Change Managers in Germany

Planning, execution & moderation of crisis communication and reputation management

AQIM is a non-profit organization based in Austria. An association of interim managers from Germany and Austria. Founded in December 2024. Multi-part training with workshops and consulting for preventive crisis communication, in cooperation with the founding members and those responsible for communication. To assess crisis potential for the market entry strategy and ahead of a digital campaign.

The project in a nutshell:

Consulting and training for the purpose of:

• Analysis of crisis potential as a new market entrant and its internet-based communication activities
• Planning and developing crisis communication with targeted measures
• Developing a crisis plan to minimize reputation risks in an emergency
• Conducting training and information sessions

Success:

• What started as a one-time consulting event for preparing an information campaign became a multi-part workshop on preventive crisis communication. This not only gave the organization expertise and confidence in the event of acute challenges, but also gave the participating interim managers new skills for their day-to-day work on assignments
• The workshop enabled those responsible to launch the information campaign that was being prepared at the time and planned for six months, as scheduled at the end of January 2026 on social media
• Careful scheduling and defining how to handle critical voices in terms of terminology and tone, as well as compliance rules, ensured a smooth start and run of a 3-month information campaign

• Development and operational implementation of effective pre-sales activities for new customer acquisition
• Operational development and implementation of best-practice conversation strategies
• Process development and process optimization
• KPI measurement, regular communication
• Coaching of the sales employees and managers involved
• On-the-job telephone training with "demonstrating" in customer conversations
• On-the-job sales coaching for sales with "demonstrating" in customer conversations
• Change management of pre-sales activities

• Industries: Energy, Telecommunications, Manufacturing
• Transformation & Change: Supported complex IT and digital transformation programs as Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Change Manager and RTE Consultant at Siemens Energy (global SAFe rollout), E.ON (sales technology platform), Schneider Electric (S/4HANA transformation DACH) and Vodafone (Operational Excellence)
• Agile Roles: Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Product Owner, Business Analyst, RTE Consultant in cross-functional and scaled teams (SAFe, Scrum, Spotify Model)
• Procurement Excellence: Strategic purchasing consulting with a focus on cost optimization, supplier management, digitalization and organizational development, including building supplier scorecard models, AI-supported procurement approaches and process automation in purchasing
• Managed functional leadership of interdisciplinary project teams of up to 12 people in national and international settings
• Successful launch of several global ARTs at Siemens Energy with improved coordination across sites
• Increased change acceptance and established communication structures in the S/4HANA program at Schneider Electric
• Introduced agile methods, OKR frameworks and KPI dashboards at E.ON, increasing velocity and transparency
• Reduced purchasing costs through strategic sourcing and supplier optimization
• Implemented process innovations in close cooperation with IT and business teams

Project, Strategic Consulting – building the Data Strategy and Data Governance Policy for the German branch, client (private bank Julius Bär, headquarters Zurich), March 2026 – present

• Design and negotiation of the data strategy with key stakeholders, including obtaining board sign-off (strategic consulting) – in this context, regulatory advice on data regulations in the EU and specifically for Germany. The data strategy includes: Data Lifecycle Management: data capture, data storage, data usage, data retention policy, data quality incident management
• Definition of milestones and technical feasibility for implementing TOM for the data strategy, data quality checks, metrics, and a metadata inventory to ensure the bank’s compliance with DORA, BCBS239, and MaRisk requirements.

Core project data change, client: (ING Bank, Frankfurt am Main), March – December 2025

• Concept development and solution design for new end-to-end processes including technical interfaces
• Definition of synchronization logic and data flows between legacy and target systems (decommissioning of legacy systems)
• Analysis and validation of data models
• Stakeholder communication with product owners, feature engineers, UX designers, and operational teams for decision-making
• Analytics and impact assessments, e.g. to assess downstream effects and regulatory requirements
• Documentation and comments on technical and business requirements to support implementation in agile squads

Project digitalization of a user group, client: (ING Bank, Frankfurt am Main), as Interim Product Owner, Jan 2025 – present

• Co-shaping key decisions on data architecture and process logic in the context of historized data and user login functionality
• Development of business solution concepts for migration to the target system, including system integration and data flows
• Support with analytics and impact analyses, especially regarding the ability to provide information to law enforcement authorities
• Active coordination with stakeholders from different squads to support decision-making and ensure regulatory requirements are met
• Creation of test scenarios for operational teams and backend systems in the area of API management using Postman and Bruno.

• Strategic consulting for the Head of Brand on brand strategy and change processes
• Analysis of existing processes, resources, and interfaces within the team as well as with internal and external stakeholders
• Development and implementation of recommendations for action to improve processes and increase efficiency
• Project management and change management for the successful implementation of measures
• Management and selection of external service providers to ensure smooth execution
• Optimization of internal processes and interfaces through in-depth analysis and recommendations for action
• Effective acceleration of decision-making and management processes in brand management
• Successful management of external service providers and agencies for more efficient workflows and higher quality

• Internationalization of brand processes and communication for Alpecin, Bioniq, Linola, Plantur, Vagisan
• Innovation project for market entry into a completely new segment
• Development of brand content: UGC, visual brand story for hair care
• Implementation of AI tools, consumer insight systems, and a customer centricity mindset

Overall responsibility and management (field sales, inside sales and marketing)

• Turnaround management and continuous organizational development
• Growth of market share and its sustainable profitability
• Monitoring key indicators: revenue, expenses, P&L responsibility
• Efficient management of the company's assets/resources and their adjustment to changing requirements

• Clarity in change and leadership: boutique consulting for change & crisis management as well as leadership coaching.

• Project manager for transition and migration of IPC Trader Telephony to 3CX-based dispatcher and Cloud9-based trader telephony
• Planned and managed company-wide replacement of IPC Trader Telephony with 3CX and Cloud9 solutions
• Continuous improvement of implementation processes and development and execution of optimization measures
• Planned, coordinated and tracked delivery of IT equipment and service provision at all sites
• Led a team of IT site managers to ensure IT services were delivered on time, within budget and with required quality
• Defined project scope in coordination with all business resources
• Planned and executed software and hardware rollouts, including user support during implementation
• Communicated with key customers and service organizations and collaborated with traders, telephony architects, app owners, testers and technical IPC teams
• Conducted stakeholder analysis for creation and maintenance of change management processes
• Managed full change process: prepared change requests, defended them in change board, communicated at company and user level, and supported change implementation

AI Strategy & Enablement for SMEs Management consulting – SMEs (e.g. marketing boutique, IT & office services)

Concept and delivery of structured AI introduction and strategy workshops for small and medium-sized businesses. Result: Practical AI status assessment, prioritized use case list, and management decision template as the basis for the next steps in the company’s AI development.

Activities

• Needs analysis and individual preparation of the consulting formats
• Facilitation of a structured AI status assessment including vision, mission, and target picture
• Identification and prioritization of relevant AI use cases and action fields
• Creation of management decision templates and roadmaps
• Raising awareness for opportunities, risks, and success factors of AI introduction
• Support for first customers with AI-supported automation scenarios
• Supporting people and teams through the change process of AI introduction (CM)

Methods / Tools / Technologies

Methods:

• AI status assessment & use case analysis
• Workshop moderation / facilitation
• Requirement Management
• Change Management (PROSCI)

Tools:

• Generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude)
• Automation/AI coding tools (e.g. n8n, Claude Code, Visual Studio, Antigravity)

Technologies:

• Prompt engineering
• AI workflow automation

• Developed an IT governance and oversight framework aligned with DORA requirements
• Coordinated and trained external service providers
• Optimized financial processes and performance

• Led a highly complex and extensive Change the Bank project focusing on third-party risk management

• Guided and supervised up to 15 qualified consultants

• Defined and regularly reviewed the status of required measures to address audit findings in third-party management

• Ensured and verified banking regulatory compliance (BAIT, MaRisk, DORA, BSI Standards, ISO 27001, NIST Cybersecurity Framework) of processes and artifacts

• Coordinated validation of project artifacts with internal audit

• Supported mitigation of identified deviations

• Prepared documentation for deregistration of the corresponding finding with BaFin

• Coordinated with stakeholders in the group for approval of deregistrations

• Prepared, accompanied, and regularly independently reported project status to the board and C-level executives

• Introduced agile (SCRUM) project management

• Supported a six-month RfP and POC process for a SaaS solution for third-party management

• Assisted in implementing the SaaS solution and consolidating data from various source systems into the new SaaS

• Process optimization, process design
• Business partnering, target vision
• Teambuilding
• Workflow design
• Budget, MEC
• SAP S4/Hana, Board