Your backend systems, shipped reliably
I help DACH enterprises build, modernize, and scale backend systems — as a hands-on engineer or interim tech lead. You get production-ready code, clear architecture, and a team that ships faster after I leave.
Freelance Backend Engineer & Tech Lead — Berlin, Germany
Typical engagement outcomes
- — Systems that handle 10x the load without firefighting
- — CI pipelines that run in minutes, not hours
- — Teams that deliver autonomously after handoff
How I Can Help
I work as an embedded freelancer or interim lead, typically on 3-6 month engagements. Here are four ways to work together, depending on what you need right now.
Build Your Backend
A production-ready system that scales
You need a new service, API, or platform built from scratch. I design the architecture, write the core code, set up infrastructure, and deliver a system your team can maintain and extend.
Typically 3-6 months, embedded in your team
Good fit if you have
- — Greenfield projects that need to ship on deadline
- — New microservices in an existing landscape
- — APIs for mobile apps, partner integrations, or internal tools
Fix What's Slowing You Down
Faster systems, fewer incidents
Your system is too slow, too fragile, or too expensive to run. I find the bottlenecks, fix them, and leave you with measurable improvements and documentation so the gains stick.
4-8 week focused sprint
Good fit if you have
- — Performance problems you can't pinpoint
- — Legacy code that's painful to change
- — Scaling issues before they become outages
Modernize Without the Risk
Legacy systems that don't hold you back
You have aging systems that work but slow everything else down. I integrate, migrate, or replace them incrementally - without the big-bang rewrite that never finishes.
2-6 months, depending on migration scope
Good fit if you have
- — 10-20 year old systems you can't turn off yet
- — Migrations that need to happen in production
- — Tech debt that's blocking feature work
Lead Your Backend Team
A team that ships better after I leave
You need experienced technical leadership but not a permanent hire. I lead your backend team, establish practices, mentor developers, and make the architecture decisions — then hand off cleanly.
3-6 months as interim tech lead
Good fit if you have
- — Interim tech lead while you hire
- — Offshore team that needs onboarding and direction
- — Architecture decisions that need an outside perspective
Interested in one of these? Let's discuss scope.
Start a ConversationSelected Work
Anonymized summaries of recent engagements. References and detail available on request.
Replacing 10-20 year old production systems without stopping the factory
Senior Backend Engineer, embedded in the product team
Critical manufacturing execution systems running on legacy software. Too risky to replace all at once, too costly to keep patching.
What was delivered
- — Reverse-engineered legacy interfaces and built integration layer for multi-system migration
- — Halved CI pipeline time through test infrastructure and architecture improvements
- — Delivered the next-generation MES to production with ~10x performance improvement over the legacy system
- — Evaluated database technologies for large reporting datasets (tables up to 40M rows and ~200 columns) and delivered a recommendation with PoC
From architecture to production launch in under two years
Backend Tech Lead, reporting to CPO, leading offshore developers
Commodity trading platform needed a backend lead who could define architecture and ship code - fast enough for a startup, reliable enough for financial transactions.
What was delivered
- — Defined core backend architecture, then led the team through platform go-live on time and budget
- — Onboarded and guided offshore developers during rapid company transformation
- — Integrated Salesforce and set up production maintenance practices
- — Managed cross-functional collaboration with product and business stakeholders
Five production launches through a company restructuring
Development Lead, team of 4, primary inter-team contact
Major real estate company undergoing transformation - needed a dev lead who could keep shipping while the organization restructured around them.
What was delivered
- — Led team of 4 through COVID and company restructuring, shipping continuously
- — Built email classification pipeline that cut processing time from days to seconds
- — Migrated core services from Java to Kotlin, accelerating and stabilizing feature delivery
- — Built tenant applications for Germany and France, supporting onboarding for tens of thousands of tenants
How I Work
A predictable process so you know what to expect at each stage.
Understand
I audit your codebase, talk to stakeholders, and map dependencies. You get a written assessment of what's working, what's not, and what to prioritize.
Deliver
I ship production code, fix problems, and document decisions as I go. You see progress in your repo every week, not just at the end.
Transfer
I hand off cleanly: documentation, architecture decisions recorded, your team trained on what I built. You're not dependent on me staying.
What you can count on
Code that outlasts me
I write for the next person, not to impress. Clear naming, tested behavior, documented decisions.
No surprises
Weekly updates, explicit trade-offs, and early warnings if something's harder than expected.
Your stack, your way
I adapt to your conventions, tools, and processes. I'm not here to rewrite everything my way.
About
I'm Andrey, a backend engineer and tech lead based in Berlin. I've spent over 16 years building production systems for enterprises - the kind where reliability matters and shortcuts compound into problems.
My work sits at the intersection of writing code and leading teams. I'm most useful when you need someone who can do both: ship features, review architecture, unblock developers, and talk to stakeholders without needing translation.
I work primarily in the JVM ecosystem (Kotlin, Java, Spring Boot) with PostgreSQL, Kafka, and cloud infrastructure on AWS and Azure. Before moving into industry, I spent four years in compiler research at Universität des Saarlandes - building tooling for automated testing and bug detection in GCC and LLVM.
At a Glance
Languages
References
Past clients and detailed project history available on LinkedIn
Let's work together
Available for interim engagements, project-based work, and on-demand consulting. Remote or on-site in Berlin and across the DACH region.
I typically respond within 24 hours.