Melanie Garmanzky - Senior IT Project Manager & Cutover Lead (Freelance)

Q: Where is Melanie based?

Melanie is based in Pliening, Germany .

Q: What languages does Melanie speak?

Melanie speaks the following languages: German (Native), English (Intermediate), French (Elementary) .

Q: How many years of experience does Melanie have?

Melanie has at least 17 years of experience. During this time, Melanie has worked in at least 8 different roles and for 8 different companies . The average length of individual experience is 2 years and 2 months . Note that Melanie may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

Q: What is Melanie's latest experience?

Melanie's most recent position is Senior IT Project Manager & Cutover Lead (Freelance) at Omikron GmbH .

Q: What companies has Melanie worked for in recent years?

In recent years, Melanie has worked for Omikron GmbH , AOV IT.Services GmbH , and HABA Family Group .

Q: Which industries is Melanie most experienced in?

Melanie is most experienced in industries like Professional Services , Information Technology , and Retail . Melanie also has some experience in Manufacturing , Banking and Finance , and Pharmaceutical .

Q: Which business areas is Melanie most experienced in?

Melanie is most experienced in business areas like Information Technology , Project Management , and Legal . Melanie also has some experience in Quality Assurance .

Q: Which industries has Melanie worked in recently?

Melanie has recently worked in industries like Manufacturing , Information Technology , and Retail .

Q: Which business areas has Melanie worked in recently?

Melanie has recently worked in business areas like Information Technology , Project Management , and Quality Assurance .

Recommended expert

Pliening, Germany

Experience

Mar 2024 - Mar 2026

2 years 1 month

Germany

Senior IT Project Manager & Cutover Lead (Freelance)

Omikron GmbH

Responsible for cutover planning and go-live management of multiple parallel IT releases in the e-commerce environment
Creating and maintaining cutover plans, runbooks and rollback scenarios, plus audit-ready documentation of all cutover activities
Defining and managing go/no-go decisions, escalation paths and resource availability in the cutover window
Coordinating technical and business workstreams, managing external service providers and ensuring data consistency
Managing and reviewing trial cutovers, structured handover to the hypercare phase
Cutover reporting and communication before, during and after go-live at decision-maker and C-level
Result: All releases delivered on schedule, cutover processes sustainably established and handed over

Jan 2023 - Feb 2024

1 year 2 months

Germany

Interim IT Project Manager SAP Migration & Format Change (Freelance)

AOV IT.Services GmbH

Interim IT project management for SAP migrations and format changes in the energy supplier sector
Coordinating connected energy suppliers as cross-functional format change project lead
Managing and controlling external service providers
Implementing Jira with Confluence, including running workshops independently
Preparing risk analyses and managing quality gates
Stakeholder management and preparing management meetings
Conducting test management with clients, including test documentation
Result: Project delivered on time and within budget — format change and SAP migration successfully completed

Mar 2020 - Dec 2022

2 years 10 months

Germany

Senior IT Project Manager SAP S/4HANA Migration (Freelance)

HABA Family Group

Overall responsibility for IT project management of the SAP migration to SAP S/4HANA
Coordinating around 27 sub-project managers across all workstreams
Managing and controlling external service providers
Implementing Jira with big picture, including training the sub-project managers
Preparing risk analyses and cutover planning
Stakeholder management and preparing steering committee meetings
Result: Project ended early due to company restructuring — sub-projects successfully migrated to SAP S/4HANA and handed over

Mar 2018 - Mar 2020

2 years 1 month

Germany

Senior IT Project Manager / Product Owner (Freelance)

SPAR ICS

Relaunch of digital platforms (webshops) for Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria
International stakeholder management, scheduling, budgeting and resource management
Introducing agile methods (Scrum, Jira/Kanban) in international teams
Cutover lead for the international rollout: connecting SAP F&R interfaces, data migration, defining automated test workflows and coordinating QA/QS
Result: Rollout in all four countries on time and within budget — go-live without production downtime in any locale

May 2016 - Mar 2018

1 year 11 months

Germany

Senior IT Project Manager / Consultant (Freelance)

Consors Finanz (ehem. Dresdner Cetelem)

Developed and launched the mission-critical application 'Ratanet' (loan calculator)
Migrated custom developments to the Salesforce standard platform
Set up an internal product team, test automation and documentation
International stakeholder management (DE/FR/EN), data protection coordination
Result: Project delivered on time and within budget, stable production platform handed over

Jan 2016 - Dec 2016

1 year

Germany

Senior IT Project Manager SAP Migration (Interim / Parental Leave Cover)

RBB – Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg

Overall responsibility for planning, controlling, and executing the SAP migration (production-critical), including cutover strategy, runbook, and governance
Creation and maintenance of the audit-proof cutover manual, definition of downtime windows, rollback scenarios, and go/no-go criteria
Planning and control of trial cutovers (dress rehearsals), deriving and implementing optimization measures including data consistency checks
Coordination of technical and functional workstreams (SAP FI, CO, MM, PM), interface management and resource planning for the cutover
Result: Go-live without production downtime — hypercare phase carried out smoothly, audit-proof documentation handed over

Mar 2015 - Nov 2016

1 year 9 months

Germany

IT Project Manager / Consultant (Freelance)

Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH

Design and implementation of a cloud-based intranet solution (consulting + implementation)
Cross-departmental requirements analysis, user role definition, onboarding processes
Weekly CEO reporting, international stakeholder management (CH/DE)
Training materials and delivery of end-user training
Result: Rollout on time and within budget, successful handover to operations

Dec 2008 - Nov 2015

7 years

Germany

IT Project Manager / Team Lead / Data Protection Officer

Engel & Zimmermann AG

Long-term management of IT and digital projects for existing corporate clients
Salesforce rollout including cross-departmental workflow definition and training
Budget planning and controlling, resource planning, software evaluation
Role as Data Protection Officer (DPO) for the software department
Result: Consistently positive project outcomes, stable client retention over 7 years

Industry Experience

See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time.

Experienced in Professional Services, Information Technology, Retail, Manufacturing, Banking and Finance, and Pharmaceutical.

Professional Services

Information Technology

Retail

Manufacturing

Banking and Finance

Pharmaceutical

Business Area Experience

See which departments and functions this freelancer has contributed to most.

Experienced in Information Technology, Project Management, Legal, and Quality Assurance.

Information Technology

Project Management

Legal

Quality Assurance

Summary

Senior SAP Cutover Manager and IT Project Manager with over 25 years of experience planning, managing, and executing complex SAP cutovers in large programs with high system landscape and interface complexity. Solid SAP expertise in FI, CO, PS, MM, PM, as well as SAP Ariba, MDG, BRIM and BTP. Proven track record in creating audit-ready cutover manuals, managing trial cutovers and dress rehearsals, organizing go/no-go and rollback decisions, and handing over to hypercare in a structured way. Skilled at aligning with business units, technical workstreams and C-level stakeholders — always aiming for a go-live without production downtime.

Skills

Sap Cutover Management (S/4hana, Ecc)
Sap Fi, Co, Ps, Mm, Pm | Ariba, Mdg, Brim, Btp
Cutover Manual & Audit-ready Documentation
Go/no-go & Rollback Decisions
Trial Cutovers & Dress Rehearsals
Downtime Minimization & Data Consistency
Hypercare Management & Structured Handover
Stakeholder & Escalation Management
Resource Management & Cutover Reporting
Interface Architecture & Data Migration

Methods

Scrum
Kanban
Safe
Prince2
Waterfall & Hybrid Project Management

Tools

Sap S/4hana, Ecc
Sap Fi, Co, Ps, Mm, Pm
Sap Ariba, Mdg, Brim, Btp
Jira
Confluence
Ms Project
Big Gantt
Ms 365

Platforms

Sap S/4hana & Ecc
Sap Ariba, Mdg, Brim, Btp
Interface Architectures & Data Migration
Aws
Ms 365

Languages

German

Native

English

Intermediate

French

Elementary

Education

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

Diploma in Computer Science · Computer Science · Munich, Germany

Certifications & licenses

AEVO (IHK Trainer Qualification)

ITIL 4

PRINCE2

Scrum Master

Statistics

Experience

Total positions 8

Experience in Professional Services 7 y

Avg length 2 y 5 m

Longest experience 6 y 11 m

Global Experience

Countries worked in 1 (Germany)

Primary country Germany

Expertise

Recent roles Senior IT Project Manager & Cutover Lead (Freelance), Interim IT Project Manager SAP Migration & Format Change (Freelance), Senior IT Project Manager SAP S/4HANA Migration (Freelance)

Main industries Professional Services, Information Technology, Retail

Main business areas Information Technology, Project Management, Legal

Qualifications

Highest degree Master

Certifications earned 4

Profile

Created

April 2026

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Frequently asked questions

Do you have questions? Here you can find further information.

Where is Melanie based?

Melanie is based in Pliening, Germany.

What languages does Melanie speak?

Melanie speaks the following languages: German (Native), English (Intermediate), French (Elementary).

How many years of experience does Melanie have?

Melanie has at least 17 years of experience. During this time, Melanie has worked in at least 8 different roles and for 8 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 2 years and 2 months. Note that Melanie may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

What roles would Melanie be best suited for?

Based on recent experience, Melanie would be well-suited for roles such as: Senior IT Project Manager & Cutover Lead (Freelance), Interim IT Project Manager SAP Migration & Format Change (Freelance), Senior IT Project Manager SAP S/4HANA Migration (Freelance).

What is Melanie's latest experience?

Melanie's most recent position is Senior IT Project Manager & Cutover Lead (Freelance) at Omikron GmbH.

What companies has Melanie worked for in recent years?

In recent years, Melanie has worked for Omikron GmbH, AOV IT.Services GmbH, and HABA Family Group.

Which industries is Melanie most experienced in?

Melanie is most experienced in industries like Professional Services, Information Technology, and Retail. Melanie also has some experience in Manufacturing, Banking and Finance, and Pharmaceutical.

Which business areas is Melanie most experienced in?

Melanie is most experienced in business areas like Information Technology, Project Management, and Legal. Melanie also has some experience in Quality Assurance.

Which industries has Melanie worked in recently?

Melanie has recently worked in industries like Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Retail.

Which business areas has Melanie worked in recently?

Melanie has recently worked in business areas like Information Technology, Project Management, and Quality Assurance.

What is Melanie's education?

Melanie holds a Master in Computer Science from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

Does Melanie have any certificates?

Melanie has 4 certificates. Among them, these include: AEVO (IHK Trainer Qualification), ITIL 4, and PRINCE2.

What is the availability of Melanie?

Melanie will be available full-time from April 2026.

What is the rate of Melanie?

Melanie's rate depends on the specific project requirements. Please use the Meet button on the profile to schedule a meeting and discuss the details.