Marcelo Frau

  • Senior Solution Architect II at adidas, leading cross-functional teams across multiple products and driving technical strategy at organizational scale.
  • 9+ years of experience in Solution Architecture, designing resilient, scalable systems across cloud, mobile, and enterprise environments.
  • 20+ years of hands-on experience with Java across back-end, front-end, desktop, and mobile platforms.
  • 23+ years of experience with HTML, JavaScript, and CSS — from early web standards to modern front-end ecosystems.
  • 5+ years of Android development experience, including native and cross-platform approaches.
  • 4+ years of Kotlin experience across Android, desktop, and back-end environments.
  • Proven track record of enabling AI adoption in engineering teams — from tooling and workflows to architecture-level integration.
  • Known for strong technical leadership, clear communication with stakeholders, and a commitment to engineering excellence.
  • Experienced in designing and delivering robust API contracts, integration layers, and scalable distributed systems.
  • Active member of the Architecture Review Board at adidas, contributing to decisions that impact engineering across the organization.

Key Competencies

Technical Leadership

Demonstrated leadership in guiding cross-functional teams, defining architectural solutions, and ensuring alignment with industry standards. Proven expertise in Java, Kotlin, Spring, AWS, and various other technologies.

Solution Architecture

Proficient in designing and leading the implementation of robust and scalable solutions, including complex systems. Skilled in creating meta-model-based architectures for customizable applications.

Team Coordination and Management

Adept at orchestrating and leading diverse teams, fostering collaboration, and implementing Agile methodologies for efficient project execution. Known for maintaining a cohesive work environment and achieving successful outcomes.

Innovation and Prototyping

Proven ability to innovate and experiment with new technologies through the development of proof-of-concept projects. Capable of driving strategic initiatives and introducing features that enhance the overall product.

Continuous Improvement and Mentorship

Dedicated to continuous improvement, both in team performance and personal growth. Recognized for mentoring teams, promoting motivation, and instilling a culture of continuous learning and improvement.

Performance Optimization

Skilled in optimizing performance across various projects, including creating high-performance solutions capable of handling substantial transaction volumes.

Cross-Platform Development

Proficient in developing cross-platform solutions, evidenced by frameworks integrating desktop, mobile, and web environments with a shared codebase. Experienced in porting libraries to multiple platforms.

Project Management

Proven track record in effectively managing projects from initiation to completion. Skilled in defining project scopes, setting milestones, and ensuring timely delivery within budget constraints.

Strategic Planning

Experienced in defining long-term technical roadmaps aligned with business objectives. Skilled at balancing short-term delivery demands with strategic investments, identifying technology bets, and communicating direction clearly across engineering and product leadership.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Skilled in fostering collaboration across diverse teams and departments. Experienced in breaking down silos and ensuring effective communication for streamlined project execution.

Deadline Management

Adept at managing and meeting tight deadlines. Proven ability to prioritize tasks, allocate resources efficiently, and make informed decisions to ensure timely project delivery.

Stakeholder Communication

Effective in communicating with stakeholders at various levels, including clients, team members, and leadership. Skilled in translating technical details into understandable insights for non-technical stakeholders.

Conflict Resolution

Demonstrated skill in identifying and resolving conflicts within teams. Proactive in addressing issues promptly to maintain a positive and collaborative work environment.

Decision-Making

A decisive leader with a strong ability to make informed decisions under pressure. Capable of weighing pros and cons, considering long-term implications, and steering teams towards successful outcomes.

Risk Management

Proficient in identifying potential risks associated with projects and implementing proactive risk management strategies. Skilled in mitigating risks to ensure project success.

Resume

20+ Years of Experience

Education

2004 to 2008
IPEP University

Bachelor of Computer Science

My Computer Science graduation was a profoundly grateful and inspiring journey. It not only expanded my understanding of computing but also encouraged deep exploration, experimentation, and hands-on practices. Through this immersive experience, I gained newfound clarity and a deep sense of satisfaction in approaching challenges within the field.

Experience

2024 - current
adidas - Spain

Senior Solution Architect II

  • Spearheading as the Lead Solution Architect for multiple cross-functional teams
  • Guiding the design and strategic direction of key projects.
  • Defining and charting the course for project evolution
  • Ensuring alignment with organizational goals and industry best practices.
  • Orchestrating the efforts of five teams comprising approximately 75 professionals.
  • Fostering collaboration and maintaining a cohesive work environment.
  • Implementing Agile methodologies.
  • Meticulous backlog planning to optimize team efficiency and deliverables.
  • Overseeing 5 distinct applications, steering their development.
  • Ensuring seamless integration within the technology landscape.
  • Crafting API contracts, and integration layers shaping robust and scalable solutions.
  • Serving as a reference point for projects beyond direct responsibility.
  • Contributing to the overall technical excellence of the organization.
  • Participating actively as a member of the Architecture Review Board.
  • Contributing to critical decisions and discussions that impact products across the org.
  • Fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
  • Spearheaded the adoption of AI-assisted development tools (GitHub Copilot, Claude Code) across engineering teams, measurably improving developer productivity.
  • Established AI-driven code review workflows to manage and validate changes delivered by external contracted teams, reducing risk and improving quality.
  • Leveraged AI tooling to automate technical documentation generation from existing codebases, keeping architecture specs and system documentation continuously up to date.
  • Authored custom AI agents and skills to streamline day-to-day team workflows and eliminate repetitive engineering tasks.

Technological Expertise: Java, Kotlin, Spring, Aurora, AWS, MySQL, Oracle, React, Spring Boot, Spring Data, Groovy, DevOps, Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, JIRA, Sonar, ECMA 6, GitLab, TypeScript, Nodejs

Competencies: Technology Expert, Strategic leadership, Team Coordinator, Application Ownership, Technical Leadership, Governance and Decision-making

2021 - 2024
adidas - Germany

Senior Solution Architect

  • Spearheading as the Lead Solution Architect for multiple cross-functional teams
  • Guiding the design and strategic direction of key projects.
  • Defining and charting the course for project evolution
  • Ensuring alignment with organizational goals and industry best practices.
  • Orchestrating the efforts of five teams comprising approximately 75 professionals.
  • Fostering collaboration and maintaining a cohesive work environment.
  • Implementing Agile methodologies.
  • Meticulous backlog planning to optimize team efficiency and deliverables.
  • Overseeing 5 distinct applications, steering their development.
  • Ensuring seamless integration within the technology landscape.
  • Crafting API contracts, and integration layers shaping robust and scalable solutions.
  • Serving as a reference point for projects beyond direct responsibility.
  • Contributing to the overall technical excellence of the organization.
  • Participating actively as a member of the Architecture Review Board.
  • Contributing to critical decisions and discussions that impact products across the org.
  • Fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

Technological Expertise: Java, Kotlin, Spring, Aurora, AWS, MySQL, Oracle, React, Spring Boot, Spring Data, Groovy, DevOps, Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, JIRA, Sonar, ECMA 6, GitLab, TypeScript, Nodejs

Competencies: Technology Expert, Strategic leadership, Team Coordinator, Application Ownership, Technical Leadership, Governance and Decision-making

2019 - 2021
adidas - Spain

Senior Software Engineer/Lead Developer

  • Solution Architect on projects.
  • Implemented Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery on several projects.
  • Consultant and Advisor in prospecting future projects.
  • Mentoring team members to discover each individual capability.
  • Motivate employees to research and learn innovative technologies.
  • Promotes co-participatory leadership.
  • Promote ownership of the team.
  • Motivated by the idea to make the team be auto sufficient.
  • Implement and modernize old solutions to new architecture.

Technological Expertise: Java, Kotlin, Spring, Aurora, AWS, MySQL, Oracle, React, Spring Boot, Spring Data, Groovy, DevOps, Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, JIRA, Sonar, ECMA 6, GitLab, TypeScript, Nodejs

2017 - 2019
Venturus - Brazil

Senior Software Engineer/Lead Developer

  • Solution Architect and team leader for an international front-end project.
  • Implemented Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery on numerous projects.
  • Consultant and Advisor in prospecting future projects.
  • Mentoring team members to discover each individual capability.
  • Taught and promoted courses to train team members.
  • Motivate employees to research and learn innovative technologies.
  • Promotes co-participatory leadership.
  • Implement training campaigns such as dojo and learning classes.
  • Motivated by the idea to make the team be auto sufficient.

Technological Expertise: Java, Kotlin, JavaScript, AngularJS, React, Spring Boot, Spring, Spring Data, Python, Groovy, DevOps, Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, JIRA, Sonar, ECMA 6, NodeJS, Kotlin+React, GitLab, Angular 6, TypeScript

2016 - 2017
Kaffa Mobile - Brazil

Solution Architect/Lead Developer

  • Orchestrated as the Solution Architect and team leader for a flagship product utilized by all company clients.
  • The product, centered around mobile environments, extends its reach to desktop, web, and back-end environments. Built on a meta model and GIS, clients customize the model, allowing the solution to dynamically generate UI/UX and manage database/storage—a versatile GIS Mobile solution.
  • Implemented Agile SCRUM methodology across all internal teams, fostering collaborative and adaptive development practices.
  • Spearheaded the implementation of company-wide Continuous Integration/Delivery practices, streamlining development workflows and ensuring seamless delivery.
  • Engineered a framework based on React/React Native, unifying desktop, mobile, and web environments with a shared codebase, optimizing development efficiency.
  • Developed a legacy integration software facilitating the seamless migration of Windows Mobile legacy systems to contemporary technologies.
  • Implemented GIS connectors with integrations to ArcGIS from Esri and "Small World" from GE, enhancing the solution's geographical information capabilities.

Technological Expertise: Kotlin, Java 8, Grunt, LibGDX, Android, C#, C# Compact Framework, SQL Server, SQL Server Compact, AVRO, React, Nodejs, Javascript, ECMA 6, Sonar, Jenkins, Gitlab CI, Docker, ArcGIS, Smallworld, GIS

2015 - 2016
CI&T - Brazil

Senior Software Engineer and Lead Developer

  • Served as the Solution Architect and team leader for a senior developer-only team, overseeing the development of a high-traffic e-commerce solution catering to thousands of consumers daily.
  • Collaborated with the team to create a high-performance solution capable of handling over ten thousand purchases per minute, meeting the demanding requirements of the e-commerce platform.
  • Enhanced the main performance of various side projects related to the core e-commerce system, contributing to the overall efficiency and user experience.

Technological Expertise: Backbone, Angular.js, Spring, CoffeeScript, Java, Grunt, Cassandra, Solr, Spark, SaSS, Redis, twemproxy, Docker, Docker compose, Kubernetes and Cloud Based deployments, CI/CD integrations, Jenkins

2014 - 2015
Venturus - Brazil

Senior Software Engineer and Lead Developer

  • Spearheaded a front-end solution enabling customers to construct personalized flowcharts for mapping desired actions within a SIM card manager for carriers.
  • Collaborated seamlessly with global teams in China, France, and Singapore, ensuring the project's success and earning exceptional client feedback.
  • Led a dispersed team across remote locations, orchestrating smooth collaboration and eliminating potential obstacles to achieve cohesive and efficient teamwork.

Technological Expertise: Java, JSF, JavaScript, Flow.js, Require.js, Spring Boot, Spring MVC, Java Portlets, Spring Data.

2007 - 2014
Kaffa Mobile - Brazil

Software Engineer

  • Engineered a dynamic model rendering system based on high-level meta-data, allowing client customization. (UI, Flow, storage and integration)
  • Developed a Java MIDP-based UI library for resource-limited devices with less than 1 MB of RAM. Inspired by Java Swing/SWT libraries, it catered to smartphone precursors with efficiency and functionality.
  • Contributed to various web projects utilizing Java, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.
  • Designed and implemented a map engine integral to Kaffa's GIS Mobile product.
  • Created a Web Robot library, employing DSL to navigate HTML pages, fill forms, and perform actions akin to a crawler.
  • Led the development of proof-of-concept projects, experimenting with modern technologies and features for potential incorporation into the main product.
  • Developed numerous Android and mobile applications.
  • Implemented JNI to seamlessly integrate native hardware modules inaccessible to Java.
  • Successfully ported libraries to Android, Windows Mobile, including HSQLDB, SQLite, and QT.

Technological Expertise: Android, Burlap, GIS, GWT, H2 Database, HSQLDB, HTML 5, Hessian, Hibernate, JBoss SEAM, JPA, JSF, Java (EE/ME/SE), Jetty, Liferay, Lua, Oracle, Portlet, Primefaces, SQLite, SWT, Spring, Tomcat, Wicket, Windows Mobile, Xtend

2006 - 2007
GWE Software - Brazil

Software Engineer

  • Implemented a small SAP Business One (ERP) mobile version to Windows Mobile.
  • Implemented a server application that bridges the communications between SAP B1 and Mobile applications. All the integration and data exchange were made by this server application.

Technological Expertise: Java, Java Micro Edition, C#, ASP.NET, SAP BusinessOne, HSQLDB, Microsoft SQL Server

2005 - 2007
Ceprocamp - Brazil

Teacher

Instructor for classes on Networking — covering how to build, configure, and secure computer networks. Basic and advanced concepts were covered throughout the curriculum.

Technological Expertise: Linux, Windows, Ethernet, Apache, WebDAV, NFS, NIS, Samba, CUPS, LDAP, Webmin, iptables

2003 - 2006
Kaffa Software Consulting - Brazil

Junior Software Engineer

  • Created a fundamental issue tracker to streamline bug and feature coordination across all company projects.
  • Successfully executed proof of concepts, demonstrating the effectiveness of a mobile application in solving a client's specific problem.
  • Developed numerous Java ME and Web applications.

Technological Expertise: Java, Struts, Spring, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, Hibernate, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, Java ME, AWT, Swing, SWT, HSQLDB, Oracle Lite, Oracle, JFaces, Portlets, Superwaba, Waba

Coding Skills

Java

100%

Kotlin

90%

Spring Boot / Spring Framework

100%

Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery

90%

AWS

70%

Docker / Kubernetes

100%

JavaScript / ECMA 6

95%

TypeScript

85%

React

90%

NodeJS

80%

Angular

75%

Vue.js

50%

SQL (Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, SQLite)

75%

Redis

80%

Cassandra

50%

Android

70%

RxJava

45%

C#

60%

SWT / Java Swing / JavaFX

100%

Haxe

70%

Lua

100%

HTML / CSS

90%

C#

60%

Haxe

70%

Soft Skills

  • Leadership & Mentorship
  • Strategic Thinking
  • Cross-functional Collaboration
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Stakeholder Communication
  • Agile & Scrum Facilitation
  • Decision-Making Under Pressure
  • Continuous Learning

AI Skills

  • AI-Assisted Development (GitHub Copilot, Claude Code)
  • AI Adoption Strategy & Team Enablement
  • AI-Driven Code Review & Change Management
  • Automated Documentation with AI
  • Custom AI Agent & Skill Authoring
  • Prompt Engineering

Contact

Based in Zaragoza, Spain — originally from São Paulo, Brazil. Living and working in Europe since 2019.

I'm a software engineer at heart who grew into architecture. I've spent 20+ years building things — from Java ME apps for devices with less than 1MB of RAM to distributed systems handling tens of thousands of transactions per minute. Today I lead engineering teams at adidas, shaping technical strategy across multiple products.

Outside of work I'm into retrogaming, hardware modding, and building open source tools. I believe the best engineers never stop tinkering.

Get in Touch

+34 643 739 174

Zaragoza - Spain

marcelofrau@gmail.com

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