Christian D.-Fractional & Interim CMO | Digital Growth & Demand Generation | Team Build-up & International Expansion
Check rate
Experience
Fractional & Interim CMO
Growth Engine Architect (Independent)
- Marketing audits and growth engine mandates: from lead generation setup to full marketing operations including hiring
- Designing AI-ready marketing organisations: which functions stay human, which move to agents and what that does to the operating model
- Building the infrastructure hands-on: CRM, marketing automation, first-party data and attribution, LLM-based workflows
- Engagements from a 2 to 4 week marketing audit to interim or fractional CMO mandates of 6 to 18 months
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
Academy of Digital Industries
- Led distributed marketing organisation across 4 countries: Brand, Design, Digital Advertising, Regional Marketing
- Full marketing planning cycle including budgeting, forecasting and ROI evaluation
- Developed scalable marketing infrastructure: Website, CRM, automation
- Established KPI-driven performance culture across regions
- Created XPUP, a standalone AI-design training brand under ADI, as the blueprint for new market entries (first launched in Czechia)
- Aligned executive leadership, growth objectives and operational capacity
Director Marketing Germany
GUS Germany GmbH (Global University Systems)
- Full budget responsibility; direct reporting to CEO (Germany) and Deputy CEO (London)
- Led 20+ international team members across Berlin, Hamburg, London, Manila and Hyderabad
- Built performance-driven marketing organisation: Performance, Product Marketing, PR, Social, Design & Video
- Drove international campus launches in Dubai and Barcelona
- Approx. 1 million digital leads per year across five brands and 20+ markets, on a €10M annual budget
- 30% avg. YoY student recruitment growth (2022–2024)
- +87% YoY organic leads | +223% YoY PR reach across portfolio brands
- UE University of Europe: international first-year students from 388 to 1,892, No. 1 among German private universities for international first-year students in WS 24/25 (Destatis)
- Gisma University: international first-year students from 186 to 677 across four intakes (WS 21/22 to WS 24/25), +115% in the intake following the rebrand, Top 5 among German private universities
- Strategic partnership with Borussia Dortmund initiated and negotiated
Director Marketing & Sales
GUS Germany GmbH (Global University Systems)
- Restructured marketing & sales departments; implemented KPI-driven performance model
- +500% organic leads in the 12 months after the website relaunch
- +200% European student growth YoY through international expansion strategy
- Successfully launched Potsdam Innovation Hub (120+ students first intake)
Marketing Director → CMO / Chief Marketplace Officer
Machtfit GmbH
- Built the B2B marketing department from scratch, took on three further teams, led 22 FTE across four departments with 4 Team Leads
- Established integrated B2B & B2C growth model and marketplace structure
- +300% organic traffic and 3x organic leads in the 12 months after the full rebrand and digital relaunch
- Developed strategic partnerships: Holmes Place, McFit/John Reed, Gymondo
- Reported directly to founders and investors
Marketing Manager → Head of Marketing
Euroforum Deutschland SE
- Led teams of up to 50 across Marketing, PR, Web, Design and Sales
- Digitally transformed organisation from database marketing to content & performance marketing
- 4,000+ B2B leads generated via content-driven acquisition strategy in the first content marketing year
- Launched international events in Paris and Tokyo
Industry experience
See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time.
Experienced in Media and Entertainment, Education, Sport, and Professional Services.
Business area experience
See which departments and functions this freelancer has contributed to most.
Experienced in Marketing, Sales, Strategy, Human Resources, Information Technology, and Operations.
Summary
I come in when marketing leadership is missing and leave when it works. I work as a Fractional and Interim CMO for companies that have outgrown their marketing structure or never properly built one. The result: a marketing engine that generates predictable pipeline and keeps running without me.
Builder by mindset and operator by nature. I build the infrastructure myself: CRM setup, AI workflows, marketing automation, reporting frameworks, process design. I bridge execution gaps with agencies and freelancers from my network until the right team is in place. I work in both directions: helping international companies enter the DACH market and helping European companies expand internationally. Performance marketing across 20+ markets is one half of that. The other is physical market entry: campus launches in Dubai and Barcelona, each built with a local team and local operations.
20+ years of marketing leadership across corporate groups, PE-backed environments and growth-stage companies. Direct CEO and board reporting throughout, steering marketing jointly with Finance, Sales and Operations rather than as a silo. I have built marketing functions from the ground up, not only optimised existing ones. Strong expertise in budgeting, financial planning, AI-enabled marketing transformation and MarTech infrastructure.
Skills
Marketing Transformation & Organisational Build-Up
Interim / Fractional Cmo Leadership
Dach Market Entry & International Expansion
Team Leadership & Development (Up To 50 Fte)
Budget Ownership & Roi Forecasting
Brand Repositioning & Go-To-Market Strategy
Performance Marketing (Digital Advertising, Seo, Lead Gen)
Ai-Enabled Marketing & Automation Workflows
Crm & Marketing Technology Architecture
Corporate & Investor Board Reporting
Analytics & Bi: Ga4, Power Bi, Metabase, Looker Studio
Performance: Google Ads, Meta Ads, Linkedin Ads
Crm & Automation: Salesforce, Pardot, Sugarcrm, Zoho, Wordpress, Hubspot
Tools & Pm: Semrush, Ahrefs, Meltwater, Asana, Miro, Confluence, Monday.Com
Ai Stack: Claude, Chatgpt, Perplexity, Make.Com, Zapier, Midjourney
Languages
Education
University of Duisburg-Essen
Diploma in Business Administration and Economics · Business Administration and Economics · Essen, Germany
Statistics
Experience
Global experience
Expertise
Qualifications
Profile
Frequently asked questions
Have questions? Find more information here.
Christian is based in Berlin, Germany and can operate in on-site, hybrid, and remote work models.
Christian speaks the following languages: German (Native), English (Advanced), Spanish (Elementary).
Christian has at least 26 years of experience. During this time, Christian has worked in at least 6 different roles and for 5 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 4 years and 3 months. Note that Christian may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.
Based on recent experience, Christian would be well-suited for roles such as: Fractional & Interim CMO, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Director Marketing Germany.
Christian's most recent position is Fractional & Interim CMO at Growth Engine Architect (Independent).
In recent years, Christian has worked for Growth Engine Architect (Independent), Academy of Digital Industries, and GUS Germany GmbH (Global University Systems).
Christian is most experienced in industries like Media and Entertainment, Education, and Sport. Christian also has some experience in Professional Services.
Christian is most experienced in business areas like Marketing, Sales, and Strategy. Christian also has some experience in Human Resources, Information Technology, and Operations.
Christian has recently worked in industries like Education and Professional Services.
Christian has recently worked in business areas like Marketing, Strategy, and Sales.
Christian holds a Bachelor in Business Administration and Economics from University of Duisburg-Essen.
Christian is immediately available part-time for suitable projects.
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Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 12 Sep 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
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