Xray Expert

Working Environment

• Insurance / Claims Management (Property, Liability, Automotive)
• REST-based ClaimAPI with Guidewire ClaimCenter

Scope

• Further development of the internal REST-based ClaimAPI with Guidewire ClaimCenter as the backend and various portals/front-end offices as clients, and with the following objectives: + increased AI-supported claims processing outside of Guidewire ClaimCenter + and support for all lines (property, liability, automotive).
• Further development of automated claims processing

Activities

• Interfacing IT & Business
• Design activities with documentation in Confluence, Jira: + Requirements engineering (functional and non-functional) + Design of REST endpoints and coordination with interface partners (esp. AI-colleagues) + Identification, design and evaluation of alternative solutions (moving away from a monolithic approach toward fine-grained endpoints, with code reuse across all lines if possible) + Creation / refinement of product backlog items in Jira, i.e. epics, user stories and tasks, incl. alignment with developers & POs during (pre-)refinement sessions + Using AXA Secure GPT when creating / refining user stories (description, acceptance criteria) and designing REST endpoints + Estimation and prioritization of user stories and tasks during Sprint Planning sessions + Coordination and support during the implementation of Product Backlog items + Driving decision making with preparation and presentation of decision-making documents
• Quality assurance: + Test management, including test case creation using Xray in Jira + Test execution using Bruno as REST client and in Guidewire ClaimCenter + Submission of test artifacts for PO approval + Analysis of production bugs

Methods Big Room Planning (aka PI-Planning in SAFe), Scrum, BPMN, EPK, UML, ERM, DDD

Tools / Tech Stack Teams, Confluence, Jira with Xray, OpenAPI/Swagger, REST, JSON, XML, MS Office, Bruno, GitHub repository (reading), Guidewire ClaimCenter, AXA Secure GPT (AXA's in-house GenAI solution based on Azure OpenAI)

Agile Transformation: introducing agile principles and transforming traditional IT departments into Scrum and Kanban teams

IT Operating Model: redesigning the IT organization and introducing modern delivery structures and roles

Flight Levels: building up Flight Levels practices within IT to align strategy, coordination and operational execution

Leadership & Coaching: recruiting Agile Coaches and coaching Scrum Masters and IT leaders

ERP Operations: acting as Interim Product Owner for the existing ERP landscape and ensuring business continuity

ERP Transformation: reorganizing and supporting the ERP migration as a Project Manager; Phase 1 (financial accounting) live since October 2025

Operational Core (ERP): establishing dedicated teams for ERP Support, Feature Development, and ERP Migration

Modern Workplace: initiating the transition towards a Microsoft 365-based cloud workplace environment

Integration: establishing a dedicated team to drive integration and connectivity initiatives

Warehouse Operations: building a cross-functional team to support logistics and warehouse-related capabilities

Maintenance & Operations (M&O): introducing a dedicated team for system engineering, security, stable operations and continuous improvement

AI Initiatives: identifying and promoting practical Artificial Intelligence use cases across the IT department

As Interim Head of IT for a German medium-sized industrial distributor, I am responsible for 31 IT employees and lead the digital and organizational transformation, reporting directly to executive leadership. I took over an IT department with almost no basic structures – no clear roles, processes, documentation or ticket system – and with significant technical debt that tied up most of its capacity. Introduced agile principles and ways of working in the IT organization and transformed the traditionally structured IT department into cross-functional Scrum and Kanban teams focused on transparency, collaboration, and customer value delivery.

Redesigned the entire IT organization by establishing a modern operating model, introducing new roles such as Product Owner, Scrum Master and Solution Architect and strengthening the organization through strategic hiring and targeted capability development. Recruited and onboarded Agile Coaches to accelerate the transformation and personally managed and coached Scrum Masters as well as IT department leaders to foster servant leadership, self-management and a culture of continuous improvement.

Aligned IT-internal planning across eight teams to three Flight Levels based on Klaus Leopold (strategy, coordination, team), laying the foundation for later company-wide portfolio management. Consolidated the backlog of more than 10 workstreams and prioritized it by business value and cost of delay. Introduced a ticketing system to increase transparency and enable data-driven decision-making, flow-based work management, and greater accountability at all levels.

Established and supported multiple cross-functional teams, including the Operational Core (ERP) domain with dedicated streams for Support, Feature Development and ERP Migration, as well as teams responsible for Warehouse Operations, Maintenance & Operations (M&O) including system engineering and security, Modern Workplace, Data Quality and integration initiatives. Worked closely with Agile Coaches to support team development, remove impediments, and continuously improve delivery effectiveness.

Acted as Interim Product Owner for the operation and enhancement of the existing ERP landscape while supporting the ERP migration as a Project Manager. Reorganized the project organization and had the already negotiated contract with the implementation partner realigned with a focus on approach and overall responsibility; Phase 1 (financial accounting) has been live since October 2025. Collaborated with the selected implementation partner to design and establish the project organization and target operating model for the ERP transformation, introducing agile delivery structures and ways of working. Facilitated the alignment between business, IT and the external vendor and played a key role in negotiating the contractual framework and delivery model to ensure a sustainable foundation for the transformation program.

Initiated the strategic modernization of the workplace environment through the adoption of Microsoft 365 cloud capabilities, establishing the foundation for enhanced collaboration, scalability and future digital services.

Launched AI initiatives to identify practical business use cases and promote the responsible adoption of Artificial Intelligence across the IT department. Encouraged self-management and empowered teams to take ownership of decisions, delivery and continuous improvement.

• New development and further development of the existing MS Dynamics CRM

IT systems: Microsoft Dynamics Customer Service, SharePoint, DevOps, SAP IS-U

• CRM implementation / further development
• Taking over from the previous service provider
• Business process analysis
• Agile project organization
• Business analysis / requirements engineering with AI support
• Use of AI in development
• Analysis of master data processes
• CRM customer data management
• Requirements documentation
• Stakeholder management
• Workshop moderation

• Analysis of the Riester subsidy GeVos for provider change 2.0 in the AZUR subsidy management system
• Representation of the GeVos in BPMN 2.0 with Draw.io and Adonis
• Analysis of the data sets exchanged with the life insurance policy administration system and migration to the msg data sets
• Design and mapping of the interfaces to the new msg.ZulagenVerwaltung for various Riester subsidy GeVos at data field level

• QA Lead for end-to-end quality assurance of the Sparkasse & Sparkasse Business banking apps (iOS/Android); design and implementation of the Test Strategy including functional testing, regression testing, and UAT for eID, Push Notifications, and white-label components
• Creation and maintenance of test concepts and test plans in TestRail; structured Defect Management and error analysis; stakeholder management and risk management for the early identification of critical quality risks
• Accessibility Testing according to WCAG 2.1 (iOS/Android); coordination of AI-supported test automation and optimization of test processes to shorten release cycles
• Release Management: planning, management, and coordination of all test activities; status reporting to management and stakeholders; quality assessment of releases and release recommendations in an Agile/Scrum environment
• Challenge: Highly complex build and release process across several Sparkasse institutions; close coordination with the DevOps team to stabilize the CI/CD pipeline and ensure reproducible test builds before every release.

Tools: Jira, Confluence, TestRail, Android Studio, Xcode, Firebase, Jenkins, GA4

• Success: Successful launch of the eID authentication process - quality assurance ensured for 50+ Sparkasse institutions

Project: Process optimization & IT support in an insurance broker office.

Project activities:

• Analysis of processes and definition of requirements
• Consulting for the implementation of a cloud solution (soho)
• Installation and verification of new infrastructure HW
• Cloud installation & configuration
• Definition and creation of use cases
• Performing user acceptance tests (UAT)
• User training / training
• IT support (cloud, PC, server, printer, network)

Label: Insurance, infrastructure, configuration, training, support

• Project: Thermomix Online Mock
• Manual execution of functional tests
• Implementation of automated end-to-end tests
• Execution of regression tests and analysis of results
• Further development of the QA website server using Express.js, Handlebars and Node.js
• Further development of the test environment
• Technologies: Agile software development Scrum, Robot Framework, Python, JavaScript, Git (GitLab), VS Code, Jira, Confluence, Express.js, Handlebars, Phoenix/Elixir

• Defined and established the areas of responsibility
• Built a governance model for the department and its areas of responsibility
• IT strategy, project management, process management, and quality and sustainability management
• Developed a communications strategy for the group
• Created the IT strategy
• Designed templates, guidelines, and processes for consistent ways of working
• Recorded strategic guidelines and grouped ongoing projects – derived a roadmap for strategic planning
• Reviewed ongoing projects
• Prepared staffing calculations and capacity planning
• Defined job profiles

• Iterative test planning

• Provision of the test infrastructure

• Resource planning

• Test concept development

• Coordination of the test teams

• Defect management

• Release management

• Project planning

• Cohort planning

• Test planning

• Test execution

• Trial test planning

• Rollout

• Business analysis

• Requirements engineering

• Change management

• E2E test coordination

• Delivery of various end-customer projects in server and network infrastructure on time, in quality, and within budget.
• Project 1: Firewall renewal, replacement of an ASA firewall with a Fortinet firewall at an automotive supplier.
• Project 2: Migration of file services from dedicated servers at 5 branch locations into a central managed file service, including DHCP, directory, and print services, as well as decommissioning of the old domain controllers.
• Project 3: Renewal of the network infrastructure at the headquarters and branch locations of a logistics company and transition of the LAN, WLAN, and firewall environments into a managed network service.
• Project 4: Network renewal, replacement of the core and access switches at the headquarters of a medical technology company and transition into a managed network service.
• Project 5: Firewall renewal, replacement of an ASA firewall with a Fortinet firewall for a city.
• Environment: ASA and Fortinet firewalls, Cisco network components, ITSM Heat/Ivanti, Confluence.

• Product responsibility for the central platform "one" as a group-wide web-based customer portal
• Coordination of the connection of 20 group companies to the product platform
• Derivation and steering of a group-wide product strategy and roadmap aligned with company goals
• Prioritization and bundling of strategic requirements from the various group companies
• Harmonization of different interests and moderation of complex decision-making processes at management level
• Ensuring the technical and business integration of the product into existing system landscapes, business processes, and business models
• Building transparent governance and decision-making structures for group-wide product development
• Representation of the product towards internal and external stakeholders at leadership level

• Structured analysis and evaluation of business processes

• Gathering, documenting, and prioritizing requirements

• Creating business-friendly and technically executable process models

• Use of Camunda tools

• Deriving requirements and interfaces from BPMN diagrams

• Coordination with stakeholders and business units

• Translating business requirements into technical solution designs

• Implementing efficient and tailored applications

• Systematic collection, analysis, and documentation of requirements

• Prioritizing and validating requirements in close collaboration with stakeholders

• Alignment between business and development to ensure shared objectives

• Creating use cases, user stories, and acceptance criteria

• Continuous requirements and change management throughout the project lifecycle

• Define project goals and create project plans

• Delegate tasks and monitor project progress

• Monitor budgets and inform stakeholders

• Mendix: Architecture, development, and maintenance of custom applications (Microflows, Domain Model, Security, XPath)

• Modeling Mendix workflows for process optimization

• Develop scalable apps with Mendix including REST/SOAP integration with SAP, SQL, Azure & SharePoint

• UI design for Mendix using Atlas UI, Fluent UI, HTML, CSS, JavaScript

• Develop web & mobile apps with Mendix using agile methods (Scrum, Kanban)

• Implement business logic with Mendix Microflows and Nanoflows

• Performance optimization and architecture improvements for Mendix applications

• Conduct Mendix training

• Create technical documentation and best practices for Mendix

• Coaching and mentoring for low-code development with Mendix

Task:

• Design and build a proof of concept (PoC) for a future-proof virtualization platform, taking secure system architectures into account
• Assess the current state of existing infrastructures and develop selection and evaluation criteria for the right OS virtualization platform
• Carry out the requirements analysis and then create and prioritize tickets in the ticket system
• Complete and continuously update a tool evaluation matrix based on PoC results
• Support team knowledge building through clear documentation of the approach and results in Confluence
• Enterprise analysis of existing hardware (creating different BoMs)

Technologies: Vmware, Vmware Aria Operations, Osism, Canonical OpenStack, FishOs, Linux, Terraform, Ansible, Confluence, Alma

• Designed and developed the architecture of an enterprise SCM/CI platform for Kubernetes-native delivery and GitOps workflows.
• Implemented infrastructure automation and Vault & IAM integration for secure, compliant pipelines.
• Coordinated cross-functional teams to improve DevOps, security, and architecture in release processes.
• Increased platform adoption and developer experience by automating onboarding and artifact pipelines.