Next.js Experts in Cologne

• Built more than 15 frontend applications and more than 10 backend services across internal tools, back-office workflows, and external portals for installers and end customers
• Automate build and release workflows with TypeScript and Azure DevOps
• Mentor junior engineers through code reviews and technical guidance
• Integrate AI-assisted and agentic development practices into engineering workflows
• Coordinate user experience decisions with UX designers

Tech Stack: Claude Code, Codex, AWS (S3, Lambda, AppSync, Resolver), Next.js App Router, ReactJS, NuxtJS, Vue.js, Storybook, JavaScript, TypeScript, GraphQL, Azure DevOps

• 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.

• Further development of a policy administration system (contract/claims) for the legal expenses insurer ÖRAG.
• My role: Senior Software Developer.
• The team consists of 12 developers.
• Technologies used: Java 8/21, Java EE, Quarkus, WebLogic, JPA, RabbitMQ, JTA, CI, CD, Jenkins, DB2, Maven, Jenkins, GIT (bitbucket) later GitLab, Junit, Elasticsearch, Mockito, Jira, SonarQube, Scrum, React, Workflow
• Migration and modernization of legacy systems: rewrote C and C++ code in Java to improve maintainability, scalability, and performance. Refactored Python into Java, including optimization and integration into modern architectures.
• Study on the use of AI (Codex) for implementing a Java feature. The goal is to compare the time spent and productivity of AI-supported development with a classic implementation by a developer. The results should show how strongly the use of AI affects development time and efficiency.
• Development of the following tariff calculators for the years 2024/2026: private, companies, doctors, farmers, owner-occupied G + H, landlords, traffic, club, top managers, sales representatives, special criminal law, savings bank, municipal, BayGT, doctors, Dehoga

• Full product responsibility from a business perspective: requirement analysis, UX design, product strategy, and go-to-market implemented without an internal dev team using fully AI-supported development (Claude Code / Anthropic)
• Technical differentiation: KRITIS-compliant air-gapped deployment (Windows/NSIS), GDT interface for PVS integration, DATEV-LODAS export for payroll
• Managed pilot operation with initial external client (Dormagen medical practice): structured requirement gathering, test support, error analysis, and release management
• Developed rollout and sales strategy for market entry in the segment of private practices and small medical centers
• Human-in-the-Loop development principle: business decision → AI implementation → manual review → approval → release – each sprint documented in Jira (TIME project), every change traceable via co-authored commits
• Product outcome: Tauri/Rust desktop app with GDT watcher, multi-tier model (Starter/Professional/Enterprise), cloud mirror on Hetzner/Traefik, complete ISMS framework based on ISO 27001 and BSI basic protection as product foundation
• Direct method validation for the test manager role: hands-on experience with quality assurance of AI-generated products from a user perspective, review gate discipline, release approval under GDPR and the EU AI Act

• Developed a shop website
• Integrated an AI language model
• Developed tools for AI-powered webhooks
• Technical tools: REACT.js; Elevenlabs; MCP; n8n; HTTP

• Hybrid role as the first software engineer in the company to bootstrap the organization, laying out technical foundation and advising management on organizational aspects.
• Set up the SaaS platform architecture, selected languages and tools, and designed processes to deliver customer value quickly and reliably.
• Designed and implemented build and continuous deployment pipeline with multi-tenant approach enabling extreme scaling of the SaaS platform.
• Established initial ITSM and support processes, provided monitoring and alarming, and participated in the on-call team.
• Proposed new approaches to scale the platform and improve backend interfaces to mitigate bugs and communication overhead.
• Mentored new employees and served as a trustful team member and lateral leader.
• Conducted interviews for technical roles.
• Used technologies: Typescript, Node.js, Bash, Google Cloud Platform (App Engine, Cloud Run, Cloud Functions, Google Endpoints, Firebase), GitHub Actions, Docker, Terraform, MongoDB, Firebase, REST APIs, GraphQL.