The Problem
ImmoScout24 is one of the top 3 most-searched real estate platforms in Austria, part of the Scout24 group headquartered in Germany. The Austrian branch needed to keep pace with the parent organization's engineering standards while evolving its own product — improving user experience, driving organic traffic, and adding marketing automation capabilities.
The existing system was a highly qualitative distributed architecture with comprehensive e2e, unit, and integration test coverage. The bar was high: every change had to pass through rigorous testing pipelines. Any new feature or optimization needed to work within this quality-first culture — not around it.
My Biggest Challenge
Adapting to the quality expectations of a DAX-listed organization was the steepest learning curve. The codebase was fully tested at every layer — e2e, integration, and unit — across distributed microservices with SSO federated from Scout24's main German organization. Nothing shipped without full coverage.
I had to level up my testing discipline fast, learn to communicate more precisely with senior engineers, and develop the habit of syncing with my mentor at the moments that actually counted — not too early (wasting their time) and not too late (blocking my own progress). That calibration was as valuable as any technical skill.
What I Delivered
UX Improvements
Drove user experience improvements across the search and listing flows, making the platform faster to navigate and easier to convert on — directly contributing to higher engagement metrics.
SEO to All-Time High
Implemented technical SEO optimizations that pushed organic search performance to its highest levels in the platform's history — more visibility means more listings, more agents, more revenue.
Marketing Automation (Iterable)
Integrated Iterable for marketing automation, enabling the business to run targeted campaigns, automate lead nurturing, and re-engage users — turning traffic into measurable pipeline.
Enricher Task Upgrades
Upgraded the functional programming-style enricher tasks that process and transform property data — improving reliability and maintainability of the data pipeline.
Business Impact
These weren't isolated technical wins. Higher SEO meant more organic traffic, which meant more listings and agents on the platform. Better UX meant users stayed longer and converted more. Iterable meant the business could nurture leads without engineering involvement. Every improvement compounded into platform growth.
What I Took Away
This project fundamentally shaped how I work. I learned that quality isn't a phase — it's the speed. A fully tested distributed system doesn't slow you down, it gives you the confidence to move fast without breaking things. That mindset stayed with me in every project since.
On the human side, I learned when to reach out to a mentor and when to push through on my own. That calibration — knowing when to sync and when to execute — is something I now consider a core part of how I operate in any team.