The Area Developer Experience & Platform
MAKING LIFE EASIER IN OUR TECH & PRODUCT DEPARTMENT
The tasks of the Developer Experience & Platform area
Our Developer Experience & Platform Area is responsible for designing, building and running internal platforms and tools for our Tech and Product teams.
As Kaufland e-commerce continues to grow and our online marketplaces see more and more traffic, the teams need scalable and future-proof platforms to help them with their daily work.
What does the Developer Experience & Platform Area do for our company?
- It strengthens our product teams
- It focuses on developing a smooth developer experience
- It uses best practices and cutting-edge technologies from the industry to stay one step ahead of the competition
The Area consists of colleagues from all over the world who have experience in both development and operations. Situations that require cross-functional expertise and a long-term mindset don’t scare them; tasks like these, which require both precise engineering and creativity, are where Area’s teams flourish every day.
Their vision: The platforms that they build help all the techies at Kaufland e-commerce develop their products faster, easier and more reliably. To achieve this, the Area combines aspects of product development, software development and operational experience.
The most fun about working in the Developer Experience & Platform area for me are definitely the great people, the autonomy and responsibility to make our own decisions and the huge influence we have on the performance of so many product teams. – James Fox, Group Product Manager
These are the long-term goals of the area
- Developer experience: The platform should be easy and intuitive for developers to use, have a self-service interface and be very well documented.
- Creating opportunities: The Area wants to provide the other teams with the necessary tools and knowledge to manage their products (and their costs) independently.
- Technical excellence: The modern, scalable and customisable platform is also designed to encourage teams to strive for the highest technical standards.
- Macroarchitecture: The Area aims to provide teams a macroarchitecture with a clear vision and a distinct set of rules.
What the area is dealing with right now – an interview with Kevin
In this video, Head of Developer Experience & Platform, Kevin, explains which topics are currently relevant for the Area:
The Tech Stack the area uses
These horizontals await you in the area
In each Area of our Tech & Product department, there are different horizontals, i.e. positions that work together on the respective tasks of each Area. When it comes to the Developer Experience & Platform Area, the following horizontals await you:
- Platform Engineer
- Platform Product Manager
- Architect
- Engineering Manager
- Head of Product
- Group Product Manager
- Team Leads
- Technical Product Manager
Here’s how the area exchanges ideas
An Area usually consists of several different teams that depend on regular exchanges in their daily work. Here are the fixed meetings that you will participate in if you become part of the Area:
Ad-hoc questions can be discussed here, helping the team members to stay in contact – even when working remotely.
In these meetings, past projects and tasks are reflected on and relevant lessons are learned.
Every two weeks, the entire Area comes together and presents the current projects of the individual teams.
Every six months, workshops are held with the entire Area.
To create the clearest possible way of working and to respond individually to the preferences of the team members, each employee has the choice between Scrum and Kanban as tools for organising work.