Julian Hillebrand-Senior IT Project Manager & Program Manager | 12+ years | AI, Cloud, Data, Rollout, Transformation

Project: Building a data platform for education data in Baden-Württemberg

Responsibility for overall program management of a large transformation and IT project in the public sector to develop and introduce a modern data platform for the education system of Baden-Württemberg, with a high seven-figure budget. The multi-project program included many parallel subprojects with different business and technical focuses that had to be coordinated, controlled and brought together into one integrated overall solution.

• Overall management of a complex transformation and software program with many teams and subprojects running in parallel, in close cooperation with public clients and business units
• Building and leading robust program, governance and decision-making structures to ensure focused, on-time and quality-assured delivery
• Responsibility for overall reporting, escalation management, decision preparation and status communication up to management and steering committee level
• Steering and moderating complex business and technical alignment processes, workshops and conflict resolution across project boundaries to ensure an integrated overall solution
• Budget tracking, resource management, and management of risks, dependencies and critical decisions across the overall program
• Close coordination with internal and external stakeholders for the strategic and operational steering of the project
• Ensuring compliance with data protection and regulatory requirements in all project phases

Project: Development and implementation of immersive VR training solutions for the life science and pharma industry

Responsibility for the overall program management of an international multi-project software development program to deliver virtual training environments in a highly regulated industry (customers e.g. Merck, Amgen, Bayer) with budgets of up to seven figures. The goal is to deliver secure, scalable XR solutions for leading pharma and medtech companies while meeting strict quality, compliance and data protection requirements.

• Overall responsibility for planning, controlling and delivery of several parallel custom software and product development projects in the life science environment
• Ensuring budget, timeline and quality targets in an agile, regulated software development process with clear release and quality gates
• Interface management between engineering, UX/UI, QA, IT security, compliance and customer project teams, including clear responsibilities and cross-functional alignment
• Managing external service providers and development partners, including vendor, contract and escalation management to ensure on-time release delivery
• Close coordination with international customers for requirements analysis, sprint/release progress tracking, decision preparation and acceptance of deliverables
• Introducing efficient reporting and control structures for project transparency and governance (KPIs, status, risks, escalations)
• Moderating complex alignment processes between internal and external stakeholders and supporting conflict and escalation management

Project: Development & launch of a disruptive mobile product

Led a strategically highly important IT program for the development and launch of an innovative, app-based mobile product. The program included several parallel workstreams (product/tariff logic, app & backend, integration into telco core systems) and placed high demands on coordinating cross-functional teams and resources.

• Overall responsibility for managing a strategically important large-scale IT project with several parallel project streams and cross-functional dependencies
• Responsibility for program governance, end-to-end delivery control, release/cutover planning, and alignment of key dependencies with CRM/CPQ, billing/charging, provisioning, identity/IAM, payment, analytics, and customer care
• Ensuring cross-functional collaboration and managing all involved project teams and stakeholders to identify and remove obstacles early
• Design and implementation of end-to-end customer journeys to maximize customer satisfaction and increase market appeal
• Planning and execution of extensive end-to-end tests as well as hypercare phases to ensure a smooth product rollout
• Management of risks, issues, escalations, and decision needs in a highly critical project environment with regular reporting to C-level stakeholders

• Rollout of modern GNSS location technologies through IoT and cloud integration to improve service quality, data availability, and location accuracy in 14 European markets
• Led a multinational technology program for the introduction of location solutions with direct connection to existing B2B service platforms and network-side infrastructure
• Coordination of cross-functional teams as well as management of international technology partners and external service providers for technical implementation and integration
• Building and managing scalable governance structures to control the rollout and integration of cloud and IoT components into existing IT and system landscapes
• Management of technical integrations and interface connections to existing systems and operational processes in a group-wide context
• Ensuring operational stability during the rollout through active risk and escalation management
• Close coordination with internal departments, technical stakeholders, and external partners to align with strategic target visions and market needs
• C-level reporting to support transparent control and operational and strategic decision-making during the European rollout

Project: Building and leading the project management team of an international IT service provider

Built up, scaled, and led a project management team, both professionally and disciplinarily, to manage a customer portfolio with numerous parallel IT and software projects in the seven- to eight-figure budget range. As department head, I was responsible for project and delivery governance (methods, standards, reporting), resource and capacity planning, and overall control of scope, budget, timelines, risks, and quality — with the clear goal of reliably delivering the contractually agreed results.

• Team leadership & portfolio management: Led a team of 15 project managers responsible for multiple simultaneous customer programs in automotive, telecommunications, logistics, and energy; established clear roles, escalation paths, and decision-making formats (steering, delivery reviews, risk boards)
• Delivery in an IT service provider context: End-to-end responsibility from scoping/transition through implementation to acceptance, hypercare, and handover to operations; managed change requests, prioritized backlogs, and ensured delivery capability across several streams (dev, test, infrastructure, operations)
• Example Porsche AG – Cloud data infrastructure: Program/project management of a cloud-based data infrastructure project, including building a scalable cloud architecture (platform/foundations, security by design, operating model) and aligning key dependencies with enterprise IT, data protection, and security
• Additional customer projects (selection): Vodafone (telco/IT projects in the product and platform environment), METRO AG (enterprise IT/integration and digitalization initiatives), Haeger & Schmidt Logistics (digital logistics/planning solutions), and ZF (industrial/connectivity programs, e.g. 5G/campus network context)
• Software/SaaS programs & transition projects: Development and implementation of modern software and SaaS solutions with responsibility for design, development, testing, and go-live; special focus on transition and modernization projects in IT infrastructure (legacy replacement, standardization, platform/tooling modernization)
• Modernization & cloud migration: Consulting and execution control for cloud migrations (target architecture, migration waves, cutover planning), introduction of scalable SaaS solutions, and integration into existing system landscapes; translating trends such as Industry 4.0, IoT, and digital ecosystems into concrete execution roadmaps
• Customer & stakeholder management (up to C-level): Central point of contact at program/portfolio level with responsibility for goal clarification, prioritization, and decision-making; management of expectation setting, status/steering communication, and escalations, as well as commercial control across scope of services, change requests, acceptances, and critical project phases