Hire proven ITIL Foundation professionals in Cologne in minutes from 15,000 CVs with the power of AI.
Find freelancers who understand incident handling, service requests, change control, and the basic language of service management. Ideal for teams that need structured IT support, smoother handovers, and cleaner service operations, matched fast with vetted ITIL Foundation professionals.
About the certification
What it covers
ITIL Foundation is the entry-level certification for IT service management. It shows that a person understands the core ideas behind designing, delivering, and improving IT services in a business setting. For companies, it is a practical signal that the freelancer can work with shared processes instead of ad hoc support.
Core skills
- Incident, problem, and change basics
- Service value, continual improvement, and service quality
- Roles, responsibilities, and common ITSM terms
- Working with tickets, requests, and service teams
- Understanding how IT supports business goals
The certification is often held by service desk staff, support leads, junior process managers, and consultants who need a common ITIL language. It is also a good fit for freelancers who join transformation work or help teams align daily support with clearer service practices.
What it tells you
A freelancer with ITIL Foundation has a shared understanding of how IT services should be managed in a controlled way. That matters when you need someone to slot into an existing support model, improve handoffs between teams, or help document standard ways of working.
In Cologne, this is useful for companies that work with local IT teams, shared service functions, or German-speaking stakeholders while keeping delivery remote or hybrid. The certification does not prove deep technical specialization, but it does show a solid grasp of service management basics that reduce friction in day-to-day work.
Typical use cases
- IT service desk and support operations
- Change and release coordination
- Process improvement and service transition
- Internal IT alignment during growth or restructuring
- Consulting work that needs a common ITSM framework
PeopleCert now issues the certification, and many professionals still know it under the older AXELOS name. Searchers also use the shorthand ITIL Foundation, so companies looking for freelancers should use that term when screening profiles. It is especially relevant in environments where reliability, clear escalation paths, and predictable service delivery matter.
Meet FRATCH ITIL Foundation
Matthias Schneider
Senior Project Manager
Last position:
Overall Project Coordinator at Bundeswehr Informatik (BWI GmbH)
- PMO lead for Security Clearance 2 (SÜ2) cleared
- Reporting to sub-program management GMN
- System maintenance 25+
- Functional control and coordination of Jira setup
- Preparation of decision papers (e.g. project planning, steering model, communication plans, controlling models, role and responsibility matrices)
- Development of program-wide knowledge management using Confluence, creation of Jira concept
- Development of an access concept for all project tools
- Analyzing existing processes, identifying improvement potential, and designing solutions to increase efficiency and effectiveness
- Development of a concept for introducing automation approaches in existing tools
- Creating intranet articles as project marketing
- Responsible for project governance through reporting and resource planning in the sub-program
- Agile further development of the project method
- Gathering customer requirements (requirements engineering)
- Preparation and support of contract negotiations (7-year term, budget of over 500 million)
Rafael De Mestre Gebauer
Project Manager Modern Workplace
Last position:
Project Lead Automation at Textile industry
Analysis and optimization of end-to-end processes in different business areas such as sales, procurement, order processing and logistics. Redesign of the ERP. Identification of optimization potential, especially in areas with media breaks and manual tasks, as well as creation of a prioritized transformation roadmap with clear business cases and implementation recommendations. Management of automation initiatives. RPA at the production site in China. Evaluation and introduction of relevant AI use cases as well as building basic AI competence in the organization. Training internal employees of the project team and supporting them in the transformation process to develop a continuous improvement culture. Close collaboration with IT and external implementation partners, reporting to senior management.
Main tasks and achievements:
- Analysis of business processes and design of automated processes
- Training and support for employees in China and Germany
- 20% cost savings in logistics
- Regular status reports to management
Thorsten Heintke
Managing Partner
Last position:
Program Manager at Telecommunications Industry
- Program Manager for a strategically highly relevant compliance project in the enterprise segment (C4)
- Leading 6 workstreams
- Setting up the project organization, establishing communication structures, project and budget planning, risk management
- Reporting to the CIO
- Facilitating steering committee meetings
- Facilitating critical solution processes
- Responsible for adapting the operating model of the IT organizations in Germany, the EU and India, including planning and managing the relocation of affected employees
Markus Blohm
Consultant, Technical Project Manager
Last position:
Consultant, Technical Project Manager at Lanxess
- Project: ESU Windows and SQL Server consolidation / Configuration Management in ServiceNow
- Creation of an as-is analysis of all servers worldwide
- Creation of an as-is analysis of all SQL servers worldwide
- Creation of requirements analyses for SQL and server migrations
- Coordination of requirements with partners for migrations to Hyper-V (on-premises) or Azure Cloud
- Moderation of jour fixe meetings
- Creation of roadmaps and solution models for server migrations
- Setup of test scenarios
- Moderation of workshops for the introduction of a Global Admin Team
- Creation of data models (CMDB) in ServiceNow
- Conducting workshops for the CMDB data model
- Creation of solution models for the CMDB
- Creation of seamless configuration and work documentation for the CMDB
- Creation of reports for license management
- Creation of KPIs for data quality in ServiceNow
- Creation of a service catalog
- Moderation of workshops for creating service requests
- Interface between needs analysis and ServiceNow development team
- Systems used: Windows 7, Windows 10, Microsoft Office 365/2010, Windows Server 20xx, SQL Server 20xx, SharePoint, Azure Cloud, Hyper-V, ServiceNow, various tools
Abdelkader El Moumane
Lead Business Analyst (PIM)
Last position:
Lead Business Analyst (PIM)
- Further development and optimization of the PIM system (e.g. data modeling, interfaces, user experience)
- Analysis, structuring, and professional evaluation of business requirements in close coordination with business units and stakeholders
- Translating business requirements into functional and technical concepts (business & solution design)
- Designing and further developing the target PIM architecture including data models, object structures, versioning, and lifecycle concepts
- Defining interfaces, integration concepts, and data flows between PIM, eCommerce, ERP, and other systems
- Quality assurance in close collaboration with business units and the development team
- Effort estimations for analysis, design, and testing activities
- Agile, Scrum, 4APortal, SAP ERP, SAP eCommerce (Hybris)
Michael März
Project Manager - Configuration Management
Last position:
Team Lead / Service Owner 2nd Level & ITIL at Creditreform
- Service owner of the receivables management platform Ikarus
- Management and coordination of external 1st-level service providers
- Team leadership and building ITIL-compliant support structures
- Managing the handover to 3rd-level support (internal & external, incl. vendor/development)
- Stakeholder management between the business unit, IT, and external partners
- Jira ticket automations and maintenance of Confluence documentation
Hüseyin Altuntas
Business Analyst
Last position:
Business Analyst at Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Inneres, Sport und Digitalisierung
- Responsibility, also as rollout manager, for the successful transition of a basic OZG platform into the client's standard operations by planning and implementing measures along Service Transition and Service Operation according to ITIL, including workshops in a SAFe environment with more than 40 operational stakeholders
- Building and maintaining cross-organizational stakeholder relationships by organizing and running various information sessions on technical configurations and user guides (platform and EfA services)
- Designing and improving various operational and project documents such as the ITIL operations manual, OLA, SLA, service support concept and rollout instructions
- Modeling project-based processes according to BPMN 2.0, EPK and UML related to OZG services with the goal of integrating them into the operational e-government process landscape (SOA)
- Coordinating operational stakeholders and KPI reporting to the project management team using agile methods according to SAFe
- Tech stack / tools: Microsoft 365 (SharePoint, OneNote, Outlook, Teams), Skype for Business, Cisco Webex, ADONIS, MindManager, Jira, Confluence
Jens Rehsack
Technical Product Owner
Last position:
Technical Product Owner at App Development
Development of a mobile app to slow down the progression of dementia
Coordination of software development (TPO – Technical Product Owner)
agile requirements management (agile requirements engineering)
prioritization of tasks in consultation with stakeholders
stakeholder management
documentation and management of the software architecture
conducting PoC for technology decisions
Documentation as Code
docToolchain, arc42, req42, aim42, tpo42, C4 model, Archimate
ADR, Architecture Decision Records
Docker
Pre-Commit, Conventional Commits, Semantic Versioning
Liberating Structures, Agile Principles, Holacracy, Sociocracy 3.0
Mobile frameworks
AI developing interfaces, LLM
Cordova, Unity
Google Gemini, OpenAI, Character.AI
Prompt development
Serdar Colak
Consultant
Last position:
Consultant at Freelance
- ISO 27001 implementation & audit readiness
- NIS2 & DORA compliance support
- Interim / fractional CISO services
- IT risk & controls (ITGC, SOX, COBIT, BAIT)
- M&A and IT due diligence for startups/ventures
- Business continuity management (BCM, ISO 22301)
- Cybersecurity framework development (NIST, ISO, BSI)
- GRC tool advisory (Archer, ServiceNow)
Alexander Rautzenberg
IT Consultant
Last position:
Business Analyst at Financial Services Provider Landesbank
The Helaba ATLAS project aims to modernize core systems and make them future-proof. As part of the subproject, the existing legacy system for international payments is being replaced by a modern web-based application.
- Analysis of functional and technical requirements
- Analysis and optimization of business processes
- Process modeling
- Preparation and facilitation of workshops
- Defining project scope and prioritizing requirements
- Business process management (analysis, modeling, and optimization)
- Specification of user stories
- Designing business and authorization concepts
- Testing and acceptance
- Designing mockups in Figma
- Creating the UI/UX style guide for web applications Approach: Scrum (agile) Technologies: Jira, Confluence, MS Teams, Conceptboard, Java, Vaadin, Figma
Matthias Bullmahn
Interim Change Manager
Last position:
Interim Change Manager at Automotive manufacturer (OEM)
- Agile transformation of the entire executive board division for battery development using SAFe.
- Set up 5 Agile Release Trains and an agile portfolio.
- Prepared the shift from a functional to a process-based organization.
- Managed a scope of 400+ people across Germany, Europe and China.
- Applied tailored SAFe methods.
- Stakeholder management as well as consulting, training and coaching of leadership (product management, release train engineers, system architects).
- Built a portfolio with budgets from around €150 million up to over €1 billion.
- Trained junior colleagues at Big4 consulting firms.
- Introduced PI plannings, quality metrics and team training.
Yannick Tessa
Cloud Architect
Last position:
Cloud Architect at Anonymous
- Implementation of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with Terraform to ensure a scalable, repeatable, and secure Azure infrastructure
- Implementation and optimization of CI/CD pipelines with Azure DevOps
- Management of container and server environments and AKS
Tanya Akin
Agile Coach / Team Coach
Last position:
Excellence Lead / Collaboration Coach at EnBW AG
- Successfully transformed an established support/ITSM team into an agile product development team.
- Realigned a formerly cohesive DevOps team that had drifted apart by developing a shared strategy and improving collaboration with a more data-driven mindset.
- Took on the role of Product Owner during the extended absence of the original Product Owner while guiding the team toward self-organization and adopting a customer-centric perspective.
- Designed, developed and implemented an AI initiative to systematically tap into artificial intelligence potential within the business unit.
- Managed stakeholders and developed and conducted an AI Design Thinking workshop, including AI fundamentals and insights.
- Trained the excellence cluster (UX/strategy/agile methods) on artificial intelligence as a methodological competency in team coaching.
- Provided strategic consulting and coaching to the Demand & Innovation team on process optimization, focusing on efficiency gains and improved prioritization mechanisms.
- Developed and delivered tailored training to promote agile mindsets and practices for various audiences, from development teams to leadership levels.
- Facilitated large-group workshops to foster cross-department collaboration and improve communication structures.
- Introduced OKR methodology for strategic team alignment and to promote transparent performance measurement.
- Provided conflict coaching and mediation in critical team situations to create a trusting and productive work atmosphere.
- Supported change management with a focus on the Prosci methodology for the sustainable embedding of new ways of working and digital transformation.
- Member of the Leading X leadership team.
René Karges
Freelancer
Last position:
Freelancer at Freelance work
- Business analysis
- Requirements management
- Project management
- Stakeholder management
- Team leadership
Stanislav Stolberg
Senior IT Consultant and Digitalization
Last position:
Interim CTO / IT Consultant (Cloud & App Security · AI & Web3) at Deutsche Bank Group; Startups
- Spearheaded strategic and operational oversight of IT infrastructures to accelerate innovation and ensure audit-proof delivery.
- Acted as key liaison between management, business departments, and engineering, actively engaging in coding, cloud architecture, and CI/CD to resolve critical path challenges.
- Engineered and implemented an AI Governance Program to manage risks and ensure compliance with the EU AI Act, reducing AI use-case approval times from 8 to 3 weeks.
- Delivered and deployed secure AI systems into production (RAG-based knowledge platforms), resulting in a 35% decrease in standard support ticket volume.
- Established robust security standards and governance frameworks for APIs (OAuth2/OIDC, mTLS) and cloud platforms (AWS/GCP) to guarantee compliance and system integrity.
- Hardened cloud infrastructure by implementing Zero Trust principles and a comprehensive observability stack (logging/alerting), achieving 99.9% availability in a 24/7 on-call environment.
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
ITIL Foundation statistics
Aggregated from the professional profiles of matched freelancers.
Experience
24 years
Position duration
2.5 years
Positions per freelancer
15
Top business areas
Information Technology, Project Management, Operations
Top industries
Information Technology, Professional Services, Government and Administration
Certification focus areas
Information Technology, Project Management, Product Development
Bachelor's degree or higher
79%
Master's degree or higher
46%
Doctorate
13%
Certifications per freelancer
10
Most common languages
German, English, French
Speak two or more languages
100%
Daily Rate Distribution
The chart shows how the daily rates of freelancers holding this certification are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows how many freelancers charge within that range. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Average rates for ITIL Foundation & Seniority distribution
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.
The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.
Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Frequently Asked Questions
Want to learn more? Find helpful information about FRATCH
ITIL Foundation shows that a freelancer understands the basic principles of IT service management. It points to familiarity with terms and practices such as incident handling, change control, and continual improvement. For companies, that usually means less ramp-up time when the person joins an existing support or service process.
ITIL Foundation is the current entry-level certification in the ITIL scheme. Many people still say ITIL v3 Foundation out of habit, but the modern certificate reflects the current service management framework issued by PeopleCert. If you see either term on a profile, check the version and the holder’s practical experience.
ITIL Foundation is a good fit for service desk analysts, support specialists, process coordinators, and junior consultants. It is also useful for freelancers who work with internal IT teams and need a shared vocabulary for service work. It is not only for managers; hands-on contributors can benefit from it as well.
A freelancer with ITIL Foundation is often useful in incident management, request handling, change coordination, and service improvement work. The certification matters most where teams need structure and clear ownership around IT support. It is common in enterprise IT, managed services, consulting, and internal operations.
ITIL Foundation covers the basics and the overall logic of the framework. Higher levels go deeper into specialist practice, managing professional development, or more advanced service management topics. If you need someone to apply ITIL principles in a practical team setting, Foundation can be enough; if you need framework leadership, look for more advanced experience too.
To earn ITIL Foundation, candidates usually study the framework’s core concepts, key practices, and service lifecycle thinking. Many people prepare with structured training, self-study, or a mix of both, then take a formal exam through PeopleCert. The main challenge is learning the vocabulary and understanding how the practices fit together.
ITIL Foundation is tied to the current PeopleCert certification scheme, so holders should follow the renewal rules that apply to their certification status. In practice, professionals should keep an eye on PeopleCert’s continuing certification requirements and any updates to the qualification path. Companies hiring freelancers should ask whether the certificate is current and whether the person has kept their knowledge fresh.
In Cologne, ITIL Foundation can be especially useful when you need freelancers who can work with German and international teams in a structured way. It helps in environments where support requests, change approvals, and service ownership must be clear across on-site and remote collaboration. The certificate gives a useful baseline when hiring for shared service and IT operations roles.
The average hourly rate for freelancers with ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE is 112 €, which corresponds to a daily rate of about 893 € based on an 8-hour working day.
Of the freelancers with ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE, 79% hold at least a Bachelor's degree, 46% hold at least a Master's degree, and 13% hold a doctorate.
On average, freelancers with ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE have 24 years of professional experience, with a single engagement typically lasting around 2.5 years.
The most common languages among freelancers with ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE are German (100%), English (100%), and French (24%).
The most common industries among freelancers with ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE are Information Technology (91%), Professional Services (62%), and Government and Administration (53%).
The most common business areas among freelancers with ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE are Information Technology (100%), Project Management (94%), and Operations (88%).
FRATCH ITIL Foundation main locations
Our freelancers and interim experts are at home across the DACH region — available on-site in the major business hubs or fully remote. Choose a location to discover matched specialists, local market insights and up-to-date availability.
Request a Free Demo
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Philipp Thomaschewski
FRATCH CEO
