiative for LLM-Based Optimisation and Automation of Sales and Billing Processes

• Interim management Enterprise Architecture & group target architecture/roadmap development (METRO)

• Reorganization: Design and introduction of agile IT target operating model at international wholesale group (METRO)

• Design and implementation of agile BizDevOps target operating model (E.ON Grid Solutions)

• Platform/vendor selection for renewal of core insurance solution of start-up (ELEMENT Insurance)

• Establishment of project assurance capability and review/recovery of critical transformation projects (ERGO)

• Enterprise architecture management and development of divisional/solution architectures (Deutsche Post DHL)

• Strategic pricing architecture decisions in digital sales application landscape (E.ON Energie)

• IT due diligence: Architecture evaluation and monetary valuation of IT assets (ProSiebenSAT.1 Media)

• Interim management of group-wide security/compliance programme (ERGO)

• Enabling an application landscape for different sales organizations and product structures (E.ON Energie)

• Realignment of business/IT strategy and InsurTech platform selection (RfI, RfP) (nexible, ERGO Digital Ventures)

• Stabilization/optimization of an agile/SAFe business/IT DevOps landscape transformation (Lufthansa AirPlus)

• Process optimization and design/management of digitization and robotics introduction in power plants (RWE Nuclear)

• BSS target architecture development for fixed/mobile networks convergence (Deutsche Telekom)

• Optimization of IT organization model and methodology in application development and testing (Deutsche Telekom)

• Evaluation of fulfillment of a general contractor agreement for run-off/migration of contract portfolios (ERGO)

• -- DEUTSCHE Version (English version above) ---

Experience

• Ex-BCG Platinion: 14 years of strategy and implementation of large-scale IT transformations in complex corporate structures (Manager & Chief IT Architect)
• 20+ years of C-level-adjacent IT consulting: IT strategy, enterprise architecture, IT organization, transformation, due diligence, project recovery, and interim management
• IT leadership responsibility for cross-functional, intercultural teams of up to 100+ people
• Solid hands-on experience in software development, IT architecture, and project management
• Focus on Fortune Europe 500, numerous international projects; SME and start-up experience

Industries: insurance · financial services & banking · energy · telecommunications · retail & consumer goods · industry & engineering · logistics · media · healthcare

Services (focus areas):

• IT strategy, enterprise architecture (EAM), IT landscape target visions and roadmaps
• M&A/carve-out IT/tech due diligence, asset valuation, and cost estimation
• GenAI transformation, process automation, and AI governance
• IT reorganization, target operating model (TOM), agile transformation
• IT governance, development and ITSM processes (BizDevOps, SAFe)
• Review and recovery of critical large-scale IT projects
• Planning/steering of transformation programs and IT project portfolios
• IT service provider/platform selection (RfI, RfP)
• IT project management (agile, classic, hybrid)
• Coaching & interim management

Projects (selection):

• M&A buyer-side IT/tech due diligence of an acquisition in the energy sector (utility, smart home) — AI-augmented with Anthropic Claude
• AI initiative for LLM-supported optimization and automation of sales and billing processes
• Interim management of Enterprise Architecture and development of group target architecture in wholesale (METRO)
• Reorganization: design and introduction of an agile IT target operating model (TOM) at an international wholesale group (METRO)
• IT reorganization: introduction of an agile BizDevOps target operating model (TOM) at an energy group (E.ON Grid Solutions)
• Platform selection / vendor selection for renewal of the core insurance solution of a B2B2C start-up (ELEMENT Insurance)
• Process optimization, digitalization, and introduction of robotics in power plants (RWE Nuclear)
• Assessment of fulfillment of a general contractor agreement for run-off/migration of life insurance portfolios (ERGO)
• Business/IT strategy and InsurTech platform selection for a digital insurer/start-up (nexible, ERGO Digital Ventures)
• Enabling an energy application landscape for multiple sales units (E.ON Energie)
• Strategic architecture decisions in price management of a digital sales application landscape at an energy group (E.ON Energie)
• Stabilization/optimization of an agile DevOps IT transformation in business travel and payment management (Lufthansa AirPlus)
• Interim management in a group-wide security and compliance program of a global insurer (ERGO)
• Building project assurance capability as well as review and optimization/recovery of critical IT projects in an insurance group (ERGO)
• Building enterprise architecture management and development of domain and solution architectures for a logistics group (Deutsche Post DHL)
• M&A IT due diligence – evaluation and valuation of IT assets in the media sector (ProSiebenSAT.1 Media)
• Development of BSS target architecture and roadmap for fixed/mobile convergence (Deutsche Telekom)
• Optimization of IT governance/organization and methodology in application development and testing at a telecommunications group (Deutsche Telekom)

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

• Title: Enhancing Syntactic Awareness in Transformer Language Models for Hindi Dependency Parsing
• Investigated syntactic knowledge captured by transformer language models (RoBERTa, XLM-RoBERTa) for Hindi dependency parsing, a morphologically rich and low-resource language.
• Developed structure-aware model variants (Struct_Roberta_hi, Struct_XLMR) by integrating a CNN-based parser network between transformer layers, inspired by the StructFormer architecture.
• Conducted extensive error analysis including label-wise, distance-based, direction-based, sentence length-based, and LVC/Non-LVC evaluations.
• Evaluated models on downstream NLP tasks (NER, POS tagging) using the IndicXTREME benchmark.

(Maternity/Parental Leave: July 2023 – Aug 2024)

• Domain: Payment Domain | Client: Telefonica Germany
• Project: General Payment Service

The General Payment Service is responsible for processing of online payments via external payment service provider like Safer pay and PayPal

• Developed Design of Use (DOU) and interface contract documentation, ensuring clarity and compliance across system integrations
• Designed and delivered REST/SOAP web services with Spring Boot and Spring Data JPA, publishing Swagger contracts through WSO2 API Gateway to improve accessibility and governance.
• Spearheaded the on-premises to AWS Cloud migration, re-platforming from Oracle to PostgreSQL on AWS RDS and deploying services on EC2, improving scalability and cost efficiency.
• Containerized microservices using Docker and orchestrated deployments with Kubernetes, streamlining deployment pipelines and improving system reliability.
• Implemented proactive monitoring and logging via AWS CloudWatch and Kibana, ensuring stability and performance during cutover.
• Enhanced collaboration through code reviews and peer reviews, promoting maintainability and clean coding standards.
• Strengthened quality by writing comprehensive JUnit tests and preparing detailed test cases enabling early defect detection
• Delivered automated API testing with Ready API, Postman, and SOAPUI, and conducted performance testing with JMeter, ensuring reliability in high-transaction environments.

• Analysis and remediation of security vulnerabilities in a risk assessment system for energy trading
• System analysis
• Threat modeling
• Decision-making on vulnerability mitigation strategies
• Implementation of vulnerability detection mechanisms
• Security scans
• DevSecOps practices
• Technical environment: Visual Studio Code, JetBrains Suite, MS Threat Modeling Tool, DevSecOps, Git, AWS, DynamoDB, SQL Server, Endur, Snowflake, Orca
• Languages: C#, JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, PowerShell, Bash, Terraform, SQL

• Ensured 99%+ platform availability across Android, iOS, and web, maintaining zero customer-impact and zero P1 incidents through proactive monitoring and risk mitigation.

• Led Incident, Problem, and Change Management with offshore operations and vendors, driving rapid issue resolution and improving product stability.

• Partnered with QA teams and international OpCos to validate defects, reproduce issues, and enhance product quality using real-time customer insights.

• Managed end-to-end lifecycle activities including platform migrations, infrastructure upgrades, certificate renewals, and integrations (Identity, API, Messaging).

• Established operational excellence and governance by designing service support models, leading Early Life Support (ELS) and post-launch stabilization, delivering KPI reporting, and ensuring seamless transition from project to service management.

• Product: Secure Net - Classic, Converged & Home Wifi Protect

• Product Description: The all-in-one digital security service that helps keep you and your family safe online when using the Vodafone (Mobile and Broadband) network. Get alerts if your personal information shows up anywhere it shouldn't, whilst we find and block malicious content across all your devices using.

• Clients: Vodafone OpCos - Spain, Italy, UK, Ireland, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Portugal, Romania

• Role & Location: Service Manager for Lifecycle and Operations at Düsseldorf, Germany

Worked with/on: ITSM Remedy, Jira, Confluence, Splunk, Dynatrace, Tableau, Mongo DB, Google Analytics, App Follow

• Architected and deployed a live B2B geocoding and demographic-data platform for Germany, combining address lookup with census-based population statistics through a web application and REST API.

• Evaluate, design, and implement Power BI solutions for Cat4 reporting, significantly improving reporting efficiency, accuracy, and stakeholder visibility.
• Develop and maintain robust data integration interfaces between Cat4 and Power BI, eliminating manual processing bottlenecks.
• Configure and continuously optimise Power BI reports to deliver sharper management insights and support data-driven decision-making.
• Ensure full GDPR data protection compliance across Power BI reports, proactively identifying and mitigating risks.
• Acquired in-depth product knowledge of CAT4, a globally deployed enterprise platform, enabling effective requirements analysis, solution design, and seamless Power BI integration across client environments.
• Developed and integrated scalable reporting templates within the CAT4 product interface, delivering new product features and enhancing data visualisation, reporting efficiency, and stakeholder visibility across global users.
• Trained and mentored staff on Power BI configuration and best practices, accelerating adoption and embedding a data-driven culture.
• Prepared clear technical documentation and delivered hands-on demonstrations to end users and clients, ensuring smooth adoption and confident use of Power BI solutions integrated with CAT4.
• Researched and recommended licensing strategies for cost-effective and scalable Power BI deployment.

SKILLS - BI & Visualisation: Power BI (Desktop, Service, Report Builder), DAX, Power Query

Project and Product Management Tool: CAT4

• Contributed to the development of an advanced RAG AI Chat application that integrates multiple LLM models, enabling users to seamlessly switch between models based on specific tasks. This improved the user experience by providing tailored, efficient solutions for various use cases, such as event scheduling, booking systems, and complex task management.
• Participated in designing and implementing a robust backend architecture using Spring AI, enabling advanced AI-driven capabilities like intelligent task automation, language processing, and contextual recommendations. Leveraged Spring AI Tools and Advisors to enhance the performance and decision-making of the AI models.
• Collaborated on the integration of vector databases to support embeddings, enhancing the app's ability to understand user queries and perform actions based on complex, real-time data inputs.
• Contributed to the development of a seamless, user-friendly front-end interface using React with TypeScript support, ensuring a modern, responsive, and scalable user experience across platforms.
• Assisted in implementing state management with Redux RTK for efficient data flow and real-time updates, optimizing the overall user experience in dynamic scenarios such as scheduling and task management.
• Partnered with stakeholders to define feature requirements, helping ensure that the app could scale to meet evolving business needs and integrate with other systems like calendar and email services. Worked alongside cross-functional teams, including data scientists and UI/UX designers, to fine-tune AI models and ensure alignment with project goals.
• Contributed to ensuring end-to-end system performance, security, and compliance by helping integrate authentication mechanisms, role-based access control, and secure communication protocols in both backend and frontend layers.

Technology Stack and Key Contributions:

• Java / Spring Boot / Spring AI: Developed backend services leveraging Spring AI for intelligent responses, task automation, and complex workflows.
• React / TypeScript: Built intuitive user interfaces with React and TypeScript, ensuring a smooth and scalable frontend.
• Redux RTK: Managed application state with Redux RTK for optimized state management, enabling dynamic, real-time data updates.
• Vector Databases: Integrated vector databases (pgVector) for embedding support, improving AI model performance in handling complex queries.
• PostgreSQL / Redis: Managed persistent and temporary data with relational and in-memory data stores, ensuring data integrity and speed.
• Kafka: Utilized Apache Kafka for event-driven communication and seamless integration between microservices.
• Spring Security: Ensured the security of backend services with robust authentication and authorization mechanisms.
• CI/CD & DevOps: Integrated continuous integration and deployment pipelines to ensure rapid and secure deployment of features and updates.