Denis Makarau
Available for part-time engagements

Denis Makarau

Senior iOS & SDK Engineer. I help teams get their iOS architecture, SDKs and test automation right, through focused reviews, audits and workshops. Alongside my role at Zendesk, I take on a small number of part-time engagements.

Munich, Germany EU citizen English · Deutsch (B2) · Русский
Get in touch LinkedIn GitHub CV (PDF)
Portrait of Denis Makarau

How I can help

Focused, fixed-scope engagements that save your team weeks of trial and error. Each one ends with something concrete: a report, a working setup or a trained team.

Architecture & SDK review

A senior look at your iOS codebase or SDK: architecture, Swift Concurrency, modularisation and public API design, including the native iOS side of Flutter apps (plugins, platform channels).

You get: a written assessment with prioritised recommendations and a walkthrough call.

Test automation audit & setup

From flaky suites to a pipeline your team trusts: XCUITest, Espresso, CI/CD and device farms.

You get: an audit of your current setup, a stabilisation plan and hands-on help putting it in place.

AI coding agents workshop

Hands-on workshops for engineering teams adopting Claude Code and other agents without losing quality.

You get: a workshop tailored to your codebase, with exercises and a facilitator kit your team keeps.

AI features in iOS apps

Advice on bringing on-device ML and LLM features into your app: CoreML, Apple Foundation Models and LLM APIs.

You get: a feasibility and architecture recommendation, and a prototype where it helps.

Experience

From QA automation to senior iOS engineering on a widely used customer service SDK.

ZendeskSep 2021 – present
Munich

Senior Software Engineer, iOS SDK

Jan 2023 – present

  • Designed the iOS side of the SDK's analytics pipeline, from event tracking in Swift to the data platform.
  • Built AnalyticsKit, a modular analytics layer used inside the core SDK.
  • Reworked the SDK's concurrency model with Swift Concurrency and fixed long-standing race conditions.
  • Led the UIKit → SwiftUI migration of core SDK screens.
  • Security Champion for the iOS team: audits, vulnerability reviews and secure-by-design practices.
  • Maintain legacy Objective-C components and keep upgrades smooth for enterprise customers.

Senior Development Engineer in Test

Sep 2021 – Jan 2023 · promoted to Senior Software Engineer

  • Architected an XCUITest automation framework with Fastlane and Bitrise CI/CD for every SDK release.
  • Migrated 500+ UI tests from deprecated EarlGrey to XCUITest.
  • Moved test execution to BrowserStack with parallel runs on 100+ real devices.
  • Led the cross-platform test strategy (iOS + Android): snapshot, integration and UI tests.
Nebius AcademyAug 2026 – present
Part-time

AI Technical Instructor & Workshop Lead

Live workshops for a corporate cohort of software engineers

  • Teach engineers to work with AI coding agents without trusting unverified claims.
  • Design hands-on exercises (CI failure triage, test audits) with facilitator kits and supporting tooling.
ProSiebenSat.1 DigitalApr 2019 – Sep 2021
Munich

Senior QA Automation Engineer

High-traffic video player on iOS, Android and Web

  • Built the cross-platform test automation infrastructure from scratch (XCUITest, Espresso, Selenium WebDriver), fully integrated into GitLab CI/CD.
Virtual Solution AGJun 2018 – Apr 2019
Munich

Software Test Automation Engineer

SecurePIM, a secure enterprise mobile app

AppiumRubyCucumberJenkins
Western UnionMar 2017 – May 2018
Vilnius

Senior QA Automation Engineer

Built the mobile test automation framework for a money transfer app (iOS + Android)

AppiumJavaTestNGJenkins
EPAM SystemsFeb 2015 – Feb 2017
Minsk

Software Test Automation Engineer

Selenium frameworks across enterprise projects; Junior to Mid-level in 12 months

JavaSeleniumTestNGJenkins

Side project

Built on my own time, end to end.

SmartKauf

Beta · iOS & Android

A shared shopping list app, built solo in Flutter: offline-first sync with an outbox, per-list sharing, push notifications and voice input parsed by an LLM.

FlutterSupabasePostgres RLSEdge FunctionsFCM / APNsClaude API
smartkauf.makarau.com →

Skills

iOS
SwiftSwiftUIUIKitObjective-CSwift ConcurrencyMVVMClean ArchitectureSDK developmentCoreMLFoundation Models
Testing & CI/CD
XCUITestEspressoAppiumSeleniumSnapshot testingFastlaneBitriseGitHub ActionsGitLab CIJenkinsBrowserStack
Platform & data
Flutter / DartSupabaseKafkaSnowflakeDockerAWSREST APIs
AI tooling
Claude CodeAI coding agentsModel Context ProtocolOpenAI API
Practices
Secure by designSecurity auditsTest strategyWorkshop facilitation

Background

Certifications

  • Claude Code: Agentic Coding for Professional Developers
  • Model Context Protocol (MCP): Hands-On with Agentic AI
  • Mastering Swift Concurrency

Education

  • Belarusian State Economic University B.A. Business/Managerial Economics

Languages

  • Russian Native
  • English Fluent
  • German B2
  • Spanish Basic

Volunteering

  • Volunteer firefighter, Freiwillige Feuerwehr Neufahrn2025 – present

Working together

  • EngagementFixed-scope B2B engagements with a clear statement of work
  • FormatRemote and mostly asynchronous, with scheduled calls
  • ContractFreelancer (Freiberufler), directly or via agencies
  • RateOn request, per engagement or per day
  • Work permitEU citizen, no permit needed

Let's talk about your project

Have an iOS codebase, SDK or test setup that needs a senior second opinion? Send me a short description of the problem and your timeline, and I'll reply with a proposed scope. Prefer a call? Email me and I'll suggest a time.

denis@makarau.com Message on LinkedIn