Portrait of Niko Schmuck

Niko Schmuck

Software Architecture, Development & Consulting

n.schmuck@nava.de

About Me

Experienced software architect based in Hamburg, Germany.

I have been working in custom software development for more than 20 years as a software developer and architect. Since May 2011, I have been working freelance, supporting clients in the design and implementation of tailored, business-critical software solutions.

My work sits at the intersection of technical complexity and business requirements. I often support companies in early project phases with feasibility assessments, technology choices, and architectural direction, and I can contribute either as an embedded technical lead or as a hands-on architect.

I aim to balance long-term architectural thinking with practical delivery. That means designing systems with maintainability and growth in mind, while staying focused on near-term business needs, realistic constraints, and steady progress.

Philosophy & Expertise

I see technology as a means to support practical outcomes rather than an end in itself. While I have extensive experience with architectural approaches such as Domain-Driven Design (DDD), I place equal importance on close collaboration with domain experts and business stakeholders. My aim is to help shape solutions that are useful, maintainable, and well aligned with the needs of the people who work with them.

My academic background in physics (Diplom-Physiker) has shaped a structured, analytical way of working. Whether analyzing energy grid telemetry or refining algorithms, I tend to rely on empirical observation, careful analysis, and measurable outcomes to inform technical decisions and support product development.

Architecture & Backend Engineering
Kotlin Spring Boot PostgreSQL & TimescaleDB Apache Kafka Docker & Kubernetes
Agentic Engineering & Time-Series AI
Agentic Engineering (Gemini, IntelliJ Junie) Model Context Protocol (MCP) Python Data Analytics Machine Learning (sktime, ARIMA) Seasonal Time-Series Forecasting

Strategic Roles & Core Competencies

Role / Focus The Value for Your Business What I Bring to the Table
Technical Product Owner (TPO) Helping align business priorities with technical realities. Where product decisions involve architectural trade-offs, technical debt, or AI-related opportunities, I support a roadmap that is realistic, maintainable, and suited to the organization’s goals. A strong understanding of technical feasibility and delivery constraints. I work comfortably with development teams and stakeholders alike, helping turn complex requirements into practical implementation plans and sustainable decisions.
Strategic Software Architect Supporting architecture work at a level beyond day-to-day implementation. Especially in environments shaped by growing complexity and AI-related change, I help define technical direction, architectural guardrails, and structures that support stability over time. Experience with resilient enterprise architectures and long-running systems. I contribute to code quality, architectural consistency, and technical foundations that can evolve without losing clarity or maintainability.
AI Integration Engineer / Architect A practical approach to AI integration. Rather than treating AI as a separate initiative, I focus on how modern AI and large language models can be embedded into existing enterprise systems in ways that are useful, secure, and operationally realistic. Experience in data pipelines, API design, and enterprise integration. I combine established software engineering patterns with current AI capabilities to help build production-ready features that fit within existing technical and organizational constraints.

Featured Projects

Here are some highlights from my professional work over the last couple of years. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or would like to discuss potential collaborations or partnerships. In case of interest, I will send you my full CV.
eRound Grid Project
Asset Time-Series Data Integration
Since July 2023
HH Energienetze / Stromnetz Hamburg
Developing Architect, Technical Lead "gridlytics"

Conception, architecture, and core implementation of an asset data integration platform for time-series and master data. The system brings together operational telemetry from SCADA interfaces with relational data from SAP-based systems, supporting grid state analysis and regulatory requirements under §14a EnWG.

Kotlin Spring Boot TimescaleDB PostgreSQL Kubernetes
eRound Architektur
Data Lake for eMobility Backend
Sep 2021 — June 2023
Stromnetz Hamburg
Developing Architect, Technical Lead "datalytics"

Architectural design and implementation of a cloud-based data analytics platform for regional charging infrastructure. By aggregating event-driven message payloads, the system supports monitoring of charging activity and provides data for longer-term planning of urban charging locations. The backend uses scalable pipelines to transform telemetry into reporting and analysis workflows.

Kotlin Spring Boot TimescaleDB Apache Kafka Azure AKS
Cloud Labs Project
Conception & Architecture of "Cloud Labs"
Feb 2013 — Sep 2013
Adobe Systems
Software Developer & Consultant

Technical design and implementation of a cloud orchestration portal for internal developer use. The system enabled distributed engineering teams to provision shared cloud worker environments for Java and C-based workloads on AWS. It also automated parts of node pooling, resource scheduling, and telemetry collection for operational visibility.

Play! Framework Amazon AWS Hosted Chef MySQL
OTTO Project
Core Architecture eCommerce Platform "Lhotse"
Sep 2011 — Jan 2013
OTTO
Software Architect

Architecture work on core system layers for the rewrite of otto.de, which had previously been based on Intershop. Working within an agile Scrum setup, I focused on service structures for product master data, search-related components, and navigational context. The transition contributed to a more modular backend architecture based on decoupled REST services.

Java REST Architecture Spring Framework MongoDB Self-contained Systems (SCS)

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