K3s Experts in Germany
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Meet FRATCH Experts in Germany, who have recently used K3s
Kiriakos Krastillis
Last position:
Tech Lead / Architect : OTTO API Platform at OTTO
maturing their API Practices on both, a Business and Technology level. My role encompasses strategy, architecture, developer advocacy as well as hands on software engineering, enabling both technical teams and business leadership to adopt and act on API- centric principles effectively. Coincidentally, we also establish GitOps, DX and Platform Best practices with this project.
Highlights:
- Aligning executives with the initiative by clarifying strategy, replacing misconceptions and myths with facts, clarifying the value of existing assets and enabling informed decision-making
- Formulating a way forward for API Lifecycle Management at OTTO
- Driving platform progress and fostering developer engagement by hands-on engineering work towards strategic goals
API Lifecycle Management, Team Topologies, Organizational Evolution, Regulatory, Platform Advocate, Developer Platform, Communities of Practice, Terraform, Kotlin, Kafka, Kong, WSO2, Apigee, Gravitee, Backstage, AsyncAPI, OpenAPI, API Design, AWS, react, nodejs, typescript, redocly, reactive programming, CDC, golang, gingonic, GitOps, DX (developer experience), stakeholder management, roadmaps, workshops, discovery.
Wadim Lupejcenko
Last position:
Fullstack Developer at dripwear.app
Development of an iOS app for virtual try-on and outfit suggestions
The goal of the project is to develop a mobile application for personalized, photorealistic outfit suggestions. Users should be able to upload their own photos, try on clothes virtually, and find products that can be bought directly in the generated suggestions.
- Planning and implementation of the onboarding and photo upload in the iOS app
- Development of the mobile application with Expo and React Native
- Implementation of a Hono/Node.js backend for user, product, and generation processes
- Building an asynchronous processing pipeline with BullMQ and Redis
- Connection of PostgreSQL/pgvector and S3 for product, image, and generation data
- Integration of Gemini and OpenAI for outfit generation and image processing
- Implementation of a credit system and integration of RevenueCat
- Integration of Stripe Connect and affiliate product feeds for products that can be bought directly
Label: TypeScript, React Native, Expo, Hono, Node.js, PostgreSQL/pgvector, BullMQ, Redis, S3, Gemini, OpenAI, RevenueCat, Stripe Connect, Docker
Olaf Radicke
Last position:
DevOps Architect / Consultant at Authority with increased security requirements
- Identification of requirements (legal, organizational, and technical)
- Design of solution architectures
- Evaluation of concepts and technologies
- Preparation of decision templates
- Architectural Decision Records (ADR)
- Coordination of implementation
- Review of implementations
- Documentation
Patrick Waldschmitt
Last position:
AI Software Engineer at IppenMedia
- Analysis
- Consulting
- Software design
- Development
- Automation
- Testing
- Deployment
- Architecture, development and deployment of various proof-of-concept applications around the integration of current AI interfaces including conversational, realtime voice, images and videos
- Developed best practices for working with agentic systems and AI in practice
- Created code templates
Patrick Eichler
Last position:
Honorary Lecturer at SRH University Berlin
- Cloud Computing Fundamentals & Architecture: Expertise in core cloud concepts, including the three main Service Models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and diverse Deployment Models (Public, Private, Hybrid, Multi-cloud).
- Modern Application Deployment Strategies (GCP Focus): Instruction on the GCP Application Hosting Spectrum, covering Virtual Machines, Containers (Kubernetes and Cloud Run), Platform as a Service (App Engine), and Serverless Computing (Functions as a Service - FaaS).
- Data Management & Big Data Analytics: Comprehensive coverage of Cloud Storage options (Object, Block, File) and Database solutions, including Relational (Cloud SQL), NoSQL (Firestore, BigTable, Memorystore), and serverless enterprise data warehousing (BigQuery).
- DevOps and Infrastructure Automation: Skills in DevOps principles, including Continuous Integration (CI), Continuous Delivery (CD), Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using tools like Terraform, and implementing effective Monitoring and Logging for system observability.
- Emerging Technologies & Responsible Cloud Use: Focus on crucial topics like Cloud and IoT Security, Identity and Access Management (IAM), data privacy, and the ethical considerations of cloud and massive data collection.
Ivan Vetoskin
Last position:
Senior DevOps Engineer at 58agents
- Provision Kubernetes infrastructure on Azure, GCP, or bare-metal at the hosting provider
- Design and implementation of REST and GraphQL APIs
- Cloud governance (cost, compliance, security)
- Infrastructure-as-Code and CI/CD as code (Terraform, Ansible)
- Container technologies (Docker, Helm)
- Maintain and improve CI/CD pipelines (GitLab CI, GitHub Actions), Argo CD
- Deployment, scaling, and monitoring of microservices
- Distributed event streaming (Kafka)
- Message brokers RabbitMQ, MQTT
- Software development from scratch or further development of existing projects using PHP, Python, Go, C#, and Bash
Hendrik Levering
Last position:
Senior Modernization Engineer – Legacy Web App Performance & Refactoring (Energy Sector) at Levering IT GmbH
Re-architected a web application that had grown over years, modularizing tightly coupled components
Reduced response times from several seconds to <50 ms
Removed performance bottlenecks
Simplified architecture so internal teams can implement features on their own again
Stephan Sahm
Last position:
Senior Data/ML Consultant & Technical Lead at Jolin.io
Role: Software Engineer & Applied Mathematician (Mathematical optimization for scheduling; duration: 1 months; team setting: Team of 2, remote; technologies: JuMP, Julia, Pluto, Svelte, JavaScript, TypeScript, JetBrains Space, Terraform, Nomad)
Role: Software & Cloud & Web Engineer (Building scalable data science compute cluster from scratch; duration: 11 months; team setting: Team of 1, on-site; technologies: Terraform, Kubernetes, k8s ingress, k8s services, k8s RBAC, k8s networking, k3s, etcd, S3, DNS, certificates, Julia, Pluto, JavaScript, Tailwind, Astro, npm, Parcel, Preact, MUI, JWT, AWS SQS, AWS RDS, Python, GitLab, GitHub)
Role: AI & Web Engineer (Custom ChatGPT service; duration: 1 months; team setting: Team of 2, remote; technologies: Python, Poetry, LangChain, Tailwind, ChatGPT API, Flask, FastAPI)
Role: Architect & Data Engineer (Central datalake setup and ingestion; duration: 9 months; team setting: Team of 5, remote; technologies: Infrastructure-as-code, AWS CDK, Python, Boto3, PySpark, AWS Glue, IAM, S3, ECS, Fargate, Lambda, Apache Hudi, DeltaLake, Databricks, GitHub, Jira, Miro)
Role: Software Engineer (PoC Julia migration of scikit-decide; duration: 1 months; team setting: Team of 2, remote; technologies: Python, Julia, GitHub)
Daniel Schlieder
Last position:
DevOps Engineer / Cloud Infrastructure Engineer at ComputerStack GmbH
- Provisioned a Kubernetes platform on Open Telekom Cloud CCE with comprehensive network isolation
- Built a VPC architecture with public, private, and data subnets
- Integrated managed services: RDS PostgreSQL, DCS Redis, DMS Apache Kafka
- Implemented monitoring with Cloud Eye and Log Tank Service
IMPACT: Cloud Infrastructure Engineer delivered a production-ready platform in 5 days with full network security isolation
Anton Klonov
Last position:
Head of Technical Overall Integration NSC / Hadoop Cloud Development at IABG
Head of technical overall integration NSC (National Secure Cloud project with about 60 employees).
Technical integration of all subprojects into one product, definition of interfaces, basic components of a cloud including hardware, technical architecture of the IABG base.
Development of a Cloud Management Platform (CMP) that can create a private/mixed cloud of any complexity based on a textual description with one click or interactively.
CMP also includes the complete hardware management cycle.
As a foundation, it uses Kubernetes, OpenStack, and Hadoop.
The management layer includes Harbor, Gitea, Longhorn, Keycloak, Rancher and Jenkins, which are automatically configured.
The private cloud can run any customer workloads, including a full Hadoop stack with HDFS, Spark, MapReduce, Mesos, HBase and around 20 other ML/DL technologies.
Hadoop worker clusters can also be automatically installed on bare metal or commodity hardware without Kubernetes.
OpenStack with Nova, Neutron, Ironic, Swift, Cinder, Ceph.
Development of a Java application Rudi: SOAP, REST, containers, database.
Technologies: Kubernetes (K3s, RKE2, Minikube, Harbor, Gitea, Jenkins, Longhorn, Keycloak, Rancher), OpenStack (Nova, Neutron, Keystone, Swift, Ceph, Cinder, Sahara, Magnum, Kayobe, Kolla, Bigrost, Ironic), Hadoop (HDFS, Ambari, Solr, Livy, Ranger, YARN, Tez, HBase, Kafka, Hive, Zookeeper, MapReduce, Spark, Oozie, Flink), virtualization (Kubernetes (K3s), VMware, Oracle), scripting (Ansible, Puppet, Juju, Shell, Groovy, Gradle, Maven).
Michal Budzyn
Last position:
Senior Golang Engineer at STACKIT / Schwarz Gruppe
- Responsible for software engineering and DevOps in the Data & AI Platform - Intake and PubSub projects at STACKIT, the cloud provider of the Schwarz Group.
- Technologies: Golang, Kubernetes, Kubernetes operators, OpenAPI v3, REST API, Azure DevOps, CI/CD, k6, Kafka, Strimzi, Apache Iceberg, RBAC, IAM, Terraform, Helm, Infrastructure automation, Load balancing, Traefik, ArgoCD, kuttl, Kyverno chainsaw, Kustomize, Velero, Prometheus, Grafana, Checkly / Playwright (TypeScript), NATS/Jetstream, WebSockets, gRPC, SSE
Taher Solimany
Last position:
DevOps Engineer at Confidential
- Collaborating with developers, security, and operations teams to align requirements
- Supporting product owners and development teams in deploying logging and monitoring solutions based on the Elastic Stack
- Developing and standardizing log schemas as well as defining practical standards for observability
- Designing and further developing logging architectures for complex, distributed multi-tenant environments
- Connecting application and infrastructure logs as well as security tools and metrics
- Optimizing data flows and modeling for analysis and reporting purposes
- Building automated infrastructures using Terraform/Terragrunt and Ansible
- Maintaining and evolving CI/CD pipelines in GitLab as well as automated development environments in Hetzner Robot
- Operating and automating Proxmox clusters including Ceph storage
- Setting up and running Kubernetes (k3s) clusters on Fedora CoreOS including core services like Vault, OpenLDAP, and HAProxy
- Implementing security-critical infrastructures according to BSI basic protection and securing existing systems
- Supporting the operation of solutions in cloud environments (e.g., AWS)
- Working in agile teams following Scrum and Kanban
- Technologies/Tools: Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Beats/Elastic Agent, Kibana), Terraform, Terragrunt, Ansible, GitLab CI/CD, GitOps, Proxmox, Proxmox Ceph, Kubernetes (k3s), OpenShift, Helm, Kustomize, Vault, OpenLDAP, HAProxy, Hetzner Robot systems, AWS, Prometheus, Grafana, Syslog Linux/Windows, Docker, NGINX, Apache Security & Compliance (BSI basic protection, SIEM/SOC)
Torsten Glunde
Last position:
Datavault with Informatica on Oracle at SEFE
- Datavault modeling and performance improvements in Oracle.
- Requirements process with model-driven Datavault automation.
- Preparation of business requirements for the pricing database in the gas and electricity market.
- Sales performance based on Salesforce CRM.
- Tasks: design and development.
- Tools used: Informatica, Oracle, DBT, Docker, DataOps, Airflow Workflow, Python Ingestion, Gitlab CI.
Andreas Kraus
Last position:
Senior Developer at ioki GmbH, a Deutsche Bahn AG company
- Fullstack development based on Next.js and TypeScript
- Development and optimization of geospatial database queries for PostgreSQL/PostGIS
- Visualization of geospatial data using Mapbox
- Design and execution of load tests and performance optimizations
- Code reviews and documentation tasks
- Technologies: JavaScript, TypeScript, Next.js, React, Zod, tRPC, Storybooks, PostgreSQL/PostGIS, MicroORM, Knex, Material UI, Mapbox, BullMQ, Jest, Playwright, Artillery.io, K6, Sentry, Figma, GitLab, Grafana, GTFS
Sebastian Fohler
Last position:
Managing Director System Administration & DevOps at Far Galaxy Networks
- Windows application migration using Windows Server 2022/2025, DHCP, Active Directory, directory trust and setup, GPO management
- Cloud service automation, firewall and network management, debugging
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
Statistics of experts using K3s
Aggregated from the professional profiles of matched freelancers.
Experience
20 years
Position duration
1.4 years
Positions per freelancer
18
Top business areas
Information Technology, Product Development, Project Management
Top industries
Information Technology, Banking and Finance, Healthcare
Certification focus areas
Information Technology, Operations, Business Intelligence
Bachelor's degree or higher
91%
Master's degree or higher
64%
Doctorate
9%
Certifications per freelancer
3
Most common languages
German, English, Spanish
Speak two or more languages
93%
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 Germany 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 Germany using K3s
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
What K3s is
K3s is a lightweight Kubernetes distribution built for small, edge, and resource-aware environments. It keeps the core Kubernetes experience, but trims the parts that are harder to run in constrained systems. Companies use it when they want clusters that are easier to install, simpler to operate, and still close to standard Kubernetes behavior.
Where it fits
K3s is a strong fit for IoT fleets, branch offices, edge gateways, test environments, and lean internal platforms. It is also used for development clusters, proof-of-concepts, and compact production setups where full Kubernetes feels too heavy. In Germany, it often comes up in teams that need practical infrastructure across mixed sites and remote locations.
What strong specialists do
- Install and harden K3s clusters on Linux hosts or at the edge
- Configure storage, ingress, certificates, and networking
- Connect GitOps, observability, and backup tooling
- Upgrade clusters without breaking workloads
- Tune systemd, container runtime, and node settings
Good professionals know the trade-offs behind each choice. They can explain when K3s is the right layer and when a full Kubernetes setup is the better path.
Ecosystem and tools
K3s runs with familiar Kubernetes tools, so specialists often work with kubectl, Helm, YAML manifests, and Git-based delivery flows. They also deal with container registries, Prometheus, logging stacks, and policy controls. Many teams know K3s by its original Rancher name, so experience with Rancher K3s and standard Kubernetes operations both matter.
When companies bring in help
- A cluster needs a clean design before rollout
- Existing nodes are unstable or hard to upgrade
- Edge workloads need better resilience and observability
- Security, secrets, or access control are unclear
- The internal team needs short-term support for delivery or migration
Freelance expertise is useful when the platform must move fast without losing control. Strong specialists document decisions well and leave behind setups that internal teams can run.
What to look for
The best K3s professionals understand Linux, containers, networking, and Kubernetes operations as one system. They should be comfortable with cluster bootstrapping, troubleshooting, and day-two tasks like upgrades and recovery. For Germany-based projects, clear written communication matters, especially when teams split work between local sites and remote experts.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to the questions that come up most around K3s.
K3s is used to run Kubernetes-style workloads in smaller or more distributed environments. Teams choose it for edge systems, lab setups, branch sites, and lean production clusters where simplicity matters. It is often the right choice when you need standard orchestration without the overhead of a full Kubernetes stack.
K3s is still Kubernetes, but packaged in a lighter form. Compared with a full upstream installation, it is easier to bootstrap and usually better suited to constrained systems and edge use cases. If a project needs every advanced control plane option, a full Kubernetes setup may be a better fit.
A K3s specialist is useful when a cluster must be designed, repaired, upgraded, or moved into a cleaner operating model. This is especially true if the team is new to Kubernetes operations or if the environment mixes remote nodes, edge systems, and central services. A strong freelancer can reduce guesswork and help avoid fragile setups.
A good K3s expert usually brings Linux administration, container runtimes, networking, and YAML-based deployment skills. Familiarity with Helm, GitOps flows, ingress controllers, storage classes, and observability tools is also valuable. Security basics like secrets handling and access control matter just as much.
That depends on the scope, but K3s work is rarely just about installing a binary. Small tasks may need only a focused specialist, while production platforms need someone who understands upgrades, resilience, and failure handling. If the cluster supports business workloads, proven operating experience is important.
Often yes, because much K3s work can be done through SSH, Git, and cluster tooling. Remote collaboration works well for design, rollout, and troubleshooting, especially when the local team can provide access and logs quickly. On-site support is more useful when hardware, gateways, or network boundaries are part of the setup.
Look for concrete examples of K3s clusters they have installed, upgraded, or rescued. Good signs include clear explanations of networking choices, storage design, security controls, and rollback plans. You want someone who can describe how they keep the platform operable after launch, not just how they start it.
The biggest problems with K3s usually come from treating it like a toy cluster. Teams skip planning for storage, ingress, secrets, monitoring, or upgrades, then run into issues later. A strong specialist helps avoid these gaps by designing the operating model before workloads go live.
The average hourly rate of freelancers in Germany who have used K3s in their recent projects is 112 €, which corresponds to a daily rate of about 893 € based on an 8-hour working day.
Of the freelancers in Germany who have used K3s in their recent projects, 91% hold at least a Bachelor's degree, 64% hold at least a Master's degree, and 9% hold a doctorate.
On average, freelancers in Germany who have used K3s in their recent projects have 20 years of professional experience, with a single engagement typically lasting around 1.4 years.
The most common languages among freelancers in Germany who have used K3s in their recent projects are German (100%), English (93%), and Spanish (27%).
The most common industries among freelancers in Germany who have used K3s in their recent projects are Information Technology (100%), Banking and Finance (53%), and Healthcare (47%).
The most common business areas among freelancers in Germany who have used K3s in their recent projects are Information Technology (100%), Product Development (87%), and Project Management (60%).
Main locations of FRATCH Experts, who have recently used K3s
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 Cologne Frankfurt Stuttgart Dusseldorf Leipzig Dortmund Essen Bremen Dresden Hanover Nuremberg Request a free demo
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Philipp Thomaschewski
FRATCH CEO
