Josef Auer
Berlin
Germany

Josef Auer

Josef Auer

I'm an Agile Software Developer, Architect, Team Lead and Evangelist for simplicity. I believe in Lean and Agile development methodologies and that a team dedicated to the product will deliver the highest possible outcome. My passion are mobile applications that bring value to the users and make their lives easier.

In my career I helped multiple teams and companies to reach the next step towards being "digital". This includes moving towards more agile processes but also setting up off-shoring teams and processes.

Professional Experience


  • PayU - Chief Software Architect

    https://www.payu.com/

    January 2016 - now

    My role in PayU started off by setting up a new location in Berlin. This included finding a suitable office location as well as hiring the full team from scratch. The whole product development process for the newly formed team was shaped by me. Once the team was able to continue without further guidance I took on other projects and was only consulting the team on request.

    Currently I'm leading the software development part of the PayU Hub project. In this role I facilitate the efforts between multiple regions and teams within PayU but also from third parties. While I work closely with the product and sales team to take in all requirements I also set up the delivery process for the final product. Coaching multiple teams in different locations is as much part of my role as making sure that the organisation as a whole moves towards a more global setup.

  • paysafecard - Lead Mobile Development

    https://www.paysafecard.com/

    May 2015 - December 2015

    While I made sure that my team is able to deliver their products in the best possible quality I also define the architecture and provide the CI pipeline. I supported the team in reaching a high standard both in the process and the product

    Additionally my position included to help the company to move into a mobile first setup. This includes explaining and implementing the changes needed in IT, product, business, marketing and operations that are necessary to become a truly mobile company. Infusing mobile into the DNA of the company is my main goal.

  • bwin.party - Master Coder Architect

    http://www.bwinparty.com/

    June 2008 - April 2015

    I started at bwin in the research department. My projects included mobile phones and technologies from the beginning. After the successful development and deployment of the first native real money live betting application for iOS I took over the architect position for the mobile teams at bwin and bwin.party for the sports betting area. My position included the development, architectural guidance and consulting of various mobile applications from backend to frontend and back again.

    I was primarily included in setting up multiple mobile development teams in Europe (mainly in Austria, Ukraine and Romania). Apart from that I was part of the setup of an off-shoring capacity for bwin in Bengaluru, India.

    My job included driving the Agile transformation at bwin.party as well as defining the architecture for the mobile web and native development. This included the setup of Agile methodologies, coaching the teams and finding solutions for specific issues in our workflow as well as working on our technical road to continuous delivery.

    Projects I lead or developed myself for bwin.party include:

    • Relaunch of m.bwin.com

      I was working with the team developing the new mobile web experience for bwin sports betting. We designed a new user experience, built on top of a new technology stack. After our initial version was finished within three months it was approved and is currently being distributed to all our markets.

    • First iOS native real money sports betting application

      Within six weeks after presenting the initial idea and prototype to the CEO I was able to develop, submit and get the very first iOS native real money betting application approved. Up till then mainly WAP pages and HTML wrapper applications were industry standard. This application changed the face of the mobile betting application landscape.

    • First Android native real money sports betting application

      After the above described iOS application I designed and developed the Android application. As with iOS it was the first native real money sports betting application on the Android play store.

    • HTML 5 EURO 2012 application targeted specifically on Android and iOS

      With a team in the Ukraine I was able to develop and successfully deploy a new version of m.bwin.com just in time for the EURO 2012. This was the first HTML5 only mobile application at bwin.party.

  • Accenture Technology Solutions - Analyst Programmer

    http://www.accenture.com/

    April 2007 - May 2008

    I mostly worked on backend components for banks and insurances while being at Accenture. The primarily used technology was COBOL.

  • PL-O-T EDV - Developer

    http://www.plot.at/

    November 2006 - February 2007

    I primarily developed HTML front-ends while working for PL-O-T for in-house projects and for the online banking of Bank Austria.

  • Knallgrau

    http://www.knallgrau.at

    November 2005 - February 2006

    In this internship I developed plugins and extensions for Knallgraus own blogging software called twoday.

Education


Courses and Training


  • Military Service

    January 2001 - September 2001

    Paramedic at Fliegerhorst Langenlebern

  • Paramedic for the Red Cross - Volunteer

    http://www.roteskreuz.at

    September 1998 - June 2005

  • Firefighter at Purgstall - Volunteer

    http://www.ff-purgstall.at/

    September 1990 - now

Technologies


I currently develop primarily with React, Angular, Polymer and plain JavaScript while always trying to find new ways to make it easier for me to quickly develop new products.
I prefer Android over iOS development. Below is a list of technologies I successfully used in projects so far.

  • Angular.js
  • React.js
  • Bootstrap
  • jQuery
  • node.js
  • Android - Java
  • iOS - Objectiv-C
  • iOS - Swift
  • COBOL

I advocate for a service and micro service approach in my projects. I'm a firm believer of "API First" development. To achieve these goals I used the following tools and technologies successfully

  • Swagger (UI, Editor)
  • OpenAPI
  • Docker
  • GitLab
  • Cloud Providers like Amazon, Rackspace, Google Cloud

Personal Information


Born in Lower Austria, as a son of cook and restaurant owner great food was always important to me. I enjoy eating food from different cultures and kitchens and like to cook myself. As long as meat is involved, I will probably try it.

I love volleyball, which I started playing at the age of 12. Back then I joined a local team and played competitively in regional and national championships. After a series of injuries I had to stop playing regularly but still have a soft spot for the sport.

Travelling is my passion and I aim to experience as much of this planet as possible. Among the places I’ve already visited is Iceland, which I count as one of the most beautiful countries on this planet. Besides being in nature I enjoy spending time with pets. I quite recently found out that Huskies have a very soothing and calming effect on me. I hope to be able to have Alaskan Huskies and train them one day.