Publication
Why Should Java Developers Give Grails a Chance?
https://www.toptal.com/developers/grails/should-java-developers-give-grails-chance
Gregor is available for hire
Hire GregorGregor Ambrozic
Verified Expert in Engineering
Full-stack Developer
Vrhnika, Slovenia
Toptal member since November 30, 2015
Bio
Gregor is a CTO and senior engineer with 23 years of experience in building software and performing audits. He has led startups from early product stages through 50x revenue growth and multimillion-dollar funding rounds, managing everything from rebuilds and migrations to scaling architecture. Gregor uses AI throughout his workflow, significantly increasing his speed. He focuses heavily on UX and the finer details.
Portfolio
Freelance
Linux, AngularJS, jQuery, Grails, Hibernate, Spring, Java, Node.js, Angular...
Charter Itinerary Ltd
Agile Software Development, Jira, Slack, Node.js, Angular, JavaScript, MongoDB...
FlyZUUM.com
Linux, Python, Angular, Hibernate, Gorm, Java, Grails, Machine Learning...
Experience
- SQL - 15 years
- Java - 13 years
- Hibernate - 9 years
- Spring - 7 years
- Angular - 5 years
- Grails - 4 years
- Team Leadership - 3 years
Preferred Environment
Node.js, Angular, JavaScript, Java, React, Express.js, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Agile Software Development
The most amazing...
...thing I've built is a team that innovates relentlessly and stays for the long haul, on a best-in-class product I engineered solo for its first two years.
Work Experience
Freelance Software Engineer
2014 - PRESENT
Freelance
- Performed a technical audit of an online wellness platform, built on React, React Native, and Kotlin.
- Developed a Spring MVC rolling road (trucks on trains) booking application for a client company.
- Built a Spring MVC back end for JWS/TLS communication with a system for fiscal verification of invoices.
- Developed a fuel card authorization and billing solution.
- Created a Liferay intranet solution for a mid-sized company.
- Created a Magnolia-powered website with apps for a client company.
Technologies: Linux, AngularJS, jQuery, Grails, Hibernate, Spring, Java, Node.js, Angular, React, React Native, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, MySQL, APIs, Puppeteer, Next.js, Python, Front-end, Full-stack, TypeScript, Google Sheets, Web Scraping, WebSockets, Front-end Development
CTO
2020 - 2025
Charter Itinerary Ltd
- Joined as an early key team member and CTO, responsible for defining and executing the full technical vision of Charter Itinerary from inception.
- Built, deployed, and maintained a best-in-class SaaS platform for superyacht charter professionals, consistently praised by customers for usability and reliability.
- Took the platform from zero to a mature, production-ready product adopted by professional charter teams.
- Designed and implemented a sea-based routing algorithm connecting any two water-based points for realistic charter route planning.
- Scaled the engineering organization from 1 to 8, establishing processes, standards, and a sustainable delivery culture.
Technologies: Agile Software Development, Jira, Slack, Node.js, Angular, JavaScript, MongoDB, AWS Lambda, Amazon Web Services (AWS), APIs, Puppeteer, Python, Front-end, Full-stack, Mapbox, TypeScript, Mapbox API, PostgreSQL, Google Sheets, Web Scraping, WebSockets, Front-end Development
CTO
2014 - 2019
FlyZUUM.com
- Led engineering from prototype to the product that raised $5 million.
- Co-designed and developed a patent-pending AI/ML solution to analyze private jet traffic and provide pricing in real time.
- Developed the first intelligent online private jet booking in the world.
- Developed a fleet and booking management software for private jet operators.
- Led and managed an empowered team of innovative senior professionals in a development team. Scaled the engineering team from 1 to 7.
Technologies: Linux, Python, Angular, Hibernate, Gorm, Java, Grails, Machine Learning, Amazon Web Services (AWS), APIs, Front-end, Full-stack, TypeScript, Google Sheets, Web Scraping, WebSockets, Front-end Development
Software Engineer
2012 - 2014
Fieldoo.com
- Developed core and new features of a sports social network website in Spring MVC.
- Provided database optimization for a high-load website.
- Created various web scrapers and crawlers to fetch data used for analyses.
- Did ad-hoc engineering problem solving.
- Cooperated with owners to help shape new features.
Technologies: Linux, jQuery, MySQL, Spring MVC, Java, APIs, Front-end, Web Scraping, Front-end Development
Software Engineer
2011 - 2012
Epilog d.o.o
- Developed new back-end features with Java and PL/SQL.
- Implemented solutions on-site with customers.
- Created new UI components to be used in the flagship product.
- Designed and implemented a new translation module in the back end.
- Communicated with clients remotely and on-site.
Technologies: SQL, Oracle PL/SQL, Swing, Java
Software Developer
2006 - 2011
Medius d.o.o.
- Developed back-end application features with EJB, JBoss, and Hibernate.
- Developed UI features with Eclipse SWT and RCP.
- Did ad-hoc database queries and programming.
- Built an automatic reporting solution with Eclipse BIRT.
- Developed web application features with JSF and SEAM.
- Maintained production applications.
Technologies: Hibernate, Linux, Seam, Oracle, Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), Eclipse RCP, Java, APIs, PostgreSQL, Web Scraping, Front-end Development
Junior Software Developer
2005 - 2006
Microgramm d.o.o.
- Developed web application features.
- Developed features for web programming interfaces.
- Administrated PostgreSQL database and ad-hoc queries.
- Wrote documentation.
- Wrote automated tests and did manual testing.
Technologies: JavaScript, CSS, HTML, Perl, Front-end
Junior SQL Developer
2003 - 2005
Simobil d.o.o.
- Rewrote the automatic reporting system.
- Wrote Ad-hoc SQL queries for data used in other departments.
- Took care of data warehouse administration over the weekends.
- Implemented features on data marts.
- Optimized SQL queries for automatic periodic reporting.
Technologies: PL/SQL, Oracle SQL, Unix
Experience
FlyZUUM.com
I worked as a CTO and full-stack engineer for a private jet booking company. The tech stack included Java, Spring, Grails, Angular, MySQL, and AWS. We built the world's first intelligent private jet booking system with AI matching.
CharterItinerary.com
https://charteritinerary.comCharterItinerary.com is an industry-leading, all-in-one software platform designed specifically for yacht charter professionals, including brokers, central agents, captains, and crew. It streamlines luxury yacht charter operations by enabling users to create custom itineraries, generate tailored yacht proposals, manage bookings, and handle related workflows efficiently—all in one tool.
I was a key team member and CTO, responsible for defining and executing Charter Itinerary's full technical vision from inception. I handled all engineering and most product decisions in the first two years, serving as the sole developer and owning architecture, implementation, deployment, and production support. I built, deployed, and maintained a best-in-class SaaS platform for superyacht charter professionals, consistently praised by customers for usability and reliability.
I was a key team member and CTO, responsible for defining and executing Charter Itinerary's full technical vision from inception. I handled all engineering and most product decisions in the first two years, serving as the sole developer and owning architecture, implementation, deployment, and production support. I built, deployed, and maintained a best-in-class SaaS platform for superyacht charter professionals, consistently praised by customers for usability and reliability.
Education
2008 - 2017
Master's Degree in Computer Science
FAMNIT, Univerza na Primorskem - Koper, Slovenia
2003 - 2007
Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer and Information Science
FRI, Univerza v Ljubljani - Ljubljana, Slovenia
Certifications
MARCH 2010 - PRESENT
Oracle Database 11g Administrator Certified Associate
Oracle Corporation
FEBRUARY 2010 - PRESENT
Oracle Database SQL Expert
Oracle Corporation
AUGUST 2009 - PRESENT
Sun Certified Java Programmer 6.0
Sun Microsystems
Skills
Libraries/APIs
jQuery, Node.js, Puppeteer, React, Mapbox API, Scikit-learn, Keras
Tools
Eclipse IDE, IntelliJ IDEA, Subversion (SVN), Google Sheets, Jira, Eclipse RCP, Git, Slack
Languages
HTML, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, Perl, CSS, Python, SQL, Python 3, Groovy
Frameworks
Hibernate, Spring MVC, Grails, Angular, Spring, Next.js, Swing, Seam, Gorm, AngularJS, Express.js, React Native
Platforms
Oracle, Windows, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Linux, AWS Lambda, Mapbox, Unix, Amazon EC2, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), AWS IoT
Storage
PostgreSQL, Oracle PL/SQL, Oracle SQL, PL/SQL, MySQL, MongoDB
Paradigms
Agile Software Development, Extreme Programming
Other
APIs, Front-end, Full-stack, Web Scraping, WebSockets, Front-end Development, Team Leadership, Remote Team Leadership, Machine Learning, Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), Computer Science
Collaboration That Works
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
1
Share your needs
Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2
Choose your talent
Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3
Start your risk-free talent trial
Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring