Christian Frauer
Head of Department (Interim)
Experience
Head of Department (Interim)
Municipal utilities and transport company
- Defining and establishing topic areas
- Developing a governance model for the department with defined areas of responsibility
- IT strategy, project management, process management, as well as quality and sustainability management
- Developing a communication strategy for the group
- Creating IT strategy
- Designing templates, guidelines, and processes for consistent work
- Capturing strategic guardrails and grouping ongoing projects – deriving a roadmap for strategic planning
- Reviewing ongoing projects
- Preparing staffing framework calculations
- Defining job profiles
Project Planning and Control Expert
Municipal utilities and transport company
- Reviewing planning status of overall and work packages
- Designing subproject milestone plans and creating a project roadmap
- Coordinating with service providers
- Identifying risks and measures
- Establishing planning for functional SAP process customizing
- Defining quality assurance measures
- Coaching and temporarily taking charge of managing the functional SAP service provider
- Conducting process capture and reviews
- Coordinating with responsible stakeholders (managing director / board level)
- Supporting conflict management
- Coaching internal (sub-)project managers
Product Owner, Requirements Engineer
IT financial services provider for public-law credit institutions
- Designing an approach for establishing the functional product basis
- Developing strategic use cases for artificial intelligence deployment
- Developing a roadmap considering future artificial intelligence deployment
- Planning and managing the rollout for version 1.0
- Redesigning the functional planning
- Prioritizing the business and technical requirements
- Approving developments from the DEV team
- Rolling out the release
- Coordinating with relevant stakeholders (a variety of customers and interest groups)
- Advising on strategic issues
- Coaching and onboarding the internal Product Owner
Program, Release, and Cut Over Manager
Network operator
- Reviewing various (IT) projects (e.g., SAP HANA implementation and migration of legacy data from SAP IS-U, SuccessFactors, ServiceNow, Onventis, Quentic, eGecko, Lovion, Smallworld, MS Azure, etc.)
- Creating and establishing a planning structure and its frameworks
- Drafting missing project plans, ensuring transparency for meaningful status tracking, establishing a foundation for program-level control, and managing as a portfolio
- Developing a program roadmap
- Aligning and coordinating dependencies between teams, projects, business units, and IT
- Defining an approach for managing new requirements
- Developing the program plan including consolidating projects for the cutover
- Providing transparency on the status of necessary interfaces to all projects
- Reviewing process captures (BPMN notation) and determining the next steps
- Identifying risks and developing pragmatic solutions to address them
- Building a cross-functional test and release management team
- Reviewing and ensuring quality of key deliverables
- Responsible for cross-program test planning and coordinating end-to-end test processes for the cutover
- Designing end-to-end processes (BPMN) as a template for the cutover period
- Introducing SAFe & agile methods (JIRA & Confluence) in the projects
- Taking over vendor management in critical project situations
- Creating comprehensive documentation of processes, systems, and requirements
- Coaching project managers and program leadership in agile practices, assessing current vendor management, and taking direct control in critical situations
Managing Director
Own project and consulting for small and mid-sized enterprises
- Analyzing possible digital asset–based financing models for mid-sized companies (including evaluating regulatory requirements under MiCA)
- Selecting suitable blockchain and token models (financing, staking, and collateral mechanisms)
- Designing an end-to-end consulting concept (risks, compliance, processes, products, technical infrastructure)
- Developing a target model for architecture, staking mechanisms, and custody models
- Developing business concepts and procedural models
- Establishing a reporting and monitoring framework (risks, performance, compliance KPIs)
- Deriving an initial applicable use case and piloting it in a real business environment
- Evaluating opportunities, risks, and the economic viability of digital asset strategies
Agile Project Manager, Management Consultant, Business Analyst
Communications and media agency in the savings bank environment
- Assumed project management of a strategic digitization project for a large financial group
- Developed a standardized, modular and customer-centric offering for the entire real estate lifecycle
- Analyzed existing initiatives, projects and competitor offerings in the market
- Evaluated positioning options for financial products around real estate
- Developed approaches for media integration/usage via social networks (TikTok, YouTube)
- Created data analytics as a basis for optimized, individualized customer communication
- Identified and analyzed relevant products and highlighted possible actions
- Developed options for digital business models through vertical expansion and integration of software products (proprietary and third-party)
- Defined use cases and identified required services from the end customer and B2B customer perspective
- Created product packages and pricing models
- Designed processes (meta level with BPMN) and technical integration possibilities
- Built a roadmap and epics
- Designed and recommended the setup of an operating company
- Negotiated and aligned content with potential cooperation partners and competitor companies
Project Manager, Business Analyst
Large bank
- Reviewed the project for company-wide implementation of a cloud communication platform
- Highlighted critical points in planning and approach
- Coached the workstream product owners on planning
- Brought a workstream back into a manageable plan
(Chief) Product Owner, Change and Release Manager, Business Analyst, Requirements Engineer
IT financial service provider for public-law credit institutions
- Engaged and interacted with relevant market players such as Europace, FinanzInformatik, Hettenbach, Ongeo, Sprengnetter, etc.
- Operationalized high-level service requirements into concrete, implementable blocks
- Created the roadmap for building a central real estate database
- Planned the overall project and managed the product backlog
- Defined and implemented an approach for measuring and reporting data quality
- Developed an algorithm for automated calculation of loan-to-value ratios (machine learning)
- Designed and developed a web portal (B2B and B2C) and a document scanning service
- Developed user stories and process descriptions for the central IT service provider
- Conducted technical consultations with interest groups
- Designed and implemented tools for daily work
- Prepared tenders for services, selected suppliers and managed service providers
- Coached the transition to agile working methods and trained internal staff
Project Manager and Release Manager
IT consulting firm
- Led the team to develop process mining software
- Defined market positioning in the process mining area
- Defined and implemented the sales strategy
- Directed the development of a market-ready software product
- Acquired a pilot customer
Scrum Master, Business Analyst
Large direct bank
- Built and implemented a metadata catalog and data quality using IBM tools
- Coordinated with the BCBS 239 project and gained first-movers within the organization
- Took on the Scrum Master role in the team
- Clarified and led special topics, such as reducing duplicate customers
- Developed user stories for the development team
- Coached the company-wide transition to agile methods (Spotify model)
- Took over vendor management
Project Manager and Process Manager
Large Direct Bank
- Introduction and local setup of data quality management as part of a global program initiative
- Developing the implementation approach for the bank
- Planning and structuring of the local project
- Coordination at the international group level
- Evaluating and resolving existing data quality issues
- Creating necessary processes (BPMN)
- Developing the data quality framework in line with BCBS 239
Project Manager - Single Point of Contact for the Parent Company
Large Direct Bank
- Coordinating a bundle of projects to transition to the global data lake target architecture
- Local alignment and prioritization of projects (AnaCredit, IFRS 9, BCBS 239, and SAP BA)
- Creating and aligning the backlog for input into the global sprint planning
- Planning the decommissioning of existing supply streams from the local data warehouse
- Creating a project roadmap
IT Subproject Lead, Process Manager
Savings Bank
- Expanding online presence and banking through agile project management (Scrum)
- Managing the IT team, and planning and executing sprints
- Developing user stories for the development team
- Responsible for process, release, and test planning
- Planning and coordinating special topics such as securities and postbox
Project Manager
Large Direct Bank
- Implementing FinRep financial holding based on IFRS
- Taking over and replanning the ongoing project
- Ensuring communication between regulatory reporting, risk management, IT, and head office
- Planning, preparing, and facilitating steering committee meetings
- Transitioning into the line organization
Business Analyst, Process and Test Management
Development Banks
- Designing and implementing AnaCredit level 1 for a banking consortium
- Identifying and preparing key areas for the functional design
- Analyzing and adapting processes for future operations
- Creating the test concept
Project Manager and Process Manager
Backoffice Service Provider for the Savings Banks Organization
- Process review and action options in the lending business - real estate financing
- Define process focus topics
- Review of company setup, core processing processes, products, and depth of processing
- Conduct detailed analyses to identify standardization and automation potentials
- Highlight critical points when introducing processes (BPMN) and systems
- Develop ideas for stronger automation for management and the board
- Create result documentation for processes, systems, and requirements
Project Manager, Business Analyst
Bank
- Address findings from internal audits, including identity management
- Plan and manage the project
- Redesign access roles for the core banking software
- Coordinate and support the setup of a segregation of duties matrix
- Review templates for mapping permissions, roles, and conflicts for target-actual comparison
- Provide status reporting to the board and department heads
Project Manager, Process Consultant, Requirements Engineer
Large Direct Bank
- Set up and manage experiments for digital customer engagement in sales
- Plan and manage pilot trials in the sales channels
- Design processes (eEPK)
- Tender and evaluate software vendors
- Assess results and the software solutions used
- Design and plan the rollout
Program Manager
Large Direct Bank
- Plan and manage the program to implement supervisory regulatory requirements
- Ensure communication between reporting, risk management, and IT for consistent data definitions
- Coordinate with related projects to synchronize development and testing
- Transition into the line organization
- Prepare separate FINREP and AnaCredit projects
Project Manager and Process Manager
Large Direct Bank
- Migrate the core banking system in corporate lending services
- Take over the ongoing project and coordinate with the head office
- Review the next steps and analyze relevant processes
- Take over vendor management
Sub-project Manager Strategy & Sales, Process and Release Manager, Change Manager, Business Analyst, Requirements Engineer
Mid-sized Bank
- Document and analyze existing processes (eEPK), IT systems, products, and sales controlling
- Identify automation and standardization work packages (credit factory)
- Perform detailed analyses to identify potential after the first contact
- Design a sales strategy for growth in real estate financing
- Set up the structure and processes of a centrally managed sales unit
- Integrate the new sales unit into the existing decentralized organization
- Operational change management and development of basic reporting
- Review supplier contracts and re-tender
- Coaching on organizational fundamentals and real estate financing
Project Manager, Release Manager, Business Analyst, Requirements Engineer
Large Direct Bank
- Optimize the travel expenses and receipt reimbursement process and integrate it into SAP HR and SAP FiCo
- Analyze and design the processes (BPMN)
- Reduce verification efforts and replace paper forms (paperless office)
- Automate data transfer from SAP HR to SAP FiCo for automatic postings
- Develop the testing and training concept
- Coordinate the rollout across the bank
Project Manager, Process Manager, Real Estate Marketplace Expert
Large Direct Bank
- Develop a method for accelerated, compliance-compliant onboarding of new employees
- Develop solution approaches with compliance and coordinate content with all departments
- Coordinate implementation on the intranet
- Develop a standard approach for regulatory training requirements
- Integrate a customized version of a major real estate platform
- Coordinate and align between the business unit and IT
- Specialist in partner business developments (Key Account Management)
Process Manager and Business Analyst
Leasing Company of a State Bank
- Review TO-BE processes to improve the system landscape and data management for sales
- Assess process optimization potentials for management
- Highlight critical points in the implementation of processes and systems
- Provide recommendations for the planned implementation project
Process Manager and Business Analyst
Leasing Company
- Restructure the accounting department
- Create transparency and identify effort drivers
- Record and analyze business processes (eEPK) and employee tasks
- Define action options to realize savings potential
- Provide coaching during implementation
Process Manager and Business Analyst
Leasing company of a major German bank
- Analysis and redesign of business processes within the scope of a system implementation
- Recording and analysis of processes from acquisition to realization (eEPK)
- Harmonizing business processes with SAP requirements and supporting the employee change process
- Identifying cost reduction potentials and capacity expansions
- Change management through process workshops and training design
- Creating comprehensive documentation for processes, systems, and requirements
Project Manager and Process Manager
Consortium of cooperative banks and a software company
- Implementation of a closed marketplace for real estate and personal loan financing (Genopace)
- Project planning, control, and execution using agile methods (Scrum)
- Designing and implementing necessary business processes
- Supporting contract drafting between the founding shareholders
- Developing user stories for the development team
- Client support until handover to the new management
Project Manager and Process Manager
Swiss investment bank
- Consulting for the planned market entry into the German real estate financing market
- Project planning and control as well as sub-project management for processes and systems
- Designing business processes and system interfaces
- Implementing functional requirements and initiating contact with sales companies
Business Unit Manager and Product Owner
Software company for the financial industry
- Restructuring a business unit to meet changing competitive requirements
- Establishing key account management to identify and support target clients
- Restructuring project management, support, and land valuation teams
- Designing the employee development concept and professionalizing reporting
- Designing and implementing a support tracking tool (Scrum) and setting up an internal wiki
- Expanding the product offering and acquiring new bank and insurance clients
- Supporting implementation projects and advising on process improvement via ASP solutions
- Prioritizing the product backlog as Product Owner
Business Analyst
Large direct bank
- Further development of bank project management
- Developing a program management model for strategy-aligned project prioritization
- Creating a structured approach for project initiation
- Setting up and adjusting the related processes
Project Manager, Project Lead, Process Manager, Business Analyst
Large Direct Bank
- Expanded the technical base to support the “credit factory” in real estate financing
- Defined and combined the overall project from separate subprojects
- Identified opportunities for automation and standardization in process organization
- Reorganized and realigned direct sales strategy
- Analyzed and designed a future direct sales model
- Conducted a pilot test and implemented software requirements based on the results
- Created comprehensive documentation on processes, systems, and requirements
Subproject Lead, Process Manager, and Business Analyst
Subsidiary of a major German bank
- Archived a bank as part of the closure process for foreign branches in Latin America (Panama and Grand Cayman)
- Designed and implemented processes for a future research office organization
- Coordinated and coached subproject managers in different branches
- Performed business process reengineering for accounting, information, and controlling department
- Identified and analyzed existing processes and developed recommendations for optimization
- Designed requirements for a data warehouse and a web frontend
- Provided implementation support for task standardization and automation
Subproject Lead, Process Manager, and Business Analyst
Public sector software company
- Designed and set up requirements management
- Designed the organizational structure and workflows
- Documented and analyzed current processes and existing customer contracts
- Designed target processes based on SLAs
- Defined immediate measures to stabilize the project
- Coached and onboarded the responsible position holder
Project Lead and Process Manager
Subsidiary of a major German bank
- Led a development partnership for an internet banking application
- Designed the organizational structure and workflows
- Led an international development team
- Planned budgets and schedules and negotiated change requests
- Aligned and coordinated with all stakeholders
Process Manager and Business Analyst
IT software company for SMEs with an SAP focus
- Reorganized a customer helpdesk
- Analyzed business processes to identify strengths and weaknesses
- Designed the target organizational structure
- Created job descriptions and requirement profiles
- Identified training needs
Subproject Lead, Process Manager and Business Analyst
Subsidiary of a major German bank
- Expansion of the internet banking offering
- Planning and controlling the content development
- Designing and conducting customer surveys and marketing campaigns
- Identifying, analyzing and shaping relevant business processes
- Managing implementation and coordinating rollout at all sites
- Realizing cost-saving potentials through multi-channel banking
Subproject Lead, Process Manager and Business Analyst
Subsidiary of a major German bank
- Designing and setting up support centers for internet banking with a focus on Latin America
- Designing organizational structures and workflows
- Defining tasks, responsibilities and employee requirement profiles
- Preparing the requirements specification for selecting a helpdesk tool
- Developing the training concept and comprehensive project documentation
Industry Experience
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Experienced in Banking and Finance, Information Technology, Utilities, and Real Estate.
Business Area Experience
See which departments and functions this freelancer has contributed to most.
Experienced in Project Management, Information Technology, Product Development, Operations, Strategy, and Sales.
Summary
Experienced IT business consultant with over 20 years in the finance, software, and utilities industries. Seasoned IT manager and business advisor specializing in building and leading IT organizations, developing viable IT strategies, and driving digital transformation projects. I was responsible for, among other things, the German operations of an international software and consulting firm, led scalable growth initiatives, and successfully launched new digital solutions. For a leading financial services provider, I developed an IT platform as the foundation for a new business unit—including strategic product development for the next six years. I stand for authentic, structured leadership with an eye for strategy, feasibility, and team dynamics. If you choose me, you gain an inclusive doer who drives transformation and delivers results.
Skills
Consulting Experience
- Over 20 Years (Also Experience As Line Manager)
Projects
- 51 (Including 10 International)
Project Budget
- Up To €78 Million
Project Size
- Up To 100 Project Staff
Industries
- Private, Cooperative, And Promotional Banks; Savings Banks; Building Societies; Insurers; Leasing Companies; And Financial Distributors
- Energy Utilities (Municipal Utilities)
- Software And Consulting Firms
- Aerospace
- Fintech / Start-ups
- Media And Communications Agencies
- Logistics (Port Operations)
- Public Sector
Key Focus Areas
- Building Digital Business Models And Business Fields, Including Prospective Use Of Artificial Intelligence
- Real Estate Financing, Including Software Development In This Area
- Real Estate Valuation, Including Software Development In This Area
- "Project Building" – Idea Analysis, Scope Definition, And Approach
- Implementation / Delivery
- Business Process Management / Mining / Process Automation
- Establishing Data Management / Data Quality
- Building And Operating Platforms (B2b / B2c)
- Developing Procedural And Organizational Standards
- Restructuring Business Units
- Operational Coaching
Roles
- (It) Program And Project Manager (Agile, Traditional & Hybrid Models)
- Cut Over Manager
- Head Of Department / Interim Manager
- (Chief) Product Owner And Scrum Master (Certified)
- Process Consultant, Business Analyst, Test, Release, And Rollout Manager
- Coach
Direct Leadership
- Previous Levels: Division, Department, Program, And Project Managers
- In Recent Projects, Up To 11 Project Managers
- Currently, A Team Of 20 Developers And 4 Business Consultants
Leadership Quality / Team Management
- Audience-appropriate Communication
- Authentic, Goal-focused Presence
- Led Various Projects In Critical Situations; Most Recently Joined An Ongoing Project To Take Over Business Operations, Successfully Going Live On December 31, 2023
- Designed And Built A Digital Business Model
- Secured €3 Billion In Additional Real Estate Financing Transaction Volume Within 1.5 Years During The Financial Crisis
- Coaching Program Managers, Product Owners, Project Managers, Etc.
- Built A High-performance Project And Testing Team
- Successfully Restructured A Business Unit (Including Creating And Closing Divisions, Designing An Employee Development Model), Evolving A Small Mid-sized Company Into A Software House For Corporations
- Developed Clear Visions, Communicated And Implemented Them
- Managed Multiple Line And Project Teams To Adopt New Organization Structures And Working Methods
Communication / Presentation
- From Customers And Employees To C-level Executives
- Facilitation, Mediation, Coaching
- Complex Stakeholder Management (Up To 25 Companies)
Soft Skills
- Committed And Respectful Leadership
- Authentic Presence
- Hands-on, Can-do Mentality
- Analytical And Goal-oriented Work Style
- Bridging Stakeholders And Conflicting Parties
- Collaborating With And Managing Teams From Diverse Cultures (Including Offshore And Nearshore)
Tools
- Jira, Confluence, Xray, Ms Office, Ms Project, Clarity, Signavio, Sharepoint, Slack, Teams, Miro, Monday
- Visio, Signavio, Aris, Adonis
Systems
- S/4 Hana, Successfactors, Sap Is-u, Sap Hr, Sap Fico
- Loaniq, Ti+, Osplus, Osplus Neo, Bais, Globus
- Data Warehouse, Data Lake, Oracle, Mongodb, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure
- Java, Ios
- Ibm Infosphere Information Governance Catalog
- Process Mining Technologies, Various Custom Software
- Business Objects, Qlik Sense
- Online Banking Solutions, Allisa Low-code Platform
- Core Leasing System Lisa@ – Sap Leasing Add-on
- Europace, Genopace, Ehyp
- Sprengnetter, On-geo, Hettenbach, And Various Appraisal Systems (E.g., Lora, Rex, Lbi, Ragtime)
- Various In-house Banking Solutions
- Quentic, Egecko, Lovion, Smallworld, Servicenow
- Avaya, Twilio, Purple View, Beam Your Screen, Turnfriendly
- Core Banking Systems (Kordoba, Temenos Transact, Sap, Osplus)
Methods
- Extensive Practical Toolkit In A Variety Of Project Management Methods
- Working In Agile Frameworks Since 2007
- Scrum (Certified), Spotify Model, Kanban, Design Thinking, Waterfall Methodology, Milestone Trend Analysis, Hybrid Forms
- Workshop Facilitation, Negotiations, Coaching
- Data Management Association
- Event-driven Process Chains (Epc)
- Custom Process Roadmaps (Logical And Chronological)
- Bpmn
- Skill Level Management
Approaches
- Harmonizing Multiple Project Management Methods For Collaboration With Different Service Providers; Usually Agile And Waterfall Models
- Employee Qualification And Development Model
- Process Model For Managing Requirements And Ideas
Languages
Education
Nordakademie gAG
Diploma in Business Administration (FH) · Business Administration · Elmshorn, Germany
Certifications & licenses
(Chief) Product Owner and Scrum Master (certified)
Statistics
Experience
Global Experience
Expertise
Qualifications
Profile
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