Hamburg · Restaurant Operations · Team Leadership

Hamburg · Restaurant Operations · POS · Product Systems

Hamburg · Backend Development · POS · Product Systems

I lead high-volume restaurant shifts.

I lead restaurant operations — and build the software they need.

I build software products for restaurant operations.

I lead teams of more than 20 and take responsibility for staffing, service flow, food cost, HACCP, cash processes and the daily close.

I lead high-volume shifts with teams of more than 20 and develop POS and operational software from first-hand restaurant experience.

I turn first-hand operational and regulatory requirements into reliable products across web, mobile, payments, connected devices and fiscal workflows.

Seeking a permanent position — shift or restaurant management, system catering, Hamburg and the surrounding area.

Seeking a permanent position — software development, POS, internal systems or restaurant technology, Hamburg and the surrounding area.

Seeking a permanent position — software development, POS, internal systems or restaurant technology, Hamburg and the surrounding area.

Choose a profile
Hamburg, Germany
Portrait of Mateja Mihajlovic
Mateja MihajlovicShift Manager · Fachmann für SystemgastronomieShift Manager & Full-Stack Software DeveloperFull-Stack Software Developer
20+ staff per shiftIndependent shift leadership in a high-volume restaurant
Completed IHK apprenticeshipThree years at Hamburg Airport — continuous peak-load service
Food cost & productivityStock, ordering, inventory counts and the daily close
HACCP & hygieneTemperature documentation and quality checks every shift
Shift manager & product developerBoth roles at the same time, not one after the other
2 Android apps on Google PlaySamoBus and Fantastic Events are publicly listed
Multi-tenant POS platformBuilt for the restaurant workflows I run in person
Based in HamburgGerman B1 certificate · Class B driving licence
2 Android apps on Google PlaySamoBus and Fantastic Events are publicly listed
Multi-tenant POS platform14 Laravel domain modules, isolated tenant databases and cross-platform clients
German fiscal compliance built infiskaly TSE signing · DSFinV-K export · GoBD audit trail
Based in HamburgGerman B1 certificate · Class B driving licence

Selected projects

Software products across POS, mobile and operations.

A restaurant platform in active development and two Android applications currently listed on Google Play, with documented architecture, decisions and working software.

Published Android application

SamoBus

A public transport application for viewing routes, stops, schedules, and arrivals around Samobor.

Owner, Author, Mobile Developer and Google Play Publisher

React Native 0.81JavaScriptReact NavigationFirebaseAsyncStorageAndroid API 36
View case study
SamoBus on a phone showing the timetable for line S5 Samobor AK – Otok – Medsave as the operator's PDF, with weekday, Saturday and Sunday departure tables and a bottom bar with Home, Favorites, Search and Settings

Published event platform

Fantastic Events

A native Android event app and Next.js administration system for tickets, schedules, tournaments, content, and audience engagement.

Solution architect, backend, Android and web developer

KotlinAndroidJetpack ComposeNext.jsTypeScriptSupabase
View case study
Fantastic Events ticket screen on a phone: an event ticket illustration, a field for the twenty-digit code with a QR scan button, a save button, and a link to buy a ticket

Capabilities

Restaurant leadership and operating controls.

Operational expertise and technical delivery.

Full-stack development for operational products.

The practical controls that keep a high-volume shift safe, staffed and on course.

Restaurant knowledge carried through requirements, architecture, integration and release.

Hands-on delivery from requirements and API boundaries through integration, testing and release.

Leadership

  • Shift leadership
  • Task allocation
  • Training & onboarding
  • Feedback
  • Escalation under pressure

Staff planning

  • Demand-based scheduling
  • Working-time law (ArbZG)
  • Break rules
  • JArbSchG
  • MuSchG

Operations & cash

  • Food cost
  • Productivity
  • Merchandise management
  • Inventory counts
  • Till & cash handling
  • Daily close

Quality & hygiene

  • HACCP concepts
  • Temperature documentation
  • Hygiene checks
  • Quality standards

Technical

  • Digital POS systems
  • Receipt printing
  • Payment terminals
  • MS Office
  • Fault diagnosis

The overlap

  • POS workflows
  • Restaurant operations
  • HACCP
  • Inventory & costing
  • Fiscal requirements

Leadership

  • Shift leadership
  • Staff scheduling
  • Training & onboarding
  • Food cost
  • Daily close

Backend & mobile

  • Laravel
  • PHP
  • REST APIs
  • MySQL
  • React
  • React Native

POS, payments & hardware

  • Stripe Terminal
  • SUNMI POS
  • ESC/POS
  • QZ Tray
  • fiskaly TSE
  • DSFinV-K · GoBD

Technical support

  • Device pairing
  • Connection diagnosis
  • Printer communication
  • Driver setup
  • Fault analysis

Backend

  • Laravel
  • PHP 8.3
  • REST APIs
  • MySQL
  • Redis Streams
  • Multi-tenancy

Frontend & mobile

  • React
  • React Native
  • Expo
  • TypeScript
  • Realtime interfaces

POS, payments & compliance

  • Stripe Terminal
  • SUNMI POS
  • ESC/POS
  • QZ Tray
  • fiskaly TSE
  • DSFinV-K · GoBD

Infrastructure & data

  • Docker
  • Python/FastAPI
  • LightGBM
  • MQTT · Zigbee
  • Monitoring

Delivery & domain

  • Requirements
  • System architecture
  • Testing & release
  • Restaurant operations
  • HACCP
  • Fault diagnosis

Experience

Restaurant leadership built from the floor up.

Operations and software, developed in parallel.

Software experience shaped by live operations.

Three years of German IHK training in an airport restaurant, then shift responsibility — with earlier service years in Serbia.

Both careers side by side, in the order they happened — the operational roles on one side, the technical ones on the other.

Software and IT-service work first, followed by the operational roles that shaped how I think about reliability.

January 2025 - present

Hamburg, Germany

GastronomyWork

Shift Manager — System Catering

McDonald’s

Shift responsibility in a standardised, high-volume restaurant: staffing, service flow, tills and cash, stock, HACCP documentation and the daily close.

  • Run shifts with more than 20 staff: allocate people, set priorities, and keep service reliable under time pressure.
  • Own the till, cash handling and the daily close, plus stock levels, ordering and inventory counts — on the restaurant's POS and operational systems every day.
  • Run HACCP and temperature checks, train new staff, and apply working-time, break and youth and maternity protection rules when scheduling.

March 2022 - January 2025

Hamburg Airport, Germany

GastronomyEducation

Vocational Training - System Catering

McDonald’s

Three-year German IHK apprenticeship — a business qualification as much as a service one: merchandise management, cost control, operational key figures, staff scheduling and quality management.

  • Trained in a high-traffic airport restaurant with continuous peak-load service, running and organising shifts independently in the final two years.
  • System organisation, merchandise management, ordering and inventory.
  • Cost control, operational key figures, staff scheduling, quality management and HACCP hygiene concepts.

July 2018 - February 2022

Serbia

GastronomyWork

Waiter & Service Staff

Hotel & Café

Front-of-house service in a hotel and café operation — guest contact, cash responsibility and POS work, alongside IT service and project-based software development.

  • Looked after guests, took and settled orders, and organised the service area.
  • Handled cash and worked with POS systems on every shift, closely with the kitchen and the other hotel departments.

July 2018 - February 2022

Serbia · Remote

ITWork

Software Developer — Project Work

Own and client software projects

Development and maintenance across Laravel, React, React Native, WordPress, POS and payment-related workflows, delivered project by project alongside the hospitality and IT-service work. This work ended in 2022.

  • Developed Laravel APIs and React or React Native interfaces.
  • Integrated REST APIs, payment workflows, and ESC/POS receipt printing.
  • Implemented and maintained WordPress sites and existing web systems, taking requirements through to delivery including fault analysis.

March 2019 - January 2021

Kučevo, Serbia

ITWork

IT Service Technician

PM

Hands-on diagnosis, repair, installation, and customer support for computers, notebooks, printers, and peripherals.

  • Diagnosed and repaired desktop computers, notebooks, printers, and thermal printers.
  • Installed Windows, drivers, standard software and peripherals; replaced and upgraded components, displays and keyboards.
  • Explained faults and completed work clearly to customers.

About

Reliable shifts start before service.

The restaurant floor is where the product work starts.

I build software from first-hand operational knowledge.

I am a qualified Fachmann für Systemgastronomie and a shift manager in one of Hamburg's higher-volume restaurants.

A shift holds together when staffing, stock and hygiene were settled before the rush started — so that is where my attention goes, not into firefighting at seven in the evening. I train new staff for the same reason: a shift is only as reliable as the person you handed the station to.

I am a qualified Fachmann für Systemgastronomie and a shift manager — and I create software products for the processes I run every day.

Stock, costing, scheduling, cash handling and HACCP checks are not requirements I read in a ticket — they are my shift, and that is where the software started. The combination is worth most wherever reliability matters more than a perfect demo: I can define an API boundary, validate a device workflow, and tell when a process will break under pressure.

I create software products for restaurant operations — and I run those operations myself, which is where the requirements come from.

Since May 2024 I have worked across product definition, architecture, implementation, integration and validation for a multi-tenant restaurant platform. Running a restaurant at the same time means I test payment, device, hygiene and closing workflows against real operating constraints, not only against a successful demo.

Completed German vocational training in system catering in Hamburg (March 2022 – January 2025), and vocational education in electrical engineering with a computer-technology specialisation in Serbia.

Contact

Need an experienced shift leader?

Looking for restaurant knowledge and software delivery?

Building software for demanding operational workflows?

I am looking for a permanent position in shift or restaurant management in system catering in Hamburg and the surrounding area. If that fits a vacancy you are filling, I would be glad to hear from you.

I am looking for a permanent position in Hamburg and the surrounding area — and whichever of the two sides you are hiring for, the other one comes with it. If my profile is interesting for your company, I would be glad to hear from you.

I am looking for a permanent position in software development, POS applications, internal systems or restaurant technology in Hamburg and the surrounding area. If my profile is interesting for your company, I would be glad to hear from you.

Send email

tatamata1405@gmail.com

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