Matthias Sauer-Rank-Interim Manager IT & Software | Delivery, Operations & Service
Check rate
Experience
Lecturer in Software Management, 10%
FH Graubünden
- Design and delivery of the university module "Software Management" in the Bachelor's program Artificial Intelligence in Software Engineering
- Teaching software project management, project organization, stakeholder management, risk and quality management, as well as agile and hybrid project steering
- Covering release planning, cut-over, go-live, operational handover, and the operational impact of technical decisions
- Development of a case study spanning several semesters for practical application of the methods taught
- Design of lectures, group work, risk and decision workshops, and practical assessments
- Linking methodological foundations with experience from software development, customer projects, delivery, release, testing, and IT operations
- Use of AI in software and project management
Methods and tools: Software project management, HERMES, PRINCE2, Scrum, Kanban, hybrid delivery models, requirements engineering, risk and quality management, release management, test management, Moodle
Interim Manager
Muraun GmbH
- Independent interim manager for temporary operational leadership responsibility in IT and software organizations
- Taking on line, project, or transition responsibility in cases of leadership gaps, vacancies, reorganizations, and strained delivery phases
- Stabilization of delivery, service, operations, support, project, and release organizations
Product Manager Managed Services
aXcelerate Solutions AG
- Product management for managed services in the areas of IT infrastructure, hosting, cloud, and digital workplace
- Responsibility for the further development of the aXc-Cloud and aXc-One offerings and their transition into a scalable product and operations organization
- Capture, evaluation, and prioritization of requirements from customer projects, operations, support, and technical development
- Coordination between customers, account management, technology, operations, external development partners, and management
- Planning and steering of releases, changes, tests, and operational handovers
- Building binding project, product, and decision processes for implementing customer requirements
- Resource and capacity planning for parallel product, project, and operational tasks
- Project leadership and account management for Swiss municipalities and administration-related organizations
- Steering of a nearshoring partner in Hungary and coordination of cooperation with internal teams
- Further development of managed services with a focus on standardization, operational readiness, and reliable service delivery
Methods and technologies: Managed services, IT infrastructure, hosting, cloud services, digital workplace, Microsoft Office integration, product management, requirements engineering, release management, change management, test management, project management, resource planning, nearshoring, supplier and stakeholder management
Head of Delivery & Operations
Vitodata AG
- Leadership of the Delivery & Operations area with around 30 employees in six teams across three locations
- Overall responsibility for customer projects, software rollouts, service organization, support, technical services, and customer-related operational tasks
- Leading and developing team leads as well as clarifying responsibilities between projects, service, support, operations, and customer organization
- Steering workload, resources, priorities, quality, and financial performance of the area
- Stabilization of a distributed operational organization with different teams, task profiles, and customer requirements
- Building and introducing standardized project, leadership, and steering processes
- Improving reliability in project planning, service delivery, handovers, and customer communication
- Increasing billability and quality through clearer resource steering, more consistent processes, and more transparent responsibilities
- Steering critical customer projects and escalations as well as coordination with executive management, product development, sales, and internal delivery units
- Ensuring reliable interaction between customer operations, software rollout, support, service, and further development
- Building transparent metrics and regular leadership formats for steering performance, risks, and capacity
- Further development of the project and delivery organization with a focus on operational stability, customer satisfaction, and robust execution
Methods and subject areas: Delivery management, operations management, service delivery management, IT project management, resource and capacity planning, KPI steering, quality management, customer and escalation management, process standardization, change management, software rollout, health IT, leading distributed teams
Regional Manager North and East Switzerland
Vitodata AG
- Leadership of the North and East Switzerland region with around 20 employees and responsibility for operational leadership, organization, and customer stability
- Leadership of sales, projects, technology, training, and back office areas
- Stabilization and restructuring of the regional organization after several leadership changes
- Clarifying roles, responsibilities, and decision paths within the region
- Building a reliable leadership and collaboration structure across different functions
- Steering customer projects, resources, priorities, and operational escalations
- Responsibility for regional customer relationships as well as coordination with central product, service, and leadership units
- Restoring reliability in leadership, project execution, and customer communication
- Developing employees and strengthening cooperation between sales, project management, and technical teams
- Ensuring ongoing customer operations during organizational stabilization
Methods and subject areas: Regional leadership, turnaround management, operational leadership, change management, customer management, sales steering, project management, resource planning, escalation management, organizational development, leading cross-functional teams, Health IT
Flight Instructor | Chief Theoretical Knowledge Instructor CTKI | former Chief Flight Instructor CFI
Winterthur
- Practical and theoretical training of pilots from the start of training until they are ready for the exam
- Planning, carrying out, and documenting training, practice, and check flights
- Responsibility for the theoretical training with nine subject areas, around 22 training evenings, and a team of external subject experts
- Assessment of the training progress, practical skills, and exam readiness of the participants
- Two years as Chief Flight Instructor with responsibility for training planning, standardization, supervision, and quality assurance
- Introduction and operation of Moodle for learning materials, online tests, progress tracking, and internal pre-exams
- Coordination of training and exam registrations with the Federal Office of Civil Aviation FOCA
- Support in the recertification and further development of the flight school as a Declared Training Organisation
- Ongoing risk and safety assessment as well as responsibility for reliable training decisions in flight operations
Head of Release Management
Vitodata AG
- Building up and leading release management for software products and managed services with a team of four employees
- Overall responsibility for planning, coordinating, and approving software releases
- Coordinating releases between product management, development, testing, customer projects, support, and IT operations
- Introducing binding release, testing, acceptance, and approval processes
- Building transparent release plans, decision paths, and go/no-go criteria
- Managing technical and organizational dependencies across several products, customer projects, and operating environments
- Coordinating tests, bug fixing, acceptances, rollouts, and go-lives
- Ensuring stable handovers to support, operations, and customer organizations
- Assessing and managing release risks as well as escalating critical quality or schedule deviations
- Further developing cooperation between development, project organization, operations, and customer support
- Supporting the move from the waterfall model to Scrum and adapting release processes to agile development cycles
- Standardizing release organization with the goal of improving quality, commitment, and predictability
- Release and go-live management in the health IT environment with high requirements for availability, data protection, and quality
- Technical coordination of interfaces and integrations, including in the context of HL7, FHIR, and DICOM
Methods and areas of expertise: Release Management, Release Planning, Test Management, Quality Management, Change Management, Deployment, Rollout, Cut-over, Go-live, Operational Handover, Go/No-Go Decisions, Scrum, Waterfall Model, Health IT, HL7, FHIR, DICOM, Risk and Escalation Management
IT Project Manager Managed Services
aXcelerate Solutions AG
- Overall responsibility for planning, steering, and implementing IT and managed services projects for public administration customers
- Leading infrastructure, hosting, operations, and migration projects from requirements gathering to handover into operations
- Creating project plans, effort estimates, schedules, and resource plans
- Coordinating internal departments, technical specialists, external vendors, and customer contacts
- Capturing and structuring functional, technical, and operational requirements
- Managing risks, dependencies, changes, and open decisions
- Aligning solution design, implementation, testing, acceptance, and go-live
- Ensuring clear handovers to support, service organization, and ongoing operations
- Supporting customers through technical and organizational changes
- Managing customer communication, status reports, and escalations
- Linking project goals with operational readiness, service quality, and long-term maintainability
- Carrying out acceptances and following up projects until stable regular operation
Methods and areas of expertise: IT Project Management, Managed Services, IT Infrastructure, Hosting, Migration, Rollout, Requirements Engineering, Resource Planning, Risk and Change Management, Vendor Management, Testing, Acceptance, Go-live, Operational Handover, Public Administration
Business Unit Manager Campus Management
CREALOGIX AG
- Leading the Campus Management business unit with around 15 employees and responsibility for the CLX.Evento software solution
- Overall responsibility for organization, customer projects, product development, quality, and operational delivery of the unit
- Leading interdisciplinary teams from project management, development, consulting, and customer-facing functions
- Overall project management for the introduction of campus management software at Swiss universities and public educational institutions
- Managing customer requirements, product development, rollout, quality assurance, and later operations
- Prioritizing functional and technical requirements between customers, project teams, and product development
- Key account management for the Canton of Bern, Swiss universities of applied sciences, and German universities
- Responsibility for project planning, resource management, deadlines, budgets, risks, and escalations
- Building and further developing binding project, quality, and delivery processes
- Responsibility for the quality management system of the business unit
- Requirements engineering for software functions close to the business departments
- Coordination between university administration, departments, IT, development, project team, and internal delivery functions
- Preparing and managing acceptances, rollouts, migrations, and operational handovers
- Ensuring a reliable connection between customer requirements, product standard, and a feasible project solution
- Further developing the business model and organizational direction of the business unit
Methods and areas of expertise: Business Unit Management, Software Product Management, IT Project Management, Campus Management, University Software, Requirements Engineering, Key Account Management, Quality Management, Resource and Budget Management, Stakeholder Management, Software Introduction, Migration, Testing, Acceptance, Go-live, Public Administration and Education
IT Project Manager
CREALOGIX AG
- Overall responsibility for planning, steering, and implementing IT and software projects for public administration customers and in the education sector
- Leading introduction and development projects from requirements gathering to acceptance and go-live
- Creating project plans, effort estimates, schedules, and resource plans
- Requirements engineering for software functions close to the business departments and administrative processes
- Structuring and prioritizing functional requirements together with customers, business departments, and internal product owners
- Translating customer requirements into actionable specifications for development and testing
- Coordinating between customers, project team, software development, quality assurance, and internal delivery functions
- Managing deadlines, budgets, risks, dependencies, and change requests
- Preparing and moderating project, decision-making, and coordination meetings
- Managing tests, acceptances, migrations, rollouts, and operational handovers
- Responsibility for customer communication, status reports, and escalations
- Ensuring a reliable connection between business needs, technical product standard, and realistic implementation
- Supporting the customer organization in introducing new software and adapted working processes
Methods and areas of expertise: IT Project Management, Software Introduction, Requirements Engineering, Business Analysis, Stakeholder Management, Risk and Change Management, Project Controlling, Testing, Acceptance, Migration, Go-live, Operational Handover, Public Administration, Education, HERMES
Industry Experience
See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time.
Experienced in Information Technology, Healthcare, Government and Administration, Aerospace and Defense, and Education.
Business Area Experience
See which departments and functions this freelancer has contributed to most.
Experienced in Information Technology, Project Management, Quality Assurance, Operations, Product Development, and Sales.
Summary
I take on temporary leadership responsibility when IT and software organizations are under pressure, leadership capacity is missing, or execution in day-to-day business is slowing down. I bring 15 years of experience from leading delivery, service, project, release, and software organizations with teams of up to 30 employees. My focus is where operations, customer projects, product development, and further development all need to be managed reliably at the same time. I am looking for interim mandates in operational leadership, delivery, service, IT, and project roles, especially during vacancies, reorganizations, strained transitions, or critical implementation phases.
Skills
My Focus Is On The Operational Leadership Of It And Software Organizations As Well As On Steering Complex Implementation, Customer, And Operational Responsibilities. I Take On Temporary Line, Project, Or Program Responsibility When Leadership Capacity Is Missing, Operational Areas Are Under Pressure, Or Critical Initiatives Need To Be Delivered Reliably.
Operational Leadership And Organization I Have Led Delivery, Service, Support, Project, And Release Organizations With Up To 30 Employees And Several Teams At Different Locations. This Includes Leading And Developing Team Leads, Clarifying Roles And Responsibilities, Resource And Capacity Planning, Prioritization, And Steering Quality, Financial Performance, And Delivery.
Typical Areas Of Work Are:
- Interim Leadership Of It, Ict, Delivery, Operations, Or Service Areas
- Leadership During Vacancies, Staff Changes, And Reorganizations
- Stabilization Of Strained Teams And Operational Organizations
- Building Robust Leadership, Project, And Steering Processes
- Steering Distributed And Cross-Functional Teams
- Clarifying Responsibilities And Decision Paths
- Resource, Capacity, And Priority Management
- Escalation Management With Customers, Internal Teams, And Suppliers
Delivery, Service, And It Operations I Combine Customer, Project, And Operational Responsibility And Know The Demands Of Organizations Where Ongoing Service, Customer Projects, And Technical Development Must All Be Managed At The Same Time.
My Experience Includes:
- Delivery Management
- Service Delivery Management
- It Service Management And Service Organization
- Managed Services
- Support And Operations Organizations
- Service Desk And Technical Support Processes
- Customer And Escalation Management
- Service Quality, Sla-Based Steering, And Operational Stability
- Supplier And Partner Management
- Hosting, Cloud, And Infrastructure Services
- Handover Of Projects And Releases Into Operations
- Steering Of Internal And External Service Providers
Project And Program Management I Have Many Years Of Experience In Leading Demanding It And Software Projects From Requirements Analysis And Planning Through To Rollout And Operational Handover. I Work With Classic, Agile, And Hybrid Delivery Models.
My Skills Include:
- It Project Leadership And Full Project Responsibility
- Program And Multi-Project Management
- Project Organization And Governance
- Project Planning, Resource Planning, And Progress Tracking
- Stakeholder Management
- Risk, Quality, And Change Management
- Requirements Management And Requirements Engineering
- Decision And Escalation Management
- Project Controlling And Management Reporting
- Tendering, Supplier, And Customer Steering
- Introduction Of Software And Managed Service Solutions
- Cut-Over, Go-Live, And Operational Handover
- Hermes, Scrum, Kanban, And Hybrid Project Models
Software, Product, And Release Organization I Have Led Software Organizations Where Product Development, Customer Requirements, Implementation Projects, Releases, Support, And Operations Were Closely Linked. My Focus Is Not On Isolated Product Strategy, But On Reliably Turning Requirements And Priorities Into Executable Decisions.
My Experience Includes:
- Leading B2b Software And Saas Organizations
- Product Management For Software And Managed Service Offerings
- Prioritizing Customer, Product, And Operational Requirements
- Coordination Between Product Management, Development, Project Management, Support, And Operations
- Release Planning And Release Management
- Building Standardized Release, Testing, And Acceptance Processes
- Quality Assurance And Test Management
- Release Readiness And Go/No-Go Decisions
- Rollout And Introduction Management
- Transition From Waterfall To Scrum
- Clarifying Technical And Organizational Dependencies
- Stabilizing Critical Releases And Implementations
Quality, Testing, And Process Management I Have Built And Further Developed Quality Management Systems As Well As Binding Project, Testing, Release, And Delivery Processes. For Me, The Main Point Is Not Process Documentation, But The Actual Impact In Day-To-Day Business.
This Includes:
- Quality Management In Software And It Organizations
- Test Strategy And Test Management
- Acceptance And Approval Processes
- Definition Of Done And Quality Criteria
- Quality Gates And Go/No-Go Decisions
- Incident, Problem, And Change Processes
- Process Standardization
- Continuous Improvement Of Operational Processes
- Root Cause Analysis For Quality And Delivery Issues
- Building Transparent Leadership And Steering Metrics
Healthcare And Regulated Environments Through My Many Years In Health It, I Know The Requirements Of Regulated And Business-Critical Customer Environments. I Have Led Software Rollouts, Releases, Testing, Operations, And Customer Projects For Outpatient Healthcare Organizations.
Professional And Technical Fit Is Especially Strong In:
- Health It And Practice Software
- Medical Information And Communication Systems
- Hl7
- Fhir
- Dicom
- Interfaces And Data Exchange Between Medical Systems
- Software Rollout And Migration In Healthcare Organizations
- Testing, Release, And Go-Live Of Business-Critical Applications
- Data Protection, Quality, And Availability Requirements
- Collaboration With Medical Departments, Software Development, And Operations
Public Administration And Education I Have Led Numerous It And Software Projects For Municipalities, Cantons, Universities, And Other Public Institutions. This Means I Know The Demands Around Decision-Making, Tenders, Stakeholder Communication, And Working Together Between Specialist Departments, It, Service Providers, And Political Or Administrative Structures.
This Includes:
- It Projects For Public Administrations
- Municipal And Administration-Related It Organizations
- Higher Education And Campus Management Systems
- Business Applications
- Digitization And Rollout Projects
- Steering External It Service Providers
- Requirements Engineering With Specialist Departments
- Procurement, Decision-Making, And Acceptance Processes
- Operations, Support, And Further Development Of Administration-Related Software Solutions
Technical Fit I Am Not A Developer Or System Engineer, But I Can Assess Technical Matters Down To Specification, Interface, And Operations Level And Act As A Bridge Between Business, Development, Architecture, Operations, Support, And Management.
Experience And Fit Exist Among Others In The Following Areas:
- Software Architecture And Technical Dependencies
- Cloud, Hosting, And Managed Service Environments
- It Infrastructure And Operating Models
- Microsoft And Workplace-Related Services
- Interfaces, Integration, And Data Flows
- Apis And System Integration
- Databases And Business-Related Data Models
- Release, Deployment, And Rollout Processes
- Monitoring, Service Operations, And Support
- It Security And Data Protection In An Organizational Context
- Nearshoring And Collaboration With External Development Teams
Methods And Working Style
- Hermes 5 Advanced
- Hermes Swiss Project Team Professional
- Scrum
- Kanban
- Classic And Hybrid Project Models
- Okr As A Leadership And Steering Logic
- Risk And Stakeholder Management
- Change, Release, Service, And Operations Management
- Structured Workshop And Decision Moderation
- Management Reporting And Kpi-Based Steering
- Lecturer For Software Management At The Fh GraubüNden Starting In The Autumn Semester 2026; Teaching Project Management, Risk And Quality Management, Agile Steering, Release, And Operational Handover
What Sets Me Apart I Combine Operational Leadership Experience With A Strong Understanding Of Projects, Software, Customers, And Operations. This Allows Me To Take Responsibility Even Where Problems Cannot Be Clearly Assigned To A Single Function.
I Work In A Structured, Fact-Based, And Implementation-Oriented Way. I Can Quickly Get Up To Speed In New Organizations And Complex Situations, Make Priorities Visible, And Drive Decisions. I Take Responsibility Not Only For Concepts, But For Their Execution In Live Operations.
Mandates I Am Looking For
I Am Looking For Temporary Leadership, Project, And Transition Mandates In It And Software Organizations, Especially As:
- Interim Cio Or Head Of It / Ict
- Interim Head Of Delivery, Operations, Or Service
- Interim Head Of A Software, Support, Or Operations Organization
- Service Delivery Manager
- It Project Or Program Manager
- Head Of Release Management Or Release Lead
- Responsible For Operational Stabilization, Migration, Rollout, Or Introduction
- Operational Leadership Relief During Vacancies, Reorganizations, Or Escalation Pressure
Situations Are Especially Suitable Where Ongoing Operations, Customer Needs, Projects, And Further Development All Need To Be Managed Reliably At The Same Time.
Languages
Education
University of Duisburg-Essen
State Examination · Teacher training for grammar schools in mathematics and technology · Germany
University of Duisburg-Essen
Electrical Engineering · Germany
Certifications & licenses
HERMES 5 Advanced
TÜV Süd · Bern, Switzerland
HERMES Swiss Project Team Professional
SQS
Statistics
Experience
Global Experience
Expertise
Qualifications
Profile
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