Thomas B.-Senior Program Manager | Change Management | Digital Transformation | Global Programs | Regulated Environments
Check rate
Experience
Interim Business Owner
Omterra (ex: Siemens Energy)
Global PLM & ERP Implementation / Migration
Context:
Budget: 8-digit | Project size: >100 | D-A-USA-MX-BR at al
Mandate:
Consulting and implementation: Analysis, structuring, and documentation of requirements, change requests, and improvement opportunities as part of a global PLM rollout within the company-wide ERP / SAP migration; resolving functional gaps, setting up change management; aligning local requirements with central ERP / PLM platforms; introducing new processes and governance to coordinate production sites with headquarters
Work Delivered:
- Analyzed, consolidated, and assessed requirements, operational issues, and change requests from company sites
- Structured, categorized, and prioritized topics, identifying patterns, risks, and areas requiring action
- Assessed existing service, support, and training structures
- Provided recommendations for operating models
- Conducted change and transformation analysis to identify barriers to acceptance, use, and adoption of harmonized engineering processes
- Provided recommendations for rollout, enablement, user adoption, and communications
- Prepared status reports, management summaries, and risk and action overviews
Program Manager / Agile Transformation Lead
ÖBB (Infra)
System Consolidation & Data Migration
Context:
Budget: 7-digit | Project size: 50
Mandate:
Business-critical system consolidation and data migration in poor condition; inadequate project results and team performance in a compliance-regulated public sector environment.
Work Delivered:
- Turnaround and program management for system consolidation and data migration (multiple source systems → a single target system) while operations continued
- Modernized from legacy to cloud-native
- SAFe Framework
- Improved agile processes and governance
- AI evaluation
- Requirements Engineering, story writing
Result:
Most productive team in the ART; improved planning accuracy to >85%.
Program Manager / Crisis Manager
Auto Club Europe (ACE)
CMS / Membership Platform
Context:
Budget: 6-digit | Project size: 25
Mandate:
Time-critical CMS migration (Typo3 -> Adobe AEM), business-critical third-party integrations (ERP, membership management); numerous warning signs.
Work Delivered:
- Status analysis
- Project stop, scope reset, project plan (time, cost, risk, capacity)
- Established governance and communications
- CMS evaluation, RFI/RFP
- Vendor change and onboarding while operations continued
- Operating model and access control concept
- Executive board reporting
Result:
Successful project reset with a validated plan and budget; prevented outages to business-critical systems.
Founder, Product Director, Product Owner
Cipacto
IIoT SaaS platform (AI, cloud-native, API-first, distributed B2B industrial teams); EU-funded; PoC, MVP; operational use with industry partners; validated at TRL 7.
- Challenge: Developing an IIoT platform to capture, secure, and analyze industrial liquids with AI-based analysis and optimization features
- Solution: Set the strategy, developed the concept, and led product development
- Built a scalable data architecture to prepare for AI applications (Anomaly Detection, ESG Tracking)
- Developed ML use cases, including consumption forecasting, theft detection, and emissions calculation
- Integrated sensor data, ERP-/fleet systems, and AI-ready dashboards
- Validated with industry partners (EnergieDirect, Zöchling)
- Result: validated prototype, market-ready system architecture, AI readiness for Predictive Insights
Program Manager / Turnaround Lead
Lanxess
CMS & Third-Party Systems
Context:
Budget: 7-digit | Project size: >100
Mandate:
Company-wide CMS portal migration (Internet/Intranet) with numerous third-party integrations had failed; unclear responsibilities / vendor situation; complex organization, global project
Work Delivered:
- Took over and turned around the program
- De-escalation, CRM-,/PIM-,/ AIM-integration, DAM selection (RFI/RFP) and integration
- Established governance
- Changed vendors, managed and aligned enterprise and solution architecture
- Scoped, evaluated, and onboarded new vendors; enabled agile ways of working internally and externally, nearshore/offshore
- Executive board reporting
Result:
Successfully launched Internet + Intranet; stabilized the hybrid infrastructure; recovered unjustified vendor payments totaling 400.000 €.
Project Manager
Opel
- Challenge: Europe-wide CMS migration (CQ5→Adobe AEM), direct CMO reporting line, coordination with GM USA
- Solution: Designed and led workshops for international markets and agencies
- Innovation: Developed complex governance for legal and technical compliance
- Leadership: Liaison with the board, Opel Europe program leads, GM USA and international markets
- Result: Project volume € 2,5 Mio. p.a.
- Team size: 100 (including markets, agencies, GM IT)
Program Manager
Sanofi
Digital Transformation
Context:
Budget: 7 figures | Project size: >100
Mandate:
Escalating operational crisis; numerous outdated, proprietary IT systems; over 50 diverse websites; governance gaps, dysfunctional environment
Contribution:
- Took over and de-escalated the situation, built and led a digital transformation program: evaluated and consolidated a diverse, outdated IT system and tool landscape
- Created business plan
- Evaluated CMS/tools, managed RFI/RFP, selected vendors
- Designed and implemented B2B2C portal
- Designed and implemented a Multi-Channel / Digital First operating model
- Defined scope, set up CoE for digital operations and platform governance
- Introduced OKR, KPI, CRM & ERP integration
- Digital enablement, Agile coaching for team & management, requirements engineering, story writing, testing, management of internal & external staff and service providers
- Project planning, budget, controlling, reporting to the board & executive management
Result:
Delivered and launched a strategic, global digital sales & communications platform; replaced competing internal corporate systems; handed over rollouts; recovered unjustified supplier payments totaling 300.000 €.
Co-Founder & Managing Director
KAPITEL D GmbH (formerly: Kabel New Media Wien GmbH)
IT and media consulting (management buyout, P&L responsibility); Managing Partner at startup Carsablanca (automotive platform); consultant to startup CarCheck (digital transformation in transport and logistics).
Crisis Management, Global Retail Platform
Aldi Süd
Crisis management, global retail platform
Adobe AEM Headless + standard rollout across Europe & the USA; incident management, performance monitoring; e-commerce, Spryker. 7-figure budget, 60 participants
Consultant
CarCheck
digital transformation in transport and logistics
Managing Partner
Carsablanca
Automotive platform
Program management for the company-wide introduction of e-learning
Lufthansa Technik
Program management for the company-wide introduction of e-learning
(20,000 employees); evaluation of IoT devices (LoRa/RFID), including RFI/RFP; regulated environment, EASA/FAA compliance.
Program management, CMS migration and digital online sales in Europe
Opel
Program management, CMS migration and digital online sales in Europe
Adobe CQ5 → AEM; central point of contact between Opel Europe / GM IT USA / international markets; international rollout (IE, D, E, F, IT, UK)
Industry experience
See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time.
Experienced in Automotive, Information Technology, Transportation, Media and Entertainment, Energy, and Healthcare.
Business area experience
See which departments and functions this freelancer has contributed to most.
Experienced in Information Technology, Finance, Product Development, Project Management, Procurement, and Business Intelligence.
Summary
Senior Manager with over 25 years of experience as an end-to-end owner of complex IT programs—from strategy development, business and project planning, and vendor selection through go-live and operations, including in regulated environments. Global multi-project management, building structures, acting as the interface between business and IT, and between C-level and operational teams. Expert in stabilizing at-risk and crisis projects. Responsible for delivery, governance, structures, vendor management, budget, quality, go-live, and operations.
Skills
Senior Project Leadership: 20+ Years Leading Complex, Large-Scale It Projects, Cms/Erp Implementations, And Critical System Migrations
Agile Leadership: Safe Framework Expert, Scrum Master (Csm), Pmp—Transforming Traditional Organizations
Turnaround Specialist: Project Recovery In Critical Phases, With Proven Cost Savings Of €800.000+
Stakeholder Management: C-Level, Crisis Communications, International Stakeholder Structures
International Scaling: Rollouts Across Europe/Usa/Asia, Multicultural Teams Of Up To 50 People
Ai & Innovation: Ai Training Course Wk ÖSterreich, Industrial Iot, Digital Product Development, Startups, Practitioner
Change Management: Building And Implementing Frameworks In International Transformation Programs
Enterprise Platforms: Adobe Aem, Sitecore, Typo3, Sap (Commerce, S4/Hana), Planview, Salesforce, Sharepoint
Agile & Collaboration Tools: Jira, Confluence, Azure Devops, Trello, Miro, Figma
Methods & Frameworks: Safe, Scrum, Kanban, Prince2, Design Thinking, Pmi, Bpmn, Uml
Areas Of Expertise: Requirements Engineering, Change Management, Process Modeling, Business Process
Automotive: Bmw, Opel, Avag—Digital Strategies, International Sales Channels
Pharma/Chemicals: Sanofi, Lanxess—Regulatory Compliance, Corporate Structures
Transport/Infrastructure: ÖBb, Lufthansa Technik—Mission-Critical Systems
Retail: Aldi SüD—Ecommerce Complexity, International Markets
Teams: Directly Managed Teams Of Up To 50 People, Extended Stakeholder Coordination For 100+ People
Budgets: Up To €10 Mio. Per Project
Turnaround Rate: Consistent Success In Project Recovery
Ai Innovation: Machine Learning, Generative Ai, Large Language Models Integrated Into Projects
Stakeholders: C-Level, Executive Board
Senior Program Management: End-To-End Responsibility For Global It Programs, 7-Digit Budgets; Teams > 100; Multi-Project Management; Delivery Of Enterprise Platforms And Systems In Regulated Environments, B2b/B2b2c
Risk & Crisis Management: Early Identification Of Critical Project Situations; Stabilization And Re-Scoping Under Pressure; De-Escalation; Recovery Of Unjustified Vendor Payments
Program Governance: Complex Global Stakeholder Landscape, Establishing Pmos, Governance, And Structures
Vendor Management: Evaluation, Selection, Coordination, Realignment; Multi-Vendor Environments; Onshore/Nearshore/Offshore
Ai & Innovation: Ml, Generative Ai, Ai Readiness: Integrating Copilot, Chatgpt, And Genai Into Ongoing Processes
Technology Expertise
- Enterprise Platforms: Cms, Crm, Erp, Plm, Aem, Sitecore, Spryker, Sharepoint, Siebel, Teamcenter, Odoo, Oracle Agile Et Al
- Digital Sales & E-Commerce: Online Sales Platforms, Configurators, Payment Integration, Dam
- Methods: Agile, Hybrid, Safe, Scrum, Kanban, Prince2, Pmi, Design Thinking, Prosci, Bpmn, Uml, Et Al.
- Tools: Jira, Confluence, Azure Devops, Miro, Trello, Figma, Et Al.
Languages
Education
Universities of Freiburg, Cardiff, Hamburg
Magister Artium · Political Science, English Studies, Spanish
Certifications & licenses
AI Transformation
incite/Wirtschaftskammer Österreich
Project Management Institute
Scrum Alliance
Statistics
Experience
Global experience
Expertise
Qualifications
Frequently asked questions
Have questions? Find more information here.
Thomas is based in Vienna, Austria and can operate in on-site, hybrid, and remote work models.
Thomas speaks the following languages: German (Native), English (Native), Spanish (Intermediate), French (Elementary), Italian (Elementary).
Thomas has at least 27 years of experience. During this time, Thomas has worked in at least 8 different roles and for 8 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 3 years and 4 months. Note that Thomas may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.
Based on recent experience, Thomas would be well-suited for roles such as: Interim Business Owner, Program Manager / Agile Transformation Lead, Program Manager / Crisis Manager.
Thomas's most recent position is Interim Business Owner at Omterra (ex: Siemens Energy).
In recent years, Thomas has worked for Omterra (ex: Siemens Energy), ÖBB (Infra), Auto Club Europe (ACE), Cipacto, and KAPITEL D GmbH (formerly: Kabel New Media Wien GmbH).
Thomas is most experienced in industries like Automotive, Information Technology, and Transportation. Thomas also has some experience in Media and Entertainment, Energy, and Healthcare.
Thomas is most experienced in business areas like Information Technology, Finance, and Project Management. Thomas also has some experience in Product Development, Procurement, and Business Intelligence.
Thomas has recently worked in industries like Automotive, Information Technology, and Transportation.
Thomas has recently worked in business areas like Information Technology, Finance, and Product Development.
Thomas attended Universities of Freiburg, Cardiff, Hamburg for Political Science, English Studies, Spanish.
Thomas has 3 certificates. These include: AI Transformation, Project Management Professional (PMP), and Certified Scrum Master (CSM).
Thomas is immediately available part-time for suitable projects.
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Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 5 Nov 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
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