Thomas Pacal-Leading global organizational change executive / digital transformation & post-merger integration
Check rate
Experience
Change Manager / Sales Transformation
SEFE
- Organizational change management as part of a group-wide, supranational sales transformation, serving as the core of a comprehensive restructuring of mission-critical areas with end-to-end control of the change process and sustainable anchoring to ensure the sales force's future viability.
- Initiation and holistic management of the sales transformation program, including in-depth analysis to identify, assess, and strategically involve all relevant stakeholders, tactically leveraging their specific operational interests and spheres of influence.
- Conducting advanced, detailed change impact analyses to forecast the organizational effects of the transformation, derive a tailored change strategy, and develop a change roadmap and a change story as the core narrative of the campaign.
- Designing and implementing an integrated communication and action plan to ensure maximum transparency, effectively manage implicit expectations, and guide a change process that is clear and engaging for all stakeholders.
- Active management of all transformation phases, including setting up robust monitoring mechanisms for continuous progress analysis and forecasting based on recommended and jointly defined KPIs.
- Establishing an agile analysis and adjustment cycle for ongoing assessment of the measures' effectiveness, early detection of issues, and timely fine-tuning of the change strategy.
- Conducting precise gap analyses to identify skill deficits within the sales team in light of the new strategic direction, and developing targeted qualification strategies (e.g., coaching, training).
- Significant reduction of resistance to change by turning opposing stakeholder mindsets into proactive change ambassadors.
- Deep and lasting realignment of sales structures and processes fully aligned with the company's overarching goals.
- Measurable qualitative and quantitative improvement in sales efficiency and performance as a direct result of the implemented transformation initiatives and skill-building programs.
Change Manager / Product-Centric Transformation
Arlanxeo, Saudi Aramco Group
- Organizational change management as part of a group-wide transformation initiative focused on restructuring into a product-centric organization (PCO) and simultaneously agile transforming the IT (global IT pilot area), including designing new ways of working and strengthening leadership capabilities.
- Strategic direction of the transformation process toward a product-centric organization within global IT, creating a positive pull effect across the entire company, overcoming silos and cultural barriers.
- Identifying and analyzing all key stakeholders in IT and interface areas; developing a tailored change roadmap for structured navigation through the change process.
- Ongoing support of implementation through progress monitoring and establishment of a robust two-way feedback system using pulse-check surveys and 1:1 stakeholder meetings for continuous evaluation and adaptation.
- Iterative identification of critical leadership skill gaps (e.g., prioritization, ownership, psychological safety, decision latency) through interviews, executive jour fixes, and town halls.
- Designing and facilitating leadership off-sites (workshops) to strengthen reprioritization skills, cultivate an ownership mindset, and clarify responsibilities.
- Conducting executive leadership coaching sessions to foster psychological safety and build trust at the top two leadership levels.
- Ensuring continuous communication and real alignment throughout the process to promote transparency, acceptance, and sustain momentum.
- Increasing leadership effectiveness by 68% through improved prioritization skills and establishing a clear culture of accountability in global IT.
- Improving organizational climate by 39% and boosting psychological safety at leadership level with top-down role modeling and a more open communication and feedback culture.
- Successfully embedding the transformation effects in global IT as a company-wide blueprint.
Change Manager / Digital Transformation
Mann+Hummel
- Organizational change management for a strategic flagship digitization initiative to end-to-end transform the global PLM system, including building a multi-scenario forecasting-capable digital twin of all processes (design-to-cost approach with VR/AR support for product developers).
- Comprehensive stakeholder management at the executive level with the step-by-step building of a dedicated change agent network to generate maximum leadership commitment.
- Planning and execution of change communication campaigns and strategic internal communication management to ensure high acceptance before, during, and after go-live; measuring change acceptance and regular interactive presentations to the executive board.
- Agile change management support of the parallel agile transformation of the entire company, including initially highly change-resistant production plants worldwide.
- Developing the change strategy and crafting the change story as the centerpiece of the interdisciplinary communication strategy.
- Designing, preparing, and conducting leadership change workshops in the form of a change roadshow to explain the digitization program, changes, and new ways of working to leaders and operators in all affected plants.
- Implementing comprehensive training, communication, and engagement measures with a focus on operational execution and KPI-based success measurement.
- Achieving a 100% acceptance rate through numerous personalized 1-on-1 stakeholder engagement meetings.
- Sustainable establishment of the new target operating model while improving internal communication and overcoming existing silos, especially in the plants.
- Building an agile mindset and a community-focused, cross-silo work culture to prevent new silos from forming.
Change Manager / Digital Transformation & Scale-Up
RTBE
- Agile transformation of globally distributed business units while digitally transforming the core business model for frictionless scaling across three continents and establishing a new target operating model during ongoing operations.
- Complete digitization of the core business model by building a digital twin of the entire process landscape, buildings, and building systems, including designing, setting up, and deploying an IoT system for sensor data generation as a proof of concept for an MVP that became the flagship product (AR headset support for early corrective interventions and predictive scenarios).
- Preparing for global expansion (EU → US → APAC) with rapid scaling to about 700% of original size; ensuring controlled, healthy growth despite pandemic-related staffing shortages and resistance to change, including safeguarding strategic, administrative, regulatory, and operational aspects.
- Agile transformation of all business units based on DevOps to harmonize heterogeneous development processes and bridge existing silos and cultural barriers, especially between physicists, technicians, and software engineers.
- Sustainable establishment of the new target operating model with significantly improved internal communication after overcoming clear silos.
- Significant increase in EBITDA despite early scaling phase and high expansion costs.
- Creating an agile, efficiency-driven sense of community and mindset as a critical success factor.
Change Manager / Digital Transformation
WRW
- Operational setup of a digital office as the central control platform for all digitization projects of the group, and consolidating continental market leadership by introducing a digital innovation hub based on Scrum.
- Defining a comprehensive, clear, and interpretation-free digital governance affecting decision-making authority, processes, and procurement transparency (e.g., PPPs), based on analysis of digitization level, skill overlaps, process flow delays, and digital bottlenecks at interfaces with municipal network partners.
- Setting up the digital office on personnel, physical, educational, and organizational levels, including recruiting, team formation, role distribution, infrastructure, workshops on change, innovation, Scrum, crisis communication, and de-escalation, as well as embedding at the executive level and creating a digital roadmap.
- Introducing a digital innovation hub to generate, execute, and steer disruptive innovation measures, such as greatly reducing planning and administrative effort through automated interaction with nearshoring partners via a digital contractor platform.
- Integrating mission-critical legacy systems together with group IT, including revising non-functional components and planning and controlling suitable interfaces to support a private-sector-oriented market.
- Designing and implementing 27 projects and subprojects in preparation for the turnkey handover to the CDO, ensuring up to nine months of self-sustained operation of the digital office without leadership to minimize PR risks.
- Massively reducing project lead times to a fraction of their original values, resulting in savings at the municipal level.
- Establishing the digital office, especially the innovation hub, as the central driver of innovation and the go-to point for digitization matters.
- Setting up a fail-safe configuration of the digital office with buffer planning to avoid immediate leadership requirements in case of a CDO absence.
Change Manager / Digital Transformation
Esperta
- Strategic realignment to increase the competitiveness of an outdated business model through deep operational changes, organizational development and project management for system integration and upgrade of core applications and technology platforms (Secure Translation Brokerage Platform).
- Conducted comprehensive fundamental analyses of organizational structure, workflows, standards, critical processes, strategic partnerships (triage of a globally distributed, heterogeneous expert network), internal and external communication, go-to-market strategy, diversification efforts, competitive environment, market regulation, industry standards, sourcing aspects and legacy systems in use.
- Designed and implemented business process re-engineering measures including repositioning from a translation service provider to a full-service translation agency focusing on project management for more efficient use of onshore resources.
- Built a strategic competitive advantage by introducing disruptive innovations, especially radical cost reduction through efficient use of the global offshore contractor network across all time zones.
- Performed comprehensive technology analysis, redesigned and implemented the entire ICT area with multi-stage, incremental and cross-platform migration of the legacy enterprise software environment using agile methods (Scrum, Kanban).
- Integrated and upgraded all operating systems for all internal IT components (notebooks, servers, backup systems, external data storage, cloud storage connectivity, audio and video conferencing systems, mobile devices) while maintaining ongoing operations.
- Significantly reduced internal process complexity and shortened go-to-market intervals.
- Reduced qualitative and organizational heterogeneity to avoid further critical HR situations.
- Decreased project lead times by approximately 80%.
Founder; Change Manager
Embrace
- Established a small, effective, highly flexible and globally operating consulting firm specializing in change management.
- Focused on digital transformation, strategic change management, innovation management as well as crisis prevention, intervention and corporate stabilization.
- Developed and executed projects in the core business areas of business transformation, innovation think tanks and transfer of business.
Change Manager; Senior Project- & Program Manager
Global Blue
- Crisis intervention, stabilization and coordination of a large, intercontinentally distributed expert team as well as project and program management, system integration and upgrade of big data applications and technology platforms relevant to the core business (Tax-Free Shopping Processing & Real-Time Currency Conversion).
- Immediate triage and intervention in a repeatedly failed, historically grown and tightly core business-linked project involving many onshore, nearshore and offshore teams with an average of 2,000 experts.
- Stabilized massive turnover effects caused by leadership weaknesses and psychological bonding issues, and merged fragmented teams to restore fast, efficient decision-making processes.
- Integrated legacy systems and prepared data from end-of-life-cycle systems in a DWH-capable manner, as well as substituted and homogenized divergent technology stacks (e.g., Microsoft .NET and IBM BPM).
- Defined an approach for seamless embedding of the newly created IBM BPM-based processes into the organization and continuous progress reporting at the board level.
- Program management in a highly dynamic, hybrid development environment (Scrum, Kanban, Waterfall) with constantly changing business requirements and acted as a bridge between business and IT.
- Mediated between team leads, eliminated toxic behavior patterns, dismantled bullying structures and reduced silo thinking, restoring interdisciplinary collaboration vertically, horizontally and intercontinentally.
- Fully responsible for designing and sustainable implementation of a change management program, adhering to cost, time and quality targets.
Senior Consultant
IBM
- Project management, business analysis, presales and use-case design in the big data area specializing in data warehousing, business intelligence, content analytics and business process re-engineering.
- Managed multiple projects for an average of 17 clients from industries such as banking/finance, oil & gas/energy, transportation & logistics/forwarding and electronic engineering across all project phases from initiation to rollout and stabilization, acting as a bridge between business and IT.
- Led a ten-member development team, coached and mentored a junior project manager and managed external implementation partners.
- Served as senior business analyst and DWH/BI solution architect for Raiffeisen Bank International, including analysis, re-engineering, transformation, integration and migration of the cDWH-based core banking system to an eDWH-based end-to-end solution and designed a master test plan for all banking areas.
- Executed a digital transformation project for a leading European machinery manufacturer (automotive, robotics) by introducing real-time streaming sensor data analysis via a big data-enabled DWH and predictive analytics for machine failure forecasting and factory monitoring, including AR-based mobile monitoring.
- Analyzed, planned and implemented management dashboards/cockpits in IBM Cognos for simplified presentation of complex relationships, trends and tendencies in heterogeneous information architectures.
- Supported presales activities through use-case design, including analysis of existing business processes of potential clients and on-site presentations of specific BI solutions.
- Additional specialization in the BI area in customer insight, market analytics, supply chain and human resources.
Change Manager; Council Consultant
Gerson Lehrman Group
- Conducted numerous consulting projects in contactless/wireless/mobile payments, mobile banking, AML, KYC and CRM with, for and on behalf of companies from strategy, packaging and investment banking sectors.
- Advised strategy firms such as Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey and Ernst & Young.
- Supported packaging companies such as MeadWestvaco.
- Advised investment banks and financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, MFC Global Investment Management, Fir Tree Partners and La Financière de l'Echiquier.
Head of Treasury BackOffice
DenizBank Financial Services, Dexia Group
- Restructuring of the entire Treasury BackOffice, including the securities settlement, foreign payments, and domestic payments departments.
- Planning and execution of treasury trading–specific tests, usability assessments, and professional evaluations as the final step before the full migration from the AS/400-based core banking system to a modern Windows-based system.
- Self-initiated analysis, design, planning, and execution of the integration of separate banking applications (SWIFT, SEPA, Reuters, Bloomberg, Svenson, etc.) into the core banking system.
- Creation of a multi-part, fully illustrated manual for setting up and running Treasury and Treasury BackOffice, covering special cases, worst-case scenarios, and troubleshooting, specifically for quick onboarding of career switchers.
Strategic Consultant
Petroleum, Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa
- Implementation of a risk management system for the company.
- Conducting intensive, multi-level training sessions for all trading department staff and the supply & logistics team on the new risk management approach.
- Creating a manual on how the system works, use cases, special variants, and edge cases in commodity trading and supply & logistics, including troubleshooting.
Strategic Consultant
HPCL - Hindustan Petroleum Corporation
- Implementation of a risk management system for the company.
- Conducting intensive, multi-level training sessions for all trading department staff and the refineries department.
- Creating a manual on how the system works, special variants, and edge cases of commodity trading in a refinery environment, including troubleshooting.
Strategic Consultant
Essar Oil Ltd, Hutchison Group
- Co-implemented a risk management system for oil and gas operations.
- Delivered broad, in-depth training to the risk management team on hedging strategies against physical cargo or freight loss on large oil tankers and offshore oil and gas platforms in upstream Indian Ocean areas.
- Created a manual on how it works, features, special variants, and edge cases in risk management, including troubleshooting.
Change Manager
Galenika Fitofarmacija Serbia
- Implemented comprehensive organizational development measures after evaluating all business areas, using Greenfield and Blue Ocean approaches to transform into an international player without internal friction.
- Rolled out company-wide innovation teams (internal micro think tanks), guiding the process with selected internal experts, mid-managers, and plant staff; goal: rebranding as the innovation leader in the SEE region instead of low-cost differentiation.
- Restructured, formed, coached, mentored, and trained the sales executive team, including the sales managing director and 14 regional sales directors, to improve negotiation results with international, especially Western European, business partners.
- Designed, planned, and delivered a multi-part intercultural training program for the entire executive team to secure competitive market advantages against international competitors.
- Introduced an open, less restrictive communication culture to promote internal knowledge transfer based on partnership and reciprocal trust building at the top management level (based on Nash equilibrium).
Online & Wireless Marketing Manager
Universal Communication Platform Group
- Transformed all market communications into a Permission Marketing-based landscape, including rolling out a multiple opt-in for email newsletters and mobile equivalents.
- Built a very fine-grained customer master data segmentation that enabled new targeted direct marketing actions based on customer preferences instead of mass communication.
- Achieved high click-through rates and exceptionally strong ROI for clients by using enhanced existing data after streamlined communication measures.
Project Manager Digital Transformation
Zurich Insurance Group
- Solely responsible for the primary digitization of all internal and external forms across the entire group.
- Completely eliminated the previously costly manual data entry.
- Enabled automated transfer of form data into internal ERP systems.
Senior Product Marketing Manager
Goldbach Media Group
- Introduced Permission Marketing in a market where spam was still a standard tool for boosting reach.
- Prepared for the merger with Goldbach Media, including marketing strategy and product-related groundwork.
Co-Founder; Head of Sales & Media Planning
Buongiorno Digital
- Co-founded the first company branch outside Italy.
- Strategically planned and prepared the expansion into additional European countries with a strong affinity for newsletter marketing.
- Executed the corporate roll-out in the UK, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany.
- Explored the US market as preparation for the later merger with Vitaminic into Buongiorno Vitaminic (USA).
Project Manager Custody & Reconciliation/Treasury
Raiffeisen Service Center
- Developed and implemented a fast, precise software-supported automated method for reconciling securities accounts.
- Improved efficiency and accuracy in the custody and reconciliation area of the treasury.
Project Manager; Trade Fair Coordinator
Wiener Messen & Kongresszentrum
- Planning and running a multi-day music fair that, despite a small ad budget and tight deadlines, drew 26,000 paying visitors.
- Repositioning and reactivating the heavily struggling, competition-threatened IFABO, then the largest IT trade fair in Austria.
Project Manager; Smart Grid Process Manager
One / Hutchison
- Conducted comprehensive analysis of internal processes with a focus on network optimization, integrated data migration, and consolidation of decentralized legacy data into a central database.
- Digitized and prepared all planning data from legacy systems for visualization of network architecture and topology across Austria using Microsoft Visio.
- Designed a smart grid considering regional regulatory requirements by optimizing base transceiver station positioning and required transmission power.
- Supported the first experimental proto-UMTS tests in Austria (laboratory/indoor) to inform licensing decisions and grid upgrade strategy.
Marketing Manager / IoT
Evtacon Limited
- Solely responsible for analyzing, planning, developing, and implementing the go-to-market strategy for the EU and US markets to promote sales of a modular microprocessor (Universal Emulator) as a precursor to an IoT solution.
- Developed the company’s first website, establishing Evtacon as one of the first microelectronics firms with an online presence.
- Created a unified corporate identity and design, consistently applied across print materials, website, press releases, giveaways, and trade show booths.
Jr Project Manager / Telemarketing Coordinator
BP
- Launched the Routex Billing & Fleet Management System in the Austrian B2B market.
- Expanded the telemarketing team by 250% to support the product launch.
- Reduced target costs to 33% by redefining and consolidating the target group (fleet and truck operators, transport & logistics, later SMEs through trade associations).
Industry Experience
See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time.
Experienced in Professional Services, Information Technology, Banking and Finance, Manufacturing, Energy, and Transportation.
Business Area Experience
See which departments and functions this freelancer has contributed to most.
Experienced in Strategy, Information Technology, Product Development, Project Management, Marketing, and Operations.
Summary
Thomas Pacal is an experienced change manager specializing in digital transformation, strategic change management, innovation management, and crisis prevention, intervention, and business stabilization. With over 20 years of relevant experience in this field, he founded EMBRACE in 2014 - a small, effective, highly flexible, and globally operating consulting firm focusing on change management. Core business areas: business transformation, innovation think tanks, and transfer of business.
VIDEO INTRO: youtube . com/watch?v=roCSEs-cZxk
Skills
Erp, Bpm/bpre, Pm, Bi, Dwh, Iot
- Epicor Iscala
- Sap Business Objects / Crystal Reports
- Microstrategy Analytics
- Ibm Cognos, Infosphere, Websphere
- Planview Enterprise One, Innotas, Projectplace, Leankit
- Microsoft Project, Crm, Sharepoint, Power Bi
- Atlassian Jira, Confluence
- Workday
- Aris
- Adonis
- Agile Methodologies: Scrum, Kanban, Devops, Dad (Disciplined Agile Delivery)
Financial
- Reuters
- Bloomberg
- Swift Alliance Server, Workstation, Web Platform Se
- Geos
- Internext
- Svenson
- Aml / Kyc / Crm Applications
Productivity
- Ms Office 365 (Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Outlook)
- Openoffice (Writer, Impress, Calc, Base, Etc.)
- Adobe Cc (Photoshop, Premiere, Indesign, After Effects, Audition)
- Conferencing: Cisco Webex, Zoom Video Communications, Google Meet, Ms Teams, Skype
- At&t Mobile Network Ops Suite
- Autocad
Coding / Languages
- Html5
- Xml
- Json
- Xhtml (Shtml/mhtml/dhtml Etc.)
- Wml
- Asp
- Css
- Cl For Ibm As/400
- Sql
- Sgml
Systems & Cloud Services
- Microsoft Windows 11, Microsoft Azure
- Apple Macos
- Unix, Linux, Aix, Solaris, Hp-ux
- Google Android, Google Cloud Platform
- Ibm Os/400
Languages
Education
Harvard University
Masterclass in Change Management · Change Management · Cambridge, United States
Hult International Business School
Change Management · Boston, United States
Open University Business School
Change Management · Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Certifications & licenses
ICF-accredited diploma in systemic coaching
ISO/IEC 17024 certification
Harvard University
ISO/PRF 20700 certification
Statistics
Experience
Global Experience
Expertise
Qualifications
Profile
Frequently asked questions
Do you have questions? Here you can find further information.
Where is Thomas based?
What languages does Thomas speak?
How many years of experience does Thomas have?
What roles would Thomas be best suited for?
What is Thomas's latest experience?
What companies has Thomas worked for in recent years?
Which industries is Thomas most experienced in?
Which business areas is Thomas most experienced in?
Which industries has Thomas worked in recently?
Which business areas has Thomas worked in recently?
What is Thomas's education?
Does Thomas have any certificates?
What is the availability of Thomas?
What is the rate of Thomas?
How to hire Thomas?
Average rates for similar positions
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
Similar Freelancers
Discover other experts with similar qualifications and experience
Experts recently working on similar projects
Freelancers with hands-on experience in comparable project as a Change Manager / Sales Transformation
Nearby freelancers
Professionals working in or nearby Vienna, Austria
