Global DevOps at Doka: Ronni Bjelosevic on central IT, honest hiring, and a Microsoft-heavy stack

A concise window into a large-scale IT backbone

In the session “Ronni Bjelosevic, DevOps Team Lead bei Doka” with speaker Ronni Bjelosevic from Doka GmbH, we at DevJobs.at got a clear snapshot of how Doka’s central IT runs globally—and how a DevOps team inside that structure operates, hires, and onboards. The picture is grounded in day-to-day realities: process fluency, pragmatic collaboration, and a project portfolio that stretches from small solo efforts to large, transformative initiatives.

The context is straightforward: “We are the central IT, we are about 95 people, supporting all DOKA locations worldwide.” Within this backbone sits a DevOps area with five teams. One of them is the Sales and Operations team led by Ronni Bjelosevic. This group looks after Sales Operations topics, including customer ERP and Sales ERP, CAM systems, and general interfaces that connect to customers and other apps. The work is business-critical and blends technical delivery with deep process understanding.

Team scope and mandate: Sales & Operations DevOps

The team is about 17 people strong. Its hallmark is range—especially in experience: “The youngest are 25, the oldest are over 60 … we have the entire spectrum.” That diversity shapes the way the team operates. As Bjelosevic notes, it brings “a lot of process knowledge … and also the young spirit.” The dual emphasis on process mastery and fresh energy is a defining characteristic.

In terms of subject matter, the team focuses on:

• Sales and customer ERP solutions
• CAM systems
• Interfaces to customer and partner applications

The interface work underscores the end-to-end mindset. ERP and CAM are not isolated silos; they anchor how information flows to customers and how operations are steered. Engineers here dive into the operational DNA of a globally active company.

Project scale: from solo delivery to big transformations

One image from the session stands out: the sheer breadth of project sizes. As Bjelosevic describes it, work ranges “from a small project that you start alone … to projects that turn the entire company around.” In between lie initiatives where several colleagues execute in synch.

For engineers, this translates to:

• Chances to own compact, well-scoped initiatives end-to-end.
• Exposure to larger engagements that demand structured collaboration.
• A realistic view of enterprise IT: not every sprint is a transformation, and not every task is a greenfield experiment—but both scenarios are part of the portfolio.

The variety is both demanding and rewarding. If you enjoy switching between different project scales, stakeholder constellations, and lifecycle phases, this environment offers a steep and sustained learning curve.

Engineering culture: process competence meets pragmatism

“What makes us special is precisely this process knowledge.” That line captures the team’s philosophy. In ERP-adjacent domains, process literacy is the key to making technology work. Those who understand end-to-end flows can refine requirements, anticipate risks, and plan stable integrations. At the same time, the team is buoyed by a “young spirit”—a willingness to speak up, try, and iterate together.

The result is a counterweight to tool-only thinking: technology serves the process, not the other way around. This also explains why the hiring process avoids coding exercises (more on that below). Conversation and shared understanding of the problem space carry more weight.

Hiring: conversations before coding tasks

The hiring journey is deliberately human and focused:

1) First conversation via Teams: mutual introduction, initial impression. No tests, no trick questions.

2) Onsite meeting at the office: get a feel for the team and the space; “get to know each other physically” and build a richer impression.

3) If it aligns: onboarding.

What stands out is the explicit choice not to use take-home assignments or live coding. As Bjelosevic puts it: “We typically don’t do tech skills or tasks that bring you to programming because we assume we can clarify that well enough at the conversation level.” It’s a clear stance. Rather than evaluating skills in isolation, the team looks for how candidates think, prioritize, and communicate in context.

From an employer-branding lens, this signals trust in professional dialogue and an emphasis on situational competence—strengths that conventional coding tests often fail to measure.

Onboarding with a buddy: clarity and support in the first weeks

The onboarding process is equally concrete: new joiners are assigned a buddy. “This buddy is responsible for making sure you survive the first weeks.” It’s a tongue-in-cheek way to describe the practical reality: where to find the canteen, who to talk to at the works council, where facilities are, whom to ask about what.

Bjelosevic also serves as an early point of contact, yet the “designated buddy” is the person you can ask about almost anything. In a central IT setting with about 95 people and five DevOps teams, that role is an effective way to ease both social integration and operational orientation.

Values: honesty as a working principle

Alongside technical know-how, Bjelosevic is adamant about one trait: honesty. Collaboration works when people articulate what fits and what doesn’t. Only then can the team “get to a good denominator and work well.” It’s a pragmatic definition of team culture: clarity produces speed and trust. Instead of buzzwords, the team expects a habit that shows up in everyday work—meetings, reviews, stakeholder alignment.

For candidates, the expectation is plain: enjoy constructive, open communication—not as a style choice but as part of your professional craft.

Technology stack: Microsoft-centric with ERP proximity

The Sales & Operations tech stack is varied but distinctly oriented:

• X++ as the dedicated language for Microsoft Dynamics (with similarities to C++ and SQL queries)
• .NET Core with Entity Framework, also in larger projects
• Java is used in parts of the company

As Bjelosevic sums it up: “A lot of Microsoft.” That fits the ERP-adjacent space, the integration responsibilities, and the need to build robust, maintainable services that align with real processes. For engineers who like working in the Microsoft ecosystem, this is a compelling playground—precisely because the problems are concrete and enterprise-critical.

Collaboration at the seams: interfaces, responsibility, impact

Interfaces to customers and other applications are a recurring theme. This is where process flow succeeds—or fails. The Sales & Operations team owns critical handoffs—between systems, organizational units, and external partners. The work is technically demanding (mapping, data quality, load management, failure modes) and communicatively challenging (alignment, prioritization, expectation management).

The team’s age and experience span acts as a multiplier: senior colleagues bring deep process and domain knowledge; younger team members bring energy and new angles. The result is a learning environment where knowledge circulates in the flow of real work.

Why this team stands out for tech talent

From our DevJobs.at vantage point, several reasons to consider Bjelosevic’s Sales & Operations team are evident:

• Global relevance: The central IT supports all sites worldwide; your work has immediate, company-wide impact.
• Project variety: From small, autonomous initiatives to large, transformative programs—the portfolio is genuinely diverse.
• Process closeness: If you enjoy ERP and integration work—and improving real business processes—this is the right arena.
• Learning via diversity: The mix of decades of process knowledge and “young spirit” creates a unique context for growth.
• Clear, fair hiring: Conversation-focused assessments rather than artificial coding tasks. First a Teams call, then in-person impressions.
• Reliable onboarding: A designated buddy, visible points of contact, and practical orientation in the first weeks.
• Tech focus: A strong Microsoft stack (X++, .NET Core, Entity Framework), ERP proximity, and pockets of Java—an industrial-strength toolset.
• Culture of openness: Honesty as a working principle; expectations are clear, feedback is welcome, collaboration is simpler as a result.

What this means for the day-to-day

Global responsibility, process proximity, and tech variety manifest in several recurring patterns:

• Business impact drives priorities: ERP and interface work is never a vanity project. Decisions follow what stabilizes and accelerates processes.
• Resilience over showmanship: Especially in integrations, robustness beats flashiness. The team is set up to deliver dependable solutions.
• Communication as an engineering skill: Expectation management and clean handovers are part of the craft—within the team and with stakeholders.
• Ownership with balance: Small projects invite high autonomy; large initiatives require structured coordination. Both are part of the role.

If this blend suits you, you’ll find an environment that many organizations promise but few consistently deliver: technically sound, process-aware, and collaborative.

Hiring expectations: precise and human

The session outlines a set of expectations that candidates can realistically prepare for:

• Technical foundation: Experience in the Microsoft ecosystem is naturally relevant; understanding ERP-adjacent architectures and integrations is a plus.
• Conversational strength: Because assessments are dialogue-first, the ability to explain problems, surface assumptions, and weigh alternatives matters.
• Honesty: Speak plainly about what works and what doesn’t—this is a team norm, not a soft suggestion.
• Team orientation: Operate smoothly in small and larger settings—from buddy-led onboarding to coordination in bigger initiatives.

That clarity helps both sides: candidates can present the most relevant aspects of their profile; teams get colleagues aligned with the operating model.

Learning and growth through real work

Even without formal programs described, the session implies strong on-the-job growth opportunities:

• The variety of project sizes creates natural chances to rotate and deepen skills—sometimes compact delivery, sometimes a bigger integration brick, sometimes a longer-running initiative.
• The span of experience supports organic mentoring without ceremony—knowledge flows across real tasks.
• The proximity to business processes ensures technical decisions have visible effect—a motivating feedback loop for engineers.

If you’re charting a path toward process engineering, integration architecture, or deeper mastery of the Microsoft stack, this is a practical training ground.

Quotes that define the team

A few lines from Bjelosevic capture the essence:

Taken together, these lines describe a culture of clarity: clear responsibility, clear processes, and clear communication.

Closing: a team that blends impact, variety, and straightforwardness

“Ronni Bjelosevic, DevOps Team Lead bei Doka” highlights an environment where DevOps is practiced as a way of working, not as a buzzword: tightly coupled to business processes, powered by experience and openness, and supported by a hiring and onboarding approach that treats people like professionals. The technology posture is hands-on (Microsoft stack, ERP proximity, integrations), the project mix is broad, and the culture prizes honesty.

For tech talent eager to own critical seams—between systems, teams, and processes—this Sales & Operations team is a compelling destination. If you like solving problems in conversation, value collegial orientation, and want to learn across different project scales, you’ll find a clear, practical stage here.

Our takeaways from the session at DevJobs.at are straightforward: this is a place where engineering isn’t just about building and running—it’s about understanding why. And that makes all the difference.

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