Matthias Sauer-Rank-Interim Manager IT & Software | Delivery, Operations & Service
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Experience
Lecturer in Software Management
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, handover to operations, and the operational impact of technical decisions
- Connecting 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 project 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 during leadership bottlenecks, vacancies, reorganizations, and demanding execution 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 management of releases, changes, tests, and operational handovers
- Building binding project, product, and decision-making processes for implementing customer requirements
- Resource and capacity planning for parallel product, project, and operations tasks
- Project management and account management for Swiss municipalities and administration-related organizations
- Managing a nearshoring partner in Hungary and coordinating collaboration 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 unit with around 30 employees in six teams across three locations
- Overall responsibility for customer projects, software implementations, service organization, support, technical services, and customer-facing operational tasks
- Leading and developing team leaders as well as clarifying responsibilities between projects, service, support, operations, and customer organizations
- Managing utilization, resources, priorities, quality, and profitability of the unit
- Stabilizing 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 management, more consistent processes, and more transparent responsibilities
- Managing critical customer projects and escalations, and coordinating with senior management, product development, sales, and internal delivery units
- Ensuring reliable interaction between customer operations, software implementation, support, service, and further development
- Building transparent metrics and regular leadership formats to manage 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 Implementation, Health IT, Leadership of 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
- Leading the sales, project, technology, training, and back office areas
- Stabilization and reorganization of the regional organization after several changes in leadership
- Clarifying roles, responsibilities, and decision paths within the region
- Building a reliable leadership and collaboration structure across different functions
- Managing customer projects, resources, priorities, and operational escalations
- Responsibility for regional customer relationships and 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, leadership of interdisciplinary 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 to exam readiness
- Planning, running, and documenting training, check, and proficiency flights
- Responsibility for the theoretical training with nine subject areas, around 22 class evenings, and a team of external subject experts
- Assessment of the training level, practical skills, and exam readiness of the participants
- Two years as Chief Flight Instructor with responsibility for training planning, standardization, oversight, and quality assurance
- Introduction and operation of Moodle for learning materials, online tests, learning 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 Organization
- Ongoing risk and safety assessment as well as responsibility for sound training decisions in flight operations
Head of Release Management
Vitodata AG
- Set up and led release management for software products and managed services with a team of four employees
- Overall responsibility for planning, coordinating, and releasing software releases
- Coordination of releases between product management, development, testing, customer projects, support, and IT operations
- Introduction of binding release, testing, acceptance, and release processes
- Building transparent release plans, decision paths, and go/no-go criteria
- Managing technical and organizational dependencies across multiple products, customer projects, and operating environments
- Coordinating tests, bug fixing, acceptance, rollouts, and go-lives
- Ensuring stable handovers to support, operations, and customer organizations
- Assessing and managing release risks and escalating critical quality or schedule issues
- Further development of collaboration 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 to improve quality, reliability, and planning certainty
- Release and go-live management in a health IT environment with high demands on availability, data protection, and quality
- Technical coordination of interfaces and integrations, including in the area 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, controlling, and delivering 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, timelines, and resource plans
- Coordinating internal departments, technical specialists, external vendors, and customer contacts
- Gathering and structuring business, technical, and operational requirements
- Managing risks, dependencies, changes, and open decisions
- Coordinating 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 on projects until stable regular operations
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 Head Campus Management
CREALOGIX AG
- Led the Campus Management business unit with around 15 employees and responsibility for the software solution CLX.Evento
- Overall responsibility for organization, customer projects, product development, quality, and operational service delivery of the unit
- Managed interdisciplinary teams from project management, development, consulting, and customer-related functions
- Overall project leadership for the introduction of campus management software at Swiss universities and public educational institutions
- Controlled customer requirements, product development, rollout, quality assurance, and later operations
- Prioritized business 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
- Built and further developed binding project, quality, and delivery processes
- Responsibility for the quality management system of the business unit
- Requirements engineering for software features close to the business areas
- Coordination between university administration, faculties, IT, development, project team, and internal delivery functions
- Preparation and management of acceptances, rollouts, migrations, and operational handovers
- Ensured a solid link between customer requirements, product standard, and a feasible project solution
- Further developed the business model and the organizational direction of the business unit
Methods and areas of expertise: Business unit leadership, software product management, IT project management, campus management, higher education software, requirements engineering, key account management, quality management, resource and budget control, stakeholder management, software introduction, migration, testing, acceptance, go-live, public administration and education
IT Project Manager
CREALOGIX AG
- Overall responsibility for planning, controlling, and delivering IT and software projects for public administration and education customers
- Leading introduction and further development projects from requirements gathering to acceptance and go-live
- Creating project plans, effort estimates, timeline, and resource plans
- Requirements engineering for software features close to the business areas and administrative processes
- Structuring and prioritizing business requirements together with customers, departments, and internal product owners
- Translating customer requirements into implementable 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, and coordination meetings
- Managing tests, acceptances, migrations, introductions, and operational handovers
- Responsibility for customer communication, status reports, and escalations
- Ensuring a solid link between business needs, technical product standards, and realistic implementation
- Supporting the customer organization in introducing new software and adapted workflows
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
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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 day-to-day execution is slowing down. I bring 15 years of experience in 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 in cases of vacancies, reorganizations, challenging transitions, or critical execution phases.
Skills
My Focus Is On Operational Leadership Of It And Software Organizations As Well As On Managing 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 Must Be Implemented Reliably.
Operational Leadership And Organization I Have Led Delivery, Service, Support, Project, And Release Organizations With Up To 30 Employees And Several Teams Across Different Locations. This Includes Leading And Developing Team Leaders, Clarifying Roles And Responsibilities, Resource And Capacity Planning, Prioritization, And Managing Quality, Profitability, And Execution.
Typical Assignment Areas Include:
- Interim Leadership Of It, Ict, Delivery, Operations, Or Service Areas
- Leadership During Vacancies, Personnel Changes, And Reorganizations
- Stabilization Of Stressed Teams And Operational Organizations
- Building Strong Leadership, Project, And Steering Processes
- Managing Distributed And Interdisciplinary Teams
- Clarifying Responsibilities And Decision Paths
- Resource, Capacity, And Priority Management
- Escalation Management With Customers, Internal Departments, 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
- Management Of Internal And External Service Providers
Project And Program Management I Have Many Years Of Experience In The Overall Leadership Of Demanding It And Software Projects - From Requirements Analysis And Planning To Rollout And Handover To Operations. I Work With Classic, Agile, And Hybrid Approaches.
My Skills Include:
- It Project Leadership And Overall 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 Management
- 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 Interdependent. My Focus Is Not On Isolated Product Strategy, But On Reliably Turning Requirements And Priorities Into Workable Decisions.
My Experience Includes:
- Leadership Of B2b Software And Saas Organizations
- Product Management For Software And Managed Service Offerings
- Prioritization Of 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 Implementation Management
- Transition From Waterfall To Scrum
- Clarifying Technical And Organizational Dependencies
- Stabilization Of Critical Releases And Implementations
Quality, Testing, And Process Management I Have Built And Developed Quality Management Systems As Well As Binding Project, Testing, Release, And Delivery Processes. For Me, The Focus Is Not On Process Documentation, But On Its Real Impact In Day-To-Day Work.
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 Execution Issues
- Building Transparent Leadership And Control Metrics
Healthcare And Regulated Environments Through My Many Years In Health It, I Know The Demands Of Regulated And Business-Critical Customer Environments. I Have Led Software Rollouts, Releases, Testing, Operations, And Customer Projects For Ambulatory Healthcare Organizations.
Relevant Subject Matter And Technical Experience Includes In Particular:
- Health It And Practice Software
- Medical Information And Communication Systems
- Hl7
- Fhir
- Dicom
- Interfaces And Data Exchange Between Medical Systems
- Software Introduction 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 Environment I Have Led Numerous It And Software Projects For Municipalities, Cantons, Universities, And Other Public Institutions. This Has Given Me A Solid Understanding Of Decision Paths, Tenders, Stakeholder Communication, And Cooperation Between Business Units, It, Service Providers, And Political Or Administrative Structures.
This Includes:
- It Projects For Public Administrations
- Municipal And Administration-Related It Organizations
- University And Campus Management Systems
- Business Applications
- Digitalization And Implementation Projects
- Management Of External It Service Providers
- Requirements Engineering With Business Units
- Procurement, Decision, 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 Topics Down To Specification, Interface, And Operational Level And Help Connect Business, Development, Architecture, Operations, Support, And Management.
Experience And Fit Exist, Among Other Things, 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 Domain-Oriented 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
I Do Not Only Use Generative Ai As An End User, But Have Practical Experience Integrating Llms Into Technical And Operational Workflows. My Focus Is On Making Them Work Well Within Software, Project, And Analysis Processes, With Results That Are Understandable And Controllable.
Experience And Fit Exist Especially In The Following Areas:
- Generative Ai And Large Language Models (Llm)
- Openai Api And Integration Of Llm Services
- Prompt Engineering And Context Engineering
- Structured Llm Outputs And Machine-Readable Result Formats
- Preparing And Providing Data For Llm Applications
- Ai-Supported Workflows For Analysis, Research, And Automation
- Validation Of Llm Results And Plausibility Checks
- Guardrails And Rule-Based Limits On Ai-Supported Decisions
- Use Of Ai In Software And Project Management
- Critical Evaluation Of Ai Results With Regard To Assumptions, Risks, And Practical Viability
Methods And Way Of Working
- 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 Facilitation
- Management Reporting And Kpi-Based Steering
- Lecturer For Software Management At Fh GraubüNden From The Fall 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 Understanding Of Projects, Software, Customers, And Operations. This Enables Me To Take Responsibility Even Where Problems Cannot Be Clearly Assigned To A Single Function.
I Work In A Structured, Fact-Based, And Execution-Oriented Way. I Can Quickly Find My Way Into New Organizations And Complex Situations, Make Priorities Visible, And Drive Decisions. In Doing So, I Take Responsibility Not Only For Concepts, But For Their Execution In Day-To-Day Operations.
Mandates Sought
I Am Looking For Fixed-Term 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 Implementation
- Operational Leadership Relief During Vacancy, Reorganization, Or Escalation Pressure
I Am Especially Well Suited To Situations Where Ongoing Operations, Customer Requirements, 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 2022 Advanced
TÜV Süd
HERMES 5 Advanced
TÜV Süd · Bern, Switzerland
HERMES Swiss Project Team Professional
SQS
Statistics
Experience
Global experience
Expertise
Qualifications
Profile
Frequently asked questions
Have questions? Find more information here.
Matthias is based in Freienstein, Switzerland and can operate in on-site, hybrid, and remote work models.
Matthias speaks the following languages: German (Native), English (Intermediate).
Matthias has at least 16 years of experience. During this time, Matthias has worked in at least 10 different roles and for 6 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 2 years and 7 months. Note that Matthias may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.
Based on recent experience, Matthias would be well-suited for roles such as: Lecturer in Software Management, Interim Manager, Product Manager Managed Services.
Matthias's most recent position is Lecturer in Software Management at FH Graubünden.
In recent years, Matthias has worked for FH Graubünden, Muraun GmbH, aXcelerate Solutions AG, Vitodata AG, and Winterthur.
Matthias is most experienced in industries like Information Technology, Healthcare, and Government and Administration. Matthias also has some experience in Aerospace and Defense and Education.
Matthias is most experienced in business areas like Information Technology, Project Management, and Quality Assurance. Matthias also has some experience in Operations, Product Development, and Sales.
Matthias has recently worked in industries like Information Technology, Healthcare, and Aerospace and Defense.
Matthias has recently worked in business areas like Information Technology, Operations, and Project Management.
Matthias holds a Master in Teacher training for grammar schools in mathematics and technology from University of Duisburg-Essen and a Bachelor in Electrical engineering from University of Duisburg-Essen.
Matthias has 3 certificates. These include: HERMES 2022 Advanced, HERMES 5 Advanced, and HERMES Swiss Project Team Professional.
Matthias is immediately available full-time for suitable projects.
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Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 3 Sep 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
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