Josip Šaban

Zagreb, Croatia

Member since November 9, 2016

Josip is an experienced database guy who's developed websites, created banking DWH systems, and led development teams to deliver great products which are still in production today. He has an advanced knowledge of the entire SQL Server stack and a working knowledge of .NET, Business Objects, R, BizTalk, Microsoft Project, and MS Project Server. Along with his primary expertise, he is also a proficient technical writer and team lead.

Josip is now available for hire

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Portfolio

Erste Bank
SharePoint, Microsoft Office
Hypo Alpe Adria
SQL Server, SAP Business Objects
Alfatec Group
BO Data Integrater, Oracle, SQL Server

Experience

Microsoft Office, 15 years
SQL, 12 years
Microsoft SQL Server, 10 years
Waterfall Development, 10 years
C#, 8 years
Microsoft Project, 5 years
.NET, 5 years

Availability

Full-time

Preferred Environment

SQL Server Management Studio, Visual Studio

The most amazing...

...thing I've done was to redesign an old database design—increasing the performance tenfold while adding many new features on top.

Employment

Quality Manager
2015 - PRESENT
Erste Bank
- Planned and supervised the IT education.
- Led proof-of-concept activities for testing new technologies and/or development methodologies.
- Implemented SPOC for all the demand activities of two major clients.
- Designed and implemented a summer student program.
- Created IT recruiting tests and held interviews.
Technologies: SharePoint, Microsoft Office
Senior Business Intelligence Analyst
2013 - 2015
Hypo Alpe Adria
- Analyzed and documented business requests.
- Developed the implementation strategy and BI architecture, based on SQL Server technology stack.
- Managed and executed IT projects—leading a team of consultants.
- Conducted hands-on development of important and/or more complex database modules.
- Held education sessions for internal company employees.
- Deployed new features to production—effectively fulfilling the role of a release manager.
Technologies: SQL Server, SAP Business Objects
Business Intelligence Consultant
2009 - 2011
Alfatec Group
- Worked as the team lead in the project of creating a new data warehouse for one of the largest banks in the country, based on Oracle and Data Integrator.
- Implemented a business-objects reporting system in the third largest tobacco company in the world.
- Developed a first production-level data warehouse in cargo and shipping industry in the region, using SQL Server Analysis Services and PowerPivot.
- Created teams and ensured that people worked effectively together.
- Held internal and external educational sessions.
Technologies: BO Data Integrater, Oracle, SQL Server
Business Intelligence Consultant
2007 - 2009
CrmT
- Designed and developed a web solution for distribution of EU funds in Slovenia based on SQL Server and ASP.NET.
- Designed and developed a high-availability DWH solution for parsing, testing, and reporting on call records for the largest Slovenian telecompany.
- Organized the company's presales technical conference, focusing on Business Objects and SQL Server.
Technologies: ASP.NET, Informatica, SQL Server
Software Engineer
2004 - 2007
IN2
- Developed an ASP.NET application for primary health care.
- Implemented BizTalk, as a part of a key integration project in the country's largest telecom company.
- Constructed a web application for the country's chamber of commerce.
- Held technical education sessions for the company's junior staff.
Technologies: ASP.NET, SQL Server, BizTalk

Experience

IamOnDemand (via Toptal) (Development)
http://www.iamondemand.com/
I'm currently writing blog content on the topics of machine learning, cloud, and relational databases (ghostwriting).
American Taekwondo Association (via Toptal) (Development)
https://ataonline.com/
I migrated an Oracle database to SQL Server in order to support a new web application.
Technical Writer for Project Management (via Toptal) (Development)
http://sterlingcapitalbrokers.com/
I wrote a software development lifecycle guide (SDLC) for a software company that needed to map its development processes in a formal document.
Life Church (via Toptal) (Development)
https://www.life.church/
On this project, my role was as the data warehousing expert—working on the SQL Server and I was ultimately responsible for designing data warehouse tables. I also implemented the ETL processes using SSIS and SQL and optimized the existing data warehouse loading procedures.
SQL Server 2016 Always Encrypted: Easy to Implement, Tough to Crack (Publication)
https://www.toptal.com/sql-server/sql-server-2016-always-encrypted
Security has always been a primary concern for database experts, and with the advent of new, decentralized services, it’s become even more crucial. Microsoft addressed the need for an added level of security in SQL with the introduction of Always Encrypted functionality in SQL Server 2016. In this blog post, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Josip Saban explains how Microsoft’s Always Encrypted concept works, how it’s implemented, and why developers can’t afford to ignore it.

Skills

Languages
T-SQL, SQL, C#, R
Tools
Microsoft Project, Microsoft Office
Paradigms
Waterfall Development, Agile
Storage
Microsoft SQL Server, RavenDB, PostgreSQL
Other
Team Leadership, Microsoft Project Server, Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management, Quality Assurance (QA), ITIL 3 Foundations Certified, BizTalk, SAP BusinessObjects (BO), Informatica
Frameworks
.NET
Platforms
Oracle, SharePoint

Education

Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in General Management
2011 - 2012
COTRUGLI Business School - Zagreb, Croatia
Master of Science degree in Computing
1998 - 2004
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing - Zagreb, Serbia

Certifications

Project Management Professional (PMP)
SEPTEMBER 2017 - PRESENT
PMI Institute
ITIL Foundation V3
JUNE 2014 - PRESENT
Axelos