Microservices Experts in Cologne

• 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.

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

PFS-Matching-App

• Integrated an intelligent LLM chatbot using LangChain4j, enabling conversational AI, context-aware question answering, document summarization, and autonomous tool execution.
• Implemented Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), prompt engineering, and AI agent workflows to connect large language models with enterprise data and backend services.
• Developed RESTful APIs and secure backend services to support AI-driven interactions and business processes

• Responsible for the architecture and development of an AI-native SaaS platform for industrial product portfolio management.
• Designed the modern data platform architecture on Azure for scalable analytics and enterprise data integration.
• Built enterprise data ingestion and transformation pipelines across complex industrial system landscapes.
• Developed graph-based representations of product structures and dependencies for analytical reasoning.
• Designed and implemented an agentic AI framework for AI-supported decision workflows.
• Built scalable analytical microservices and integrated reporting through modern BI technologies.
• Coordinated backend, AI, and frontend development across the MYNR platform stack.

• Led the end-to-end architecture and migration of a legacy on- premise IoT monitoring system to a cloud-native Azure platform within a 17-member development team
• Designed and implemented a scalable microservices architecture (Java 21, Spring Boot, Kubernetes, Azure Services), decoupling IoT data streams and eliminating legacy system bottlenecks
• Defined technology stack, mentored developers, and orchestrated cross-functional teams in 4 countries to ensure high-quality delivery and alignment with architectural standards
• Drove requirements engineering and system redesign, removing years of technical debt and introducing event-driven processing and automated workflows
• Key Achievements
• Increased system stability and uptime by ~10x, eliminating need for 24/7 DevOps intervention
• Reduced hosting costs by ~80% (5x savings) through cloud optimization
• Improved performance and scalability, enabling stable handling of high-volume IoT data streams
• Delivered successful zero-disruption migration from on-prem to cloud, with strong user satisfaction and reliability from day one

• 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

• 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

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

• Overall responsibility for platform transformation across ERP, CRM, PIM, and AI-driven process automation
• ERP transformation: Implementing and migrating to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
• CRM & growth stack: Implementing HubSpot as the central CRM and a platform for lead and marketing automation
• Product data & commerce enablement: Introducing an ePIM to scale category management and digital commerce processes
• AI-driven process automation: Designing and implementing agent-based AI workflows to automate processes in business services, accounting, tender management, and marketing
• Building a scalable platform organization including product development, DevOps, UX, cloud engineering, and corporate IT
• Implementing modern product and portfolio governance (e.g., OKRs, portfolio boards, value-based roadmaps) to manage technology-driven initiatives
• Harmonizing heterogeneous system landscapes and transforming them into a modular, scalable platform architecture (ERP, CRM, PIM, integrated customer journeys)
• Coaching and developing product owners, tech leads, delivery managers, and UX teams to build a scalable product organization

• 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.

• Spearheaded strategic and operational oversight of IT infrastructures to accelerate innovation and ensure audit-proof delivery.
• Acted as key liaison between management, business departments, and engineering, actively engaging in coding, cloud architecture, and CI/CD to resolve critical path challenges.
• Engineered and implemented an AI Governance Program to manage risks and ensure compliance with the EU AI Act, reducing AI use-case approval times from 8 to 3 weeks.
• Delivered and deployed secure AI systems into production (RAG-based knowledge platforms), resulting in a 35% decrease in standard support ticket volume.
• Established robust security standards and governance frameworks for APIs (OAuth2/OIDC, mTLS) and cloud platforms (AWS/GCP) to guarantee compliance and system integrity.
• Hardened cloud infrastructure by implementing Zero Trust principles and a comprehensive observability stack (logging/alerting), achieving 99.9% availability in a 24/7 on-call environment.

• 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

• PRISMA project
• Ansible automation
• Windows third level support for Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows 2013, Windows 2016, Windows 2019