Software Architecture
Hexagonal microservices and Domain-Driven Design for systems that scale with your business instead of slowing it down. Clearly documented, with diagrams everyone can follow.
Available from October 2026 · Remote / DACH
Software architecture that holds.
Michael Bortlik, Senior Software Architect & Lead Developer. I design and build robust cloud platforms from Java/Kotlin microservices, React frontends and Kubernetes on GCP, from the first architecture sketch to production deployment.
12+
years of engineering
4+
years lead & project management
CKA · CPSA
certified
3
scientific publications
Available
from October 2026full-time, project-based
Model
Remote · DACHno employee leasing
Location
Bavariahybrid Regensburg · Munich · Nuremberg
Languages
EN · DE · PLcommunication as a bridge
Services
What I bring to your project
Architecture, development and operations from a single source, hands-on in the code and as the technical head of the team.
Full-Stack Development
Backends with Quarkus and Spring, modern frontends with React. Clean, tested, maintainable.
Cloud & DevOps
Kubernetes platforms on GCP, automated CI/CD and security pipelines (SAST/SCA) and deployments you can rely on.
Lead & Project Management
Technical team leadership, requirements engineering and agile transformation, acting as the communication bridge between stakeholders, business and development, in public agencies as well as large enterprises.
Security & IAM
OIDC/OAuth with Keycloak, RBAC and secure software development in line with OWASP, with hands-on experience from ISO 27001 and BSI environments.
Data & Integration
Relational and NoSQL databases, REST and OpenAPI interfaces, messaging and real-time communication for clean system integration.
AI Engineering
AI-assisted development in day-to-day engineering, AI in requirements engineering, plus RAG systems, MCP servers and custom agent skills.
Quality & Testing
Quality is built in, not bolted on: unit and integration tests, code reviews and static analysis wired firmly into the pipeline.
Collaboration & Documentation
Transparent collaboration and living knowledge management: documentation is part of the definition of done, ideally as docs as code right in the repository.
Tech Stack
The tools I deliver with
Grown out of more than a decade of production projects, not a buzzword list.
Languages
- Java
- Kotlin
- TypeScript
- JavaScript
- Dart
- Python
- PHP
- Bash
Backend
- Quarkus
- Spring Boot
- JPA / Hibernate
- REST
- OpenAPI
Frontend, Mobile & UX
- React
- Angular
- Flutter
- HTML
- CSS
- Site Maps
- Low/High-Fidelity Prototyping
Cloud & DevOps
- Kubernetes
- Helm
- Docker
- Google Cloud
- GitLab CI
- GitHub Actions
- Jenkins
- Maven
- Gradle
Architecture
- DDD
- Hexagonal
- Microservices
- UML
- PlantUML
- MermaidJS
- Requirements Engineering
Security
- Keycloak
- OAuth / OIDC
- OWASP
- ISO 27001
- BSI IT-Grundschutz
- SAST / SCA
- Trivy
- SonarQube
Data & Integration
- PostgreSQL
- MariaDB
- MySQL
- OracleDB
- MongoDB
- Elasticsearch
- Kafka
- AMQP
- WebSocket
AI Engineering
- Claude Code
- Copilot
- Gemini CLI
- Codex
- RAG
- MCP
- Skill
Profile
Experienced architect with a hands-on mentality
More than 12 years of experience in full-stack development, cloud infrastructure and technical project management, across public-sector, enterprise and research environments. I treat architecture and implementation as one job and stay close to the code.
Targeted transformation & communication: I find solutions to problems, mediate between stakeholders, business and development, and bring teams along through change.
Academic background in Information Systems (M.Sc., University of Regensburg), certified as a Certified Kubernetes Administrator and iSAQB software architect, with three scientific publications on service-oriented architectures.
Scientific publications: BISE 2018, Information Systems Frontiers 2023, ICIS 2022.
CKACertified Kubernetes Administrator
iSAQB® CPSA-FCertified Professional for Software Architecture
M.Sc.Information Systems, University of Regensburg
EN · DE · PLEnglish, German (native), Polish
Selected experience
Roles & projects
10/2023 – 07/2026
Lead Developer, DevOps & Cloud Engineer
PreHCM Services GmbH · Telecommunications regulation
Architecture and lead responsibility for the "New Mobile" platform, built on hexagonal microservices and DDD. Designed and built a RAG system that uses AI to speed up requirements engineering and documentation. Company-wide rollout of "Managed GitLab" (GitLab Ultimate) and part of the security team driving the ISO 27001 setup.
01/2020 – 09/2023
IT Officer / Technical Project Lead
BAMF, German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees · Public sector
Technical project lead for the migration, asylum and reintegration system MARiS: steering four development units, architecture blueprint, release planning and introduction of Scaled Scrum (Nexus).
since 2013
Independent Software Engineer
Freelance (part-time) · various clients
End-to-end projects from design to operations, including a Flutter reading-support app with a Quarkus backend, web platforms and clinical data-capture software.
2013 – 2019
Research Associate / Assistant
University of Regensburg · Information Systems
Built and ran a 24-VM Kubernetes cluster for more than 200 student projects, dozens of web services, ML prototyping and three scientific publications.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
When are you available?
I'm available from October 2026, full-time on a project or daily-rate basis. Before then, I'm happy to have an informal call and align the details, so we can hit the ground running at kickoff.
Remote or on-site?
I work primarily remote, across the whole DACH region. On-site and hybrid arrangements work well around Regensburg, Munich and Nuremberg, and beyond that for kickoffs, workshops or key milestones.
What is the engagement model?
I work freelance on a project or daily-rate basis, staff leasing is not something I offer. Invoicing is clean and transparent, with German VAT.
What is your technical focus?
My focus is the stack you see here: Java/Kotlin microservices with Quarkus and Spring, Domain-Driven Design, React frontends plus Kubernetes and GCP, preferably in cloud projects. That said, I'm just as happy to join differently shaped projects and I'm curious about new languages, technologies and domains.
Which roles can you fill?
Senior Software Architect, Lead Developer or technical project lead, hands-on and as the technical head of the team. I'm equally available as a developer, software engineer or cloud engineer.
Region and languages?
I work remotely worldwide, preferably but not limited to the DACH region. The project language can be English or German: German is my native language, my English is fluent, and I speak Polish well.
Contact
Let's talk about your project
Available freelance from October 2026, primarily remote across the DACH region, hybrid around Regensburg, Munich or Nuremberg. Send me a short message, I usually reply within one business day. References available on request.