--- title: "Journey - José DA COSTA" description: "**26 years of career** at the crossroads of employment on critical IS and tech entrepreneurship" locale: "en" canonical: "https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey" source: "https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey.md" html_source: "https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey" author: "José DA COSTA" type: "page" generated_at: "2026-06-02T15:37:52.727Z" --- # Journey **26 years of career** at the crossroads of employment on critical IS and tech entrepreneurship It all started in 1999 with my first company founded at 18. 7 positions held, 4 companies created, 6 diplomas (including 2 Master's) and 3 certifications mark this journey. This timeline highlights the main milestones: behind each period are teams I led, critical IS I transformed, and a dual path built in parallel between hands-on management and technical leadership. All (18) · Employment (5) · Entrepreneurship (4) · Education (6) · Certifications (3) - 31 years of cumulative experience - 26 years of career (27 years since 1999) - 13 years in employment - 18 years in entrepreneurship - 11 years of education - 7 positions held - 6 diplomas (including 2 Master's) - 3 certifications ## Work experience ### 2024 - present - CTO · Founder · technical director - ACCENSEO _(Founder (SAS))_ _June 2024 - present · Duration: 2 years 1 month_ **Role:** CEO & CTO - Technical Director IT consulting and software development company founded in 2024. Delivers **custom** dev, cloud infrastructure on **AWS**, database hosting, and PIM consulting for SMEs in real estate, industry, and retail. - Built Big Data pipelines: 6M products, 37M variants, 400M use cases - Full **AWS** infrastructure with **Terraform** **IaC** and FinOps - Led a team of 3 and managed **end-to-end** client delivery [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/cto-founder-technical-director-accenseo.md) ### 2020 - 2024 - Entrepreneur · Various Business Domains - MONSIEUR JOSE DA COSTA _August 2020 - December 2024 · Duration: 4 years 5 months_ **Role:** Entrepreneur Versatile solo venture covering IT services, event tent rental for weddings and parties, and Airbnb apartment management. Applied software engineering skills across all activities. - Built a LeBonCoin scraper with Symfony, Docker, and ELK stack - Managed 6 professional tents serving 250+ clients over 4 seasons - Automated quoting, invoicing, and contract generation in HTML/PDF [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/entrepreneur-various-business-domains.md) ### 2019 - 2024 - Engineering Manager · Project Manager / Product Owner · Technical Lead - Groupe Pichet _(Permanent contract)_ _January 2019 - March 2024 · Duration: 5 years 3 months_ **3 positions** **Role:** Technical Lead to Engineering Manager #### Technical Lead · Flows and Products: content and enterprise integration _January 2019 - January 2021 · Duration: 2 years 1 month_ **Role:** Technical Lead - Product Owner PIM/DAM #### Project Manager / Product Owner · Flows and Products: PIM & DAM & ESB _January 2021 - September 2023 · Duration: 2 years 9 months_ **Role:** Project Manager - PIM/DAM then Marketing IS #### Engineering Manager · Enterprise Application Integration _October 2023 - March 2024 · Duration: 6 months_ **Role:** Engineering Manager - Enterprise Application Integration Five-year journey at Groupe Pichet (1,400 employees, real estate), progressing from Technical Lead to Engineering Manager. Led PIM, DAM, and ESB transformation across the entire organization. - Grew from code to team management over 5 years - Managed 160-200K EUR annual SaaS budget - Worked across all departments: development, hospitality, finance, HR [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/engineering-manager-project-manager-product-owner-technical-lead.md) ### 2017 - Senior Software Engineer · Lead PHP Magento Developer - Smile Open Source Solutions _(Permanent contract (CDI))_ _July 2017 - September 2017 · Duration: 3 months_ **Role:** Lead PHP Magento Developer & Technical Supervision Senior Magento developer at Smile, Europe's leading open-source integrator. Delivered complex e-commerce features on Magento Enterprise Edition for major retail clients. - Delivered Fleurance Nature redesign solo, planned for a full team - Led code reviews and enforced Magento/PSR standards - Worked on enterprise clients: Bricorama, GIFI, Cultura [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/senior-software-engineer-lead-php-magento-developer.md) ### 2016 - 2018 - Technical Project Manager · Co-founder · Early-Stage Startup - AdsPower _(Co-Founder - Early-stage startup)_ _January 2016 - December 2018 · Duration: 3 years_ **Role:** Technical Project Manager & Co-Founder Early-stage startup building an AI-powered Google AdWords optimization platform. Combined Symfony, Angular, and Azure Machine Learning to automate ad campaign analysis and bid recommendations. - Trained ML classification models on Azure for bid optimization - Managed a team of 4 freelancers with Agile Scrum practices - Multi-platform builds: web (Firebase), desktop (Electron), mobile (Cordova) [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/technical-project-manager-co-founder-early-stage-startup.md) ### 2013 - 2016 - Senior Software Engineer · Lead PHP Symfony Developer - Medialeads _(Permanent contract (CDI))_ _October 2013 - November 2016 · Duration: 3 years 2 months_ **Role:** Lead PHP Symfony Developer Senior full-stack developer at Medialeads, the tech arm of European Sourcing. Built complete ERP/PIM/CRM/Marketplace platforms with Symfony, led the Solr-to-Elasticsearch migration for millions of products. - Migrated search from Apache Solr to Elasticsearch at scale - Designed REST APIs with JWT RSA 4096-bit authentication - Mentored junior devs and defined team technical standards [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/senior-software-engineer-lead-php-symfony-developer.md) ### 2009 - 2013 - Software Engineer · PHP Zend Framework Developer - European Sourcing Group _(Permanent contract (CDI))_ _April 2009 - September 2013 · Duration: 4 years 6 months_ **Role:** Software Engineer Software engineer at European Sourcing, building product search engines with Apache Solr and custom ERP/PIM extranets. Managed Europe's largest promotional product database across 2,000+ MySQL databases. - Designed Solr-powered search indexing hundreds of thousands of products - Built the MyEasyWeb e-commerce site generator for resellers - Administered Linux servers and 2,000+ MySQL databases [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/software-engineer-php-zend-framework-developer.md) ### 2008 - Junior Software Engineer · PHP Joomla Webmaster Developer - Ministere des solidarites et de la sante _(Contract Employee (Fixed-term))_ _October 2008 - December 2008 · Duration: 3 months_ **Role:** Junior Software Engineer Junior developer at the French Ministry of Health (GRSP Aquitaine). Built a Joomla portal, a private forum for 57 reviewers, and a PHP extranet for health grant application workflows. - Delivered the top-rated portal among all 26 GRSPs in France - Built a secure PHP extranet for grant review workflows - Created 17 interactive video tutorials with Adobe Captivate [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/junior-software-engineer-php-joomla-webmaster-developer.md) ### 1999 - 2007 - CTO · Founder · technical director - Celiane _(Entrepreneur)_ _January 1999 - December 2007 · Duration: 9 years_ **Role:** CTO & Founder Software publishing company managing 260 multilingual websites across 15 languages and 5 countries. Monetized through SEO and affiliate marketing, generating 500K EUR net profit. Started at age 18. - 260 websites, 15 languages, top 5 affiliate by monthly revenue - Built a custom CMS generating millions of web pages - Reverse-engineered search engine ranking algorithms for SEO [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/cto-founder-technical-director-celiane.md) ## Education ### 2023 - 2026 - Master Expert in Software Engineering - ESIEA _December 2023 - March 2026 · Duration: 2 years 4 months_ Master Expert in Software Engineering at ESIEA (2023-2026), RNCP Level 7. Covers the full software lifecycle: architecture, development, DevOps, project management, and team leadership. - RNCP Level 7 - equivalent to Master's degree - 1,151 courses across 738 hours of training - Topics: architecture, DevOps, AI, cloud, Agile management [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/master-expert-in-software-engineering.md) ### 2023 - 2025 - MBA Strategic Project Management - ECEMA _March 2023 - April 2025 · Duration: 2 years 2 months_ MBA Project Portfolio Manager at ECEMA (2021-2023), RNCP Level 7. Focused on strategic project management, financial analysis, team leadership, and organizational transformation. - RNCP Level 7 - equivalent to Master's degree - 1,815 hours covering project management and business strategy - ECEMA: top 20 nationally in Project Management rankings [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/mba-strategic-project-management.md) ### 2001 - 2003 - BTS IG (IT Management) - Lycee Gustave Eiffel _July 2001 - June 2003 · Duration: 2 years_ BTS in IT Management (ARLE specialization) at Lycee Gustave Eiffel, Bordeaux (2003-2005). Covered system administration, network infrastructure, scripting, and cybersecurity fundamentals. - Network and system admin: Windows Server, Linux, Active Directory - Scripting in PowerShell, Bash, and Python for automation - Lycee Gustave Eiffel: top 25 BTS SIO program in France [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/bts-it-management.md) ### 2001 - 2002 - Supplementary Certificate in Specialized Multimedia Product Sales - Ensemble scolaire Saint-Genes La Salle Bordeaux _September 2001 - July 2002 · Duration: 11 months_ Post-diploma Supplementary Certificate in Multimedia Product Sales at Saint-Genes La Salle (2003). Intensive 820-hour program combining tech product expertise with specialized sales techniques. Graduated with jury congratulations (16.67/20). - 820-hour program: tech knowledge + sales techniques - Graduated with jury congratulations at 16.67/20 - Work-study at Pentasonic: server install, network setup, LAN parties [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/supplementary-certificate-multimedia-sales.md) ### 1999 - 2001 - Vocational Baccalaureate in Household & Institutional Equipment Maintenance (MAEMC), Specialization: Electrical Engineering - Ensemble scolaire Saint-Genes La Salle Bordeaux _September 1999 - July 2001 · Duration: 1 year 11 months_ Vocational Baccalaureate in Household and Institutional Equipment Maintenance with Electrical Engineering specialization. Three-year program at Saint-Genes La Salle, Bordeaux (2000-2003). - Electrical engineering: power circuits, diagnostics, automation - 22 weeks of hands-on work placement in maintenance companies - Saint-Genes La Salle: ranked #1 high school in Bordeaux [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/vocational-baccalaureate-maemc.md) ### 1997 - 1999 - BEP ICEF (Home Equipment Installer & Advisor), Specialization: Audiovisual Electronics & Antennas - Lycee Professionnel Philadelphe de Gerde _September 1997 - June 1999 · Duration: 1 year 10 months_ BEP vocational diploma in Home Equipment Installation and Advisory, specializing in Audiovisual Electronics and Antennas. Two-year program at Lycee Philadelphe de Gerde, Pessac (1998-2000). - Trained in audiovisual installation, antennas, and electronics - Hands-on diagnostics with multimeters and oscilloscopes - 8-week work placement in after-sales and retail settings [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/bep-home-equipment-installer-advisor.md) ## Certifications ### 2024 - TOEIC Certification - ETS Global _March 2024_ TOEIC English proficiency certification from ETS Global (March 2024) with a score of 750/990, placing at B1 level (CEFR). Validates ability to work and communicate in international professional settings. - Score of 750/990 - B1 independent user level - English used daily: code reviews, docs, international teams - Supports all technical roles from dev to Engineering Manager [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/toeic-certification.md) ### 2022 - SAFe 5 Certification (Product Manager & Product Owner) - Scaled Agile _December 2022_ SAFe 5 Product Owner / Product Manager certification from Scaled Agile (December 2022). Validates expertise in PI Planning, Agile Release Trains, and value stream management at enterprise scale. - Extended Scrum skills to multi-team enterprise coordination - Applied WSJF prioritization across 7+ projects at Pichet - Organized PI Planning sessions for ESB, PIM, and web teams [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/safe-certification-product-manager-product-owner.md) ### 2021 - PSPO Certification (Professional Scrum Product Owner) - Scrum.org _July 2021_ Professional Scrum Product Owner certification from ORSYS (July 2021). Validates skills in backlog management, stakeholder engagement, and value-driven delivery within Scrum teams. - Formalized transition from Technical Lead to Project Manager - Applied directly to ESB platform backlog at Groupe Pichet - Structured product decisions with Scrum ceremonies and artifacts [Read full article](https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey/pspo-certification-professional-scrum-product-owner.md) Interactive timeline with navigation: https://portfolio.josedacosta.net/en/journey