Rui Afonso - Salesforce Transformation Program Manager

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Zug, Switzerland

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Experience

Jul 2022 - Jul 2025

3 years 1 month

Zug, Switzerland

Hybrid

Business IT Project & Program Manager, Salesforce CRM, Retail market

MET Holding AG

Defined and launched a major European digital transformation program, leading a six-bidder RFP, overseeing solution blueprint development and co-developing the business case, roadmap and multimillion budget. Secured board approval within five months.
Built and led a multidisciplinary delivery organization of nearly 50 people at peak, spanning internal teams and three external partners. Defined responsibilities, allocated resources, set priorities and oversaw vendor performance, coordinating 200+ stakeholders.
Led the two-year delivery of a common Salesforce CRM and digital sales portals across four EU subsidiaries, integrating local systems through MuleSoft Anypoint. Connected to Databricks for reporting, and embedded Databricks-based pricing and credit checks into the sales processes. Applied an Agile, business-first approach to evolving business needs, achieving adoption in France, Italy and Spain and business-validated technical go-live in Germany, within budget.
Established a sustainable post-program ownership and support model: appointed a Business Analyst as Product Owner and coached him over two years to take full ownership of the solution and the digitalization strategy. Built the functional delivery team, brought one of its Functional Analysts in-house as the business-side Application Manager to oversee functional management and future enhancements, and recruited two Salesforce Admins into Group IT for country-level user support and day-to-day technical operations.
Enabled further group-wide expansion through a reusable, scalable platform, securing board approval for a rollout to Czechia & Poland. Initiated both rollouts before completing the assignment.

Sep 2020 - Jun 2021

10 months

Nice, France

CRM Platform Selection Consultant

Arkopharma

Appointed by the principal shareholder to ensure an objective, structured selection process for replacing the legacy mobile sales platform, guiding business leadership and two internal project managers through vendor evaluation and decision-making.
Led a five-vendor assessment using weighted scorecards, followed by a three-month proof of concept with two finalists, identifying significant technical debt in the competing solution. Supported the final selection, contractual negotiations and implementation kick-off, enabling implementation funding.

Nov 2018 - Jul 2020

1 year 9 months

Paris, France

Nearshore Delivery & Governance Consultant

TDF

Turned around an underperforming nearshore delivery relationship impacting TDF's fiber deployment activities. Assessed governance and delivery gaps, introduced structured project steering and contractual performance monitoring, and coached an internal Business Analyst into the Product Owner role.
Restored collaboration between French business teams and the Portuguese technology partner through Agile coaching, direct engagement and joint working sessions. Improved deliverable quality and timeliness, rebuilt stakeholder confidence and strengthened the supplier relationship.

Jun 2016 - Mar 2018

1 year 10 months

Paris, France

Digital Transformation Program Manager, Salesforce CRM, B2B

Naturgy Europe

Authored the European IT master plan, defining a multi-horizon technology roadmap aligned with the group's business strategy and supporting the European General Manager and Board in securing a multimillion budget allocation from Naturgy Group.
Set up and led the new IT & Processes department, managing two internal project managers and up to seven external analysts and developers. Established departmental governance, Agile/Hybrid delivery practices and executive steering committees, positioning it as a business partner.
Directed legacy systems and process modernization, substantially consolidating dozens of fragmented Excel/Access applications and databases into a common database adopted by the business.
Led the European Salesforce Sales Cloud rollout across France, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, aligning subsidiary leadership with Group objectives. Oversaw the use of Talend ETL to extract the required data from Salesforce and integrate it into the common database, alongside the development of a custom real-time pricing engine. Delivered the rollout across all four countries within budget and handed it over to Operations.

Oct 2015 - Jun 2016

9 months

Paris, France

Business-IT Integration Consultant, Digital Platform

Caisse des Dépôts

Supported the development of an online funding-request platform for French public entities, coordinating functional and integration activities between business stakeholders and external implementation partners.

Oct 2006 - Sep 2015

9 years

Paris, France

IT Project Management Consultant (Technical & Functional)

ALTRAN France (now Capgemini Eng.)

GrDF (Energy): Led a corporate website redesign, revising IT governance and coordinating geographically distributed stakeholders using Agile Scrum.
ENGIE (Energy): Managed the development of a custom gas optimization system, overseeing project governance, resource planning, risk and stakeholder management, infrastructure and continuity planning. Combined ENGIE’s PMI-based project management methodology with Agile Scrum delivery.
TF1 (Media): Managed projects involving ScheduALL enterprise resource management, HRIS workforce planning and IT performance audits, over three years. Led business case development, vendor selection and contractual negotiations; personally developed the SAP/BizTalk integration with ScheduALL.
TDF (Broadcasting infrastructure): Managed multiple cross-functional IT projects over four years, including BMC Remedy ITSM integration, business process optimization and change management. BI & Data Analysis: Developed KPI dashboards for business units using SQL and BusinessObjects XI, enabling data-driven decision-making.

Dec 1999 - Jul 2006

6 years 8 months

Lisbon, Portugal

IT Consultant

ALTRAN Portugal (now Capgemini Eng.)

Progressed from software engineering to functional analysis and project management, delivering software development, database migration and business systems integration across multiple industries.
Completed specialized software project management training at Altran Education Services, gaining initial project management experience. Worked across Telecoms, Healthcare, Automotive, Retail and Banking, while coaching junior consultants on software delivery practices.

Apr 1997 - Nov 1999

2 years 8 months

Paris, France

Webmaster & Software Engineer

IdeSYS

Early software engineering, database and web development using Perl, ASP/VB and C/C++, working with SQL Server, Oracle and Unix environments.

Apr 1997 - Nov 1999

2 years 8 months

Porto, Portugal

Webmaster & Software Engineer

Jornal de Notícias

Early software engineering, database and web development using Perl, ASP/VB and C/C++, working with SQL Server, Oracle and Unix environments.

Industry experience

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

Experienced in Telecommunication, Energy, Media and Entertainment, Banking and Finance, Automotive, and Healthcare.

Telecommunication

Energy

Media and Entertainment

Banking and Finance

Automotive

Healthcare

Business area experience

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

Experienced in Information Technology, Project Management, Product Development, Procurement, Business Intelligence, and Strategy.

Information Technology

Project Management

Product Development

Procurement

Business Intelligence

Strategy

Summary

PMP-certified Technology & Transformation Leader with a software engineering background and extensive experience delivering complex business-IT projects and programs across Energy, Telecoms, Media and Pharma.
Led multi-country transformations involving 200+ stakeholders, multidisciplinary teams, strategic partners and board-approved multimillion budgets. Combines strategic planning, executive engagement and effective governance with end-to-end delivery accountability.

Languages

Portuguese

Native

English

Advanced

French

Advanced

Spanish

Intermediate

Education

Sep 1991 - Oct 1997

University of Minho

Licenciatura · Systems and Computer Engineering · Portugal

Certifications & licenses

PMI

AI & Business Strategy

Agile Scrum Advanced

Digital Transformation

Executive Leadership

Leveraging AI for Governance, Risk & Compliance

Managing Difficult Stakeholders

Statistics

Experience

Total positions 9

Experience in Telecommunication 17 y

Avg length 3 y 2 m

Longest experience 8 y 11 m

Global experience

Countries worked in 3 (France, Portugal, Switzerland)

Primary country France

Expertise

Recent roles Business IT Project & Program Manager, Salesforce CRM, Retail market, CRM Platform Selection Consultant, Nearshore Delivery & Governance Consultant

Main industries Telecommunication, Energy, Media and Entertainment

Main business areas Information Technology, Project Management, Product Development

Qualifications

Highest degree Master

Certifications earned 9

Member since

October 2026

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Frequently asked questions

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Rui is based in Zug, Switzerland.

Rui speaks the following languages: Portuguese (Native), English (Advanced), French (Advanced), Spanish (Intermediate).

Rui has at least 26 years of experience. During this time, Rui has worked in at least 8 different roles and for 9 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 3 years and 11 months. Note that Rui may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

Based on recent experience, Rui would be well-suited for roles such as: Business IT Project & Program Manager, Salesforce CRM, Retail market, CRM Platform Selection Consultant, Nearshore Delivery & Governance Consultant.

Rui's most recent position is Business IT Project & Program Manager, Salesforce CRM, Retail market at MET Holding AG.

In recent years, Rui has worked for MET Holding AG.

Rui is most experienced in industries like Telecommunication, Energy, and Media and Entertainment. Rui also has some experience in Banking and Finance, Automotive, and Healthcare.

Rui is most experienced in business areas like Information Technology, Project Management, and Product Development. Rui also has some experience in Procurement, Business Intelligence, and Strategy.

Rui has recently worked in industries like Energy.

Rui has recently worked in business areas like Information Technology, Product Development, and Project Management.

Rui holds a Master in Systems and Computer Engineering from University of Minho.

Rui has 9 certificates. Among them, these include: Project Management Professional (PMP), AI & Business Strategy, and Agile Scrum Advanced.

Rui is immediately available for suitable projects.

Daily rate distribution

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The rates shown represent the typical market range for freelancers in this position based on recent contracts on our platform.

Average rates for similar positions

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Daily rate avg. 1031 €

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Median rate 1184 €

The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.

Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 26 Oct 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.