Damir M.-Interim Head of PMO & Transformation Lead · IPMA Level A · AIPMO ACE
Check rate
Experience
Head of Research & Chairman of the Research Advisory Board
SBS Swiss Business School
Swiss University of Applied Sciences institute (HEdA/AAQ accredited); ranked #5 globally for Executive MBA (CEO Magazine 2025)
- Led the research function and chaired the Research Advisory Board.
- Editor of the Journal of Applied Business Research.
- Member of the Thesis and Dissertation Committee.
- Contributed to the AAQ and ACBSP accreditation processes.
Managing Director & Founder
Perceptium GmbH
Independent Swiss advisory practice (DACH & CEE): learning & OD, leadership development, change & transformation, programme management, HR analytics
- Advise 10+ enterprise clients in DACH and CEE on organisational development, from the first diagnosis through delivery to handover, reporting directly to C-suite and board.
- Led several client engagements at once, accountable to client executives for delivery and advising their project teams on scope, sequencing, and resources.
- Redesigned the HR operating model in 3 transformation programmes of 12+ months each, one of them a 350-person manufacturing company: structure, roles and job descriptions, hiring and onboarding, interview panels, and performance evaluation.
- Built the Perceptium Platform from zero: one product for diagnostics, behavioural assessments, leadership training, and competency development, used in live client engagements.
- Built Perceptium Survey for organisational surveys: questionnaire design, participant invitations, and data collection on the platform's own servers, in five languages.
- Work AI-native, with AI at an advanced level every day: the Perceptium products are designed, built, and run with AI under rules I set, and I bring the same experience to clients' AI adoption.
Adjunct Faculty Member
SBS Swiss Business School
Swiss University of Applied Sciences institute (HEdA/AAQ accredited); ranked #5 globally for Executive MBA (CEO Magazine 2025)
- Built and delivered the 11 Schools of Project Management curriculum at DBA level.
Co-Owner & Advisory Board Member
Growithy AG
Swiss company for executive search, strategy consulting, and leadership coaching in people, culture, and OD
- Advise the executive team on practice direction, investment cycles, and the further development of the consulting and placement offer.
- Led culture and organisational change projects for client executives, combining diagnostic work, leadership coaching, and organisational design.
- Based culture and leadership-development work on organisational behaviour research and helped validate Growithy's own culture models.
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Growithy AG
Swiss company for executive search, strategy consulting, and leadership coaching in people, culture, and OD
- Designed the Culture Technology Platform: its analytics, behavioural assessment instruments, and reporting for client culture diagnostics and leadership programmes.
- Owned technology strategy and the product roadmap as Executive Board member, tying platform investment to the consulting offer and its go-to-market.
- Shipped the platform MVP within 6 months and validated it in 9 client engagements over the next 6 months, leading a team of product, engineering, and consulting staff.
Project Office (PMO) Manager, bob Finance
Valora Holding
Leading European convenience-retail group (2,800+ outlets, 5 markets, ~CHF 3B revenue; acquired by FEMSA in 2022)
- Established the bob Finance Project Office reporting directly to the CEO (and later the CIO), delivering master plans, tools, templates, and governance frameworks across the strategic portfolios.
- Designed the first fully digital buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) platform with Apple in DACH, with real-time credit checks and 0% interest purchases of Apple products.
- Owned the platform as product owner: functional and technical requirements, customer journey, legal framework, and application process, coordinating internal and external teams through commercial release and live operation.
Software Program & Portfolio Manager
Valora Holding
Leading European convenience-retail group (2,800+ outlets, 5 markets, ~CHF 3B revenue; acquired by FEMSA in 2022)
- Directed a multi-million-franc digital and retail-integration portfolio across Valora's 2,800 retail outlets in 5 European markets, aligning prioritisation with enterprise KPIs and business-unit roadmaps.
- Owned the CAPEX investment-case process for technical projects: defined budget targets, authored investment proposals for executive approval, and tracked portfolio performance against agreed KPIs.
- Led technical integrations across SAP, POS, reporting, supplier and banking systems, including third-party-store platforms for Valora's digital products and services.
Senior Project Portfolio Manager, Europe
AfterPay Touch Group
European operations hub for the Australian BNPL fintech pioneer (acquired by Block in 2022 for USD 29B)
- Directed a multi-country portfolio of business, financial and digital-platform integrations across 9 European markets.
- Owned the European delivery function, coordinating project teams of 5 to 20 specialists across Europe, Asia and Australia, with responsibility for hiring, onboarding and performance reviews for the European team.
Senior Project & Portfolio Management Consultant
Quantum ICT
Croatian ICT and business-consulting firm (enterprise architecture, system integration, project and portfolio management; ISO 9001, 27001, 20000).
- Led implementations of Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM) systems for pharmaceutical and public-sector organisations.
- Advised executive leadership on governance, portfolio optimisation, IT-business alignment and ISO management-system implementation.
- Trained 200+ professionals in project-management methodologies and prepared 50+ candidates for IPMA and PMI certification across Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina, including Microsoft Project, Project Server and Primavera P6.
Project Manager & Enterprise PMO Officer
JGL d.d.
Croatian pharmaceutical company (manufacturing, R&D, regulatory, international markets).
- Delivered enterprise-wide projects in IT and engineering, coordinating cross-functional stakeholders across manufacturing, R&D, regulatory and corporate functions.
- As Enterprise PMO Officer, supervised and advised on all projects: methodology adoption, portfolio governance, executive reporting cadence and delivery standards.
- Trained 350+ employees in project-management methodologies, supporting framework adoption across every business department.
- Implemented Microsoft Project Server and Primavera P6 as the enterprise portfolio system, saving USD 290k in operating costs.
Industry experience
See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time.
Experienced in Banking and Finance, Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical, Professional Services, Retail, and Biotechnology.
Business area experience
See which departments and functions this freelancer has contributed to most.
Experienced in Project Management, Information Technology, Human Resources, Product Development, Strategy, and Research and Development.
Summary
I have spent twenty years delivering programmes across fintech and payments, retail, pharma, technology, and strategic consulting. One conviction has shaped everything I do:
"An interim leader earns the fee in the first weeks: clear priorities, honest numbers, and decisions that stick after handover."
That conviction comes from twenty years of building project offices and running transformation portfolios. I established the bob Finance Project Office reporting to Valora's CEO, directed a multi-million-franc portfolio across 2,800 outlets and portfolios across nine European markets, owned CAPEX investment cases, and delivered payment programmes under PCI DSS across more than 20,000 retail locations. As founder of Perceptium GmbH I advise C-suites and boards on operating models and change; I contract through my own Swiss company and work AI-native every day.
Skills
- Portfolio & Pmo Leadership: Ipma Level A · Aipmo Ace · Multiple Pmos Built From Scratch · Multi-Million-Chf Portfolios Across 9 Markets
- Enterprise & Large-Scale Change Transformation: Valora & Afterpay · Jgl Pharma · Multi-Million-Chf Dach/Cee Programmes
- Stakeholder & Executive Alignment: C-Suite Engagement · Senior Client Influence · Matrix Navigation
- Strategic Vision & Operating Model: Strategy To Portfolio · Global/Local Operating Model · Cross-Industry
Ai, Analytics & Statistical
- Python
- R
- Spss
- Nvivo
- Power Bi
- Tableau
- Zoho Analytics
- Sql
- Coda (Compositional Modeling)
Survey & Diagnostic
- Qualtrics
- Alchemer
- Culture Amp
- Perceptium Survey (Proprietary, Built In-House)
Project Management
- Ms Project & Project Server
- Ms Teams & Planner
- Oracle Primavera P6
- Jira
- Confluence
- Teamwork
- Triskell
- Clarizen
- Clarity
Business Intelligence & Enterprise Systems
- Sap
- Successfactors
- Workday
- Ibm Cognos
- Microsoft Dynamics
- Pentaho
- Salesforce
- Hubspot
- Servicenow
- Splunk
Ai (Advanced, Everyday)
- Claude (Including Claude Code For Building Software With Ai)
- Chatgpt
- Gemini
- Microsoft Copilot
- Github Copilot
- Ai In Research, Analytics, Product Design And Delivery
Languages
Education
Juraj Dobrila University of Pula
PhD in International Economic Relations & Management · International Economic Relations & Management · Eisenstadt, Austria · Summa Cum Laude
SBS Swiss Business School
Doctor of Business Administration · Business Administration · Zürich, Switzerland
SBS Swiss Business School
Master of Applied Business Research · Applied Business Research · Zürich, Switzerland
Certifications & licenses
AIPMO ACE: Advisor, Consultant, Expert
AIPMO
CF-IPMO: Certified Consulting Frameworks Practitioner
AIPMO
IPMO-E: Expert in Project Management Offices
AIPMO
IPMA Level A: Certified Portfolio Director
IPMA
IPMA Level A: Certified Project Director
IPMA
Work Permit B
Statistics
Experience
Global experience
Expertise
Qualifications
Profile
Frequently asked questions
Have questions? Find more information here.
Damir is based in Wollerau, Switzerland and can operate in on-site, hybrid, and remote work models.
Damir speaks the following languages: Croatian (Native), English (Advanced), German (Elementary), Italian (Elementary).
Damir has at least 20 years of experience. During this time, Damir has worked in at least 10 different roles and for 7 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 2 years. Note that Damir may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.
Based on recent experience, Damir would be well-suited for roles such as: Head of Research & Chairman of the Research Advisory Board, Managing Director & Founder, Adjunct Faculty Member.
Damir's most recent position is Head of Research & Chairman of the Research Advisory Board at SBS Swiss Business School.
In recent years, Damir has worked for SBS Swiss Business School, Perceptium GmbH, and Growithy AG.
Damir is most experienced in industries like Banking and Finance, Manufacturing, and Pharmaceutical. Damir also has some experience in Professional Services, Retail, and Biotechnology.
Damir is most experienced in business areas like Project Management, Information Technology, and Human Resources. Damir also has some experience in Product Development, Strategy, and Research and Development.
Damir has recently worked in industries like Professional Services, Manufacturing, and Education.
Damir has recently worked in business areas like Strategy, Product Development, and Research and Development.
Damir holds a Doctorate in International Economic Relations & Management from Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, a Doctorate in Business Administration from SBS Swiss Business School, a Master in Applied Business Research from SBS Swiss Business School, a Master in Strategic Project Management from Vienna University of Economics and Business: Executive Academy and a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering from University of Rijeka.
Damir has 6 certificates. Among them, these include: AIPMO ACE: Advisor, Consultant, Expert, CF-IPMO: Certified Consulting Frameworks Practitioner, and IPMO-E: Expert in Project Management Offices.
Damir is immediately available full-time for suitable projects.
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Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 8 Oct 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
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