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Need a Business Unit Manager for P&L ownership, market growth, portfolio steering, or turnaround work? Get vetted freelancers who can lead units, align sales and operations, and drive clear commercial decisions. Fast, precise matching with vetted, available experts.
About the role
What they do
A Business Unit Manager runs a defined part of the business with clear commercial responsibility. The work often combines strategy, sales, operations, and financial control. In many companies, the role is also called BU Manager or business unit head.
Typical deliverables include:
- unit targets and action plans
- P&L review and budget steering
- sales and margin improvement measures
- cross-functional coordination across product, operations, and finance
- management reporting for leadership teams
Core skills
Strong Business Unit Managers make decisions that hold up in daily execution. They understand the market, can read a P&L, and know how to turn priorities into a plan that teams can follow. They also need strong stakeholder management, because the role sits between executives, sales, delivery, and support functions.
- commercial thinking and ownership
- leadership without a heavy reporting layer
- budgeting, forecasting, and KPI steering
- pricing, portfolio, and go-to-market judgment
- clear communication with senior stakeholders
Tools and focus areas
The exact tool stack depends on the company, but the role often works with ERP and CRM systems, management dashboards, BI tools, and planning sheets. In manufacturing, services, IT, or B2B sales, the focus may be on capacity, utilization, account growth, or product mix. A good interim or freelance Business Unit Manager can step into existing structures and improve them without long ramp-up.
When to bring one in
Companies hire a freelance Business Unit Manager when a unit needs immediate leadership, when a vacancy is open, or when change needs a steady hand. This is common in Germany for industrial groups, mid-sized companies, and international firms with local units that need commercial coordination in English and German.
Use this role when:
- a unit needs temporary leadership
- growth has stalled and priorities are unclear
- a turnaround, carve-out, or reorganization is underway
- you need an experienced operator for a defined mandate
What strong profiles look like
The best candidates combine commercial ownership with calm execution. They do not only report numbers; they act on them. They know how to align teams, challenge weak assumptions, and keep decisions focused on margin, customers, and delivery.
Look for evidence of:
- clear results in unit, product, or region leadership
- practical experience in B2B environments
- confidence with senior management and local teams
- the ability to prioritize under pressure
- structured handover and fast onboarding
Typical mandates
Freelance Business Unit Managers are often brought in for interim leadership, portfolio cleanup, market expansion, or recovery work. They may also support a business unit head during transformation, M&A integration, or a sharp growth phase.
In Germany, strong freelancers are often expected to work well with both headquarters and local teams. They should be comfortable with direct communication, clear accountability, and pragmatic decision-making.
Meet FRATCH Business Unit Managers
Robert Karash
Interim Manager | Group Leader in the IT Operations & Digitalization Division "Databases, Operations & Support" (DOS)
Last position:
Interim Manager | Group Leader in the IT Operations & Digitalization Division "Databases, Operations & Support" (DOS) at Landwirtschaftliche RentenBank
- Technical leadership and further development of a team of 28 IT staff (internal & external) in the areas HelpDesk/HelpLine, RHEL (Red Hat), MUREX (trading system & applications), SAP basis operations
- Managing external service providers (including FI-TS for SAP basis operations)
- Personnel, resource and budget planning for the IT department and projects
- Introducing and establishing regular communication formats (weekly status meetings, team and cross-department meetings)
- Ensuring application operations in a hybrid environment (Windows/Linux with database and web/application servers)
- Supporting transformation projects to modernize the application landscape (e.g. DevOps approaches)
- Setting up and implementing a digital IT procurement for hardware & software (e.g. with DELL)
- Developing and managing the "IT Operations DOS" department based on corporate strategy
- Preparing management reports & decision papers on IT projects, optimization potential and automation opportunities
- Representing the department in the advisory boards of the Rentenbank and ensuring regulatory compliance (BaFin §44, GDPR, BSI, MaRisk)
Steffen Eschinger
Stream Lead, Consultant FI, CO, MM, SD
Last position:
Domain Lead FI, CO, HR, Investor Relations at Douglas Group
- Process Owner SAP ERP 8 FI, CO & Investor Relations
- Process Owner SAP Success Factors
- Responsible for 4 teams, 39 FTE
- Full responsibility for end-to-end processes in SAP for Finance, Controlling, HR, Investor Relations
- Interface to certified public accountants for Finance IT (KPMG)
- ITIL-4 implementation for service request change request and project management with Service Now (Project Manager)
Udo Bocken
Interim Head of Technical Purchasing
Last position:
Interim Head of Technical Purchasing at Riha WeserGold Getränke GmbH & Co. KG
- Leading technical purchasing with 4 employees
- Tendering, negotiating, and closing the gas supply for 2025 / 2026 and 2027
- Electricity purchasing for 2024 and 2025
- Feasibility analysis of a photovoltaic system for the sites Rinteln, Dodow, and Waibstadt, including tendering and negotiating possible partners
- Purchasing fossil fuels: diesel, gas, and electricity as well as CO2 certificates
- Purchasing industrial gases including CO2
- New setup in the area of cleaning and disinfecting agents for 3 plant sites and optimizing the stock handling of these hazardous substances
- Profitability calculation for the gas turbine (steam and electricity)
- Fleet concept: conventional drive vs. e-mobility
- Purchasing 29 new tractor units
- Two major maintenance projects: renewal of the outer shell of a high-bay warehouse as well as renewal of warehouse and high-bay warehouse logistics hardware and software
- Negotiating framework, maintenance, and consignment stock contracts including Capex and MRO with the four main machine suppliers
- Supporting performance issues during the commissioning of a new machine
- Negotiating and closing the contract for the conversion of three machines for the site in Spain
- Savings in the seven-figure range
- Return on Interim Manager (RoIM): factor 4.7
Katja Rigoll
Head of Human Resources
Last position:
Head of Human Resources at Knapheide Solutions GmbH, Knapheide Schlauchtechnik GmbH
- Led the HR department, including its realignment
- Negotiated and concluded works agreements
- Advised management and the board on integration after company acquisition
- Led partial plant closures with social transfer plans
- Implemented short-time work
- Optimized payroll
Andreas Höhl
Paint Department Manager
Last position:
Paint Department Manager at Montaplast GmbH
- Disciplinary and technical leadership of the paint production area with series production, polishing and rework, surface technology, robot application technology, and paint line technology
- Weekly reporting of key figures such as overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), machine utilization, setup times, scrap/rework rate, productivity per employee, and absence rate
- Ensuring the availability of personnel, material, equipment, and paint systems
- Continuous development of employees, processes, standards, and the organizational structure
- Implementation and establishment of lean management principles for waste-free production and continuous improvement process (CIP)
- Planning and implementation of investments as well as budget responsibility
- Targeted project coordination through to successful completion
- Derivation and implementation of annual goals as well as individual target agreements with employees
- Fulfillment of employer duties with regard to occupational, environmental, and health protection
René König
Head of HR Division
Last position:
TRiANDO people & culture
HR process consulting, GDPR, direct sourcing, performance recruiting, social media recruiting, effective job postings, employer marketing, HR training, HR processes
Robert Lebherz
Interim Head of Innovation
Last position:
Interim Project Leader at Ebm-Papst Group
Project Manager for Business Unit Efficiency Program
Current contributions to the overall situation Project management of the business unit efficiency program
- Project leadership
- Importance and integration within the group network
- Clarifying topics around global production structures in the project
Implementation
- Team building, planning, definition of goals and KPIs
- Integration into the organization
- Regular communication within the team and with the steering committee
Paul Oesterwitz
Senior Manager
Last position:
Product Owner / Project Manager at Auditor, software vendor for German tax consultancies
- Project environment: Python, Java, Azure AI Studio & OpenAI Studio, embedding models, LLM as a judge
- Project language: German
- Project role(s): Project manager
- Project management for improving the performance of a chatbot
- Research and evaluation of approaches to improve and measure response accuracy and improve the chatbot's understanding of context
- Coordination of architecture decisions with the technical team and architects
- Coordination and transfer of research results into development tasks
Bernd Schmidl
Head of IT Business Applications & Partnerships
Last position:
Head of IT Business Applications & Partnerships at Software AG
- Strategic overall management of the global IT application landscape and further development of the roadmap for core applications (Salesforce, SAP, Workday, OpenAir, Jira)
- Realignment of the IT architecture towards cloud-native (IaaS/SaaS) and establishment of an agile DevOps culture and process automation
- Leading the IT application workstream for the successful separation of four business units (carve-outs)
- Acting as a strategic business partner for C-level functions (COO, CRO, CHRO) to ensure IT-business alignment
- Representing IT interests to employee representative bodies and ensuring compliance
- Reduced maintenance effort by 66% by designing and rolling out a new customer portal
- Implemented a fully automated CPQ self-service to accelerate sales processes
- Successfully went live with critical business platforms to support the target operating model (e.g., Dayforce for HR/payroll, Coupa for P2P, Zuora for billing)
- Replaced legacy custom software with scalable SaaS standard solutions (legacy modernization)
Reuf Kadic
Independent mechanical development engineer, head of design and development of the pipedeck
Last position:
Independent mechanical development engineer, head of design and development of the pipedeck at Herrenknecht Vertikal GmbH
- Development and design of a new oil drilling machine for the Beatrice oil rig in Scotland
- Concept design of the pipe-overdeck platform with crane, total load 200 tonnes
- Static FEM and CFD flow analysis to ensure safe discharge of oil-contaminated wastewater
- Planning, calculation and design of the concept
- Management of 5 designers
- CAD: CREO, Model Manager, SAP
- FKM, VDI 2230 and Euro Code 3
Patricia Winkler
Vice President Marketing & Communications
Last position:
Vice President Marketing & Communications at Ranger Marketing & Vertriebs GmbH
- Developed and implemented company-wide marketing and communication strategy.
- Merged marketing and communications departments.
- Strengthened brand positioning among core target groups.
- Managed social media, content, and PR/corporate communications.
- Led the department; internal and external stakeholder management.
- Introduced KPI-driven marketing controlling with analytics.
Ulrich Bach
Director/Division Head
Last position:
Director/Division Head at International consulting firms
- Steering strategic SAP S/4HANA transformation projects in global corporate structures
- Developing and implementing change management strategies and process optimizations
- Trusted advisor to C-level executives for carve-outs and post-merger integrations
- Information security management system (ISMS), ISO/IEC 27001, protection needs assessment, risk management & compliance
- Contract management focusing on legal, business and regulatory compliance
Norbert Pluta
Head of Operations & HR
Last position:
Head of Operations & HR at VIAS Rail GmbH und VIAS Logistik GmbH
- Responsible for operating personnel in the Odenwald, Rheingau and Frankfurt regions
Harald Grayer
Head of Finance, Group HR function, Board Division
Last position:
Head of Finance, Group HR function, Board Division at Allianz SE
Reported to Holding Board Member, CHRO and Head of Transformation
Led a global matrix team of 5+
Assumed finance leadership for a €135M HR transformation program affecting 140,000+ employees
Built a global HR operating model and HR finance function
Managed and advised key stakeholders on global cost planning, cost allocation, transfer pricing, tax strategy, and transformation impact
Managed FP&A for a €100M board-division budget, including Compliance, M&A, Privacy, Legal and HR
Led the IT transfer of 113 HR staff during Corona lockdown, ensuring business continuity during transition
Contributed to an organizational streamlining project, implementing consistent management layers and spans of control for increased operational efficiency
Alexander Reyss
Head of HR and Medical Training, HR Area Manager Business Unit: Sales Force Clinic
Last position:
Head of HR and Medical Training, HR Area Manager Business Unit: Sales Force Clinic at Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH
- Established a leadership and sales manager training academy with a video and web-based training platform
- Led target and funding discussions and managed budget planning
- Introduced and conducted potential and management diagnostics
- Coached and trained managers and sales staff in strategic leadership and HR development for the business unit
- Outsourced HR processes and managed employee relations
- Managed a team of 15 HR business partners, trainers and coaches, providing support and challenge
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
Business Unit Managers statistics
Aggregated from the professional profiles of matched freelancers.
Experience
29 years
Position duration
3.4 years
Positions per freelancer
12
Top business areas
Operations, Project Management, Product Development
Top industries
Professional Services, Information Technology, Manufacturing
Certification focus areas
Quality Assurance, Human Resources, Information Technology
Bachelor's degree or higher
82%
Master's degree or higher
50%
Doctorate
18%
Certifications per freelancer
3
Most common languages
German, English, French
Speak two or more languages
96%
Daily Rate Distribution
The chart shows how the daily rates of freelancers in this role are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows how many freelancers charge within that range. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Average rates for Business Unit Managers & Seniority distribution
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.
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.
Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have questions? See our quick guide to FRATCH
A Business Unit Manager takes ownership of a defined business area and keeps performance on track. The work usually covers commercial targets, P&L review, team coordination, and decisions that affect growth and margin. In a freelance setup, the focus is often on a clear mandate such as interim leadership, turnaround, or expansion support.
A freelance BU Manager is a strong choice when you need leadership now, not after a long hiring process. It also works well when the assignment is time-bound, such as a restructuring, vacancy bridge, or market launch. If the need is strategic but temporary, a freelancer often fits better than a permanent hire.
Look for commercial judgment, leadership, and strong control of numbers. A good BU Manager should be able to work with budgets, forecasts, pricing, and KPI reviews, then turn that into action across sales, operations, and support functions. Stakeholder handling matters just as much as technical business knowledge.
A Business Unit Manager sits closer to commercial ownership than a pure operations manager. Compared with a general manager, the scope is usually narrower and tied to one unit, product line, or region, but the accountability is still broad. The exact title can vary, so the real test is the mandate and decision rights.
This role fits interim leadership, growth planning, margin improvement, portfolio cleanup, and turnaround work. It is also used for carve-outs, integration projects, and situations where a business unit needs tighter steering before a permanent leader starts. In Germany, it is common in industrial, B2B, and mid-market settings.
A Business Unit Manager can often start remotely for analysis, planning, and reporting. But on-site time is valuable when the role needs to align teams, meet customers, or support an underperforming unit. Many assignments work best with a mix of remote coordination and regular presence at the client site.
Freelancers should show the kind of unit they led, the business context, and the decisions they owned. Strong profiles mention P&L responsibility, team leadership, growth work, and recovery work in clear terms. It also helps to state whether they are strongest in sales-led, operations-led, or product-led environments.
Ask for concrete examples of how the candidate improved a unit, handled conflict, or reset priorities. A strong business unit head explains the problem, the trade-offs, and the result in a practical way. References, case discussions, and a clear mandate test are usually better than generic management talk.
The average hourly rate for Business Unit Managers in Germany is 145 €, which corresponds to a daily rate of about 1,157 € based on an 8-hour working day.
Of the freelancers working as Business Unit Managers in Germany, 82% hold at least a Bachelor's degree, 50% hold at least a Master's degree, and 18% hold a doctorate.
On average, freelancers working as Business Unit Managers in Germany have 29 years of professional experience, with a single engagement typically lasting around 3.4 years.
The most common languages among freelancers working as Business Unit Managers in Germany are German (96%), English (96%), and French (30%).
The most common industries among freelancers working as Business Unit Managers in Germany are Professional Services (70%), Information Technology (52%), and Manufacturing (52%).
The most common business areas among freelancers working as Business Unit Managers in Germany are Operations (74%), Project Management (70%), and Product Development (63%).
FRATCH Business Unit Managers main locations
Our freelancers and interim experts are at home across the DACH region — available on-site in the major business hubs or fully remote. Choose a location to discover matched specialists, local market insights and up-to-date availability.
Berlin Hamburg Munich Cologne Frankfurt Stuttgart Dusseldorf Leipzig Dortmund Essen Bremen Dresden Hanover Nuremberg Request a Free Demo
Get in touch with the FRATCH team and we will get back to you within 4 hours.
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We always have the time for a call or email!
Philipp Thomaschewski
FRATCH CEO
