Interim Managers in Germany

Stabilization of a critical logistics outsourcing setup in the context of an SAP S/4HANA transformation. The focus was on restoring a reliable operational fact base between the client, logistics service provider, international supplier plants and the SAP/IT organization.

• Coordination between the client, global logistics service provider, international supplier plants, SAP/IT teams, Quality Management and the operational shop floor.
• Management, monitoring and operational correction of Inbound Deliveries; integration of Outbound Delivery processes.
• Analysis of interface, posting, batch and master data errors between SAP S/4HANA, logistics service provider, supplier plants and internal business functions.
• Significant reduction of critical inventory differences between the client and logistics service provider.
• Improved operational management capability in the logistics environment and creation of a common fact base.
• Reduction of recurring error patterns in the areas of Inbound Deliveries, inventory, interfaces, batch/posting logic and service provider processes.

• Agile Transformation – introducing agile principles and transforming traditional IT departments into Scrum and Kanban teams

• IT Operating Model – redesigning the IT organization and introducing modern delivery structures and roles

• Flight Levels – implementing Flight Levels to align strategy, coordination and operational execution

• Leadership & Coaching – recruiting Agile Coaches and coaching Scrum Masters and IT leaders

• ERP Operations – acting as Interim Product Owner for the existing ERP landscape and ensuring business continuity

• ERP Transformation – supporting the migration from Microsoft Dynamics NAV to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as a Project Manager

• Operational Core (ERP) – establishing dedicated teams for ERP Support, Feature Development, and ERP Migration

• Modern Workplace – initiating the transition towards a Microsoft 365-based cloud workplace environment

• ConnectHub – establishing a dedicated team to drive integration and connectivity initiatives

• Warehouse Operations – building a cross-functional team to support logistics and warehouse-related capabilities

• Maintenance & Operations (M&O) – introducing a dedicated team focused on stable operations and continuous improvement

• AI Initiatives – identifying and promoting practical Artificial Intelligence use cases across the IT department

• As Interim Chief Digital Officer (CDO) for a leading industrial supplier with a strong e-commerce focus (often described as 'the Amazon for industrial goods') responsible for leading the digital and organizational transformation while reporting directly to executive leadership.

• Introduced agile principles and ways of working across the organization and transformed the traditionally structured IT department into cross-functional Scrum and Kanban teams focused on transparency, collaboration, and customer value delivery.

• Redesigned the entire IT organization by establishing a modern operating model, introducing new roles such as Product Owner, Scrum Master and Solution Architect and strengthening the organization through strategic hiring and targeted capability development.

• Recruited and onboarded Agile Coaches to accelerate the transformation and personally managed and coached Scrum Masters as well as IT department leaders to foster servant leadership, self-management and a culture of continuous improvement.

• Implemented Flight Levels practices based on Klaus Leopold to align strategic objectives, cross-functional coordination and operational execution across the organization.

• Introduced a ticketing system to increase transparency and enable data-driven decision-making, flow-based work management, and greater accountability at all levels.

• Established and supported multiple cross-functional teams, including the Operational Core (ERP) domain with dedicated streams for Support, Feature Development and ERP Migration, as well as teams responsible for Warehouse Operations, Maintenance & Operations (M&O), Modern Workspace and ConnectHub.

• Acted as Interim Product Owner for the operation and enhancement of the existing ERP landscape while supporting the migration from Microsoft Dynamics NAV to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as a Project Manager.

• Collaborated with the selected implementation partner to design and establish the project organization and target operating model for the ERP transformation, introducing agile delivery structures and ways of working.

• Facilitated the alignment between business, IT and the external vendor and played a key role in negotiating the contractual framework and delivery model to ensure a sustainable foundation for the transformation program.

• Initiated the strategic modernization of the workplace environment through the adoption of Microsoft 365 cloud capabilities, establishing the foundation for enhanced collaboration, scalability and future digital services.

• Launched AI initiatives to identify practical business use cases and promote the responsible adoption of Artificial Intelligence across the IT department.

• Encouraged self-management and empowered teams to take ownership of decisions, delivery and continuous improvement.

Project language: German

Due to the steady growth of the client organization and the resulting increase in projects across various areas, including IT/digitalization, sales, organizational development and controlling, the demands on projects are increasing. Projects are often started but not completed within the planned timeframe, resources are not clearly assigned, and the business value is not clearly demonstrated. The objective of the assignment as Interim Head of PMO is to further develop and establish an existing project organization from the CDO area at executive management level. It is important that the governance is pragmatic, easy to understand and simple to apply in daily project work. The tasks and roles must be defined and established within the organization. In addition, this strategic PMO is to be supported by an IT solution, which must be selected and introduced. Furthermore, all ongoing projects are to be gradually integrated into the PMO governance and project management is to be centralized.

CXO AI OS is an agent system made up of six building blocks. Instead of using AI as a chat window, it creates a system that understands a company’s context, makes decisions according to its rules, and acts on its behalf.

• For mid-sized companies: a guided sprint followed by operation for a team, department, or prioritized cluster, based on an AI assessment
• For self-employed professionals: a program in which participants build their own agent system
• Sequence in the company: assessment, prioritization, sprint, operation
• Implementation in Claude Cowork or ChatGPT Work, without coding
• Architecture: Chief of Staff, Goals, Advisors, Agents, Context, Catalog

• SAP S/4HANA upgrade from Release 2021 to 2025 and FI/CO transformation as part of a new TOM. Four streams and two SAP service providers; management during ongoing operations.

• Overall responsibility for time, quality and budget as well as cross-stream coordination of the four streams

• Coordination of process streams, business functions and SAP service providers

• Establishment and management of governance, planning, risks, dependencies, resources and escalations

• Provider management, regular management reporting, and preparation and execution of project and Steering Committee meetings

• Responsibility as Test Manager for test strategy, test planning, UAT, defect management and acceptance

• Result: Successful preparation for Go-live on 28.09.2026 during ongoing operations; quality and the planned absence of production interruptions ensured. Project governance established and positive feedback from management and stakeholders.

• Industry: Insurance, Trade, IT
• Customers & Projects: Consulting and selling insurance and similar services
• Main tasks: Insurance consulting (health insurance, retirement planning, wealth building); commercial services, inside and field sales; sales data analysis and forecasting; customer consulting and support; opening a new sales headquarters for private and business customers; business development & innovation management; business use case development; process optimization; stakeholder management; team leadership and training; preparation and delivery of trainings;
• Technologies used: Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Draw.IO, Camunda 8, Java (8, 17,21,25), Git, Spring Boot, Spring Batch, Spring Data REST, Spring Web, Spring Security, J-Unit, Playwright, Lombock, Vaadin, H2, PostgreSQL (16, 17 18), pgAdmin, Docker, LLMs, JasperSoft Studio, JasperReports

Transformation assignment: IT Operating Model and Governance

• Management of the operationalization of a new IT operating model for a service- and customer-oriented organization in the managed services and Microsoft 365 environment.
• Translation of the target organizational model into concrete roles, responsibilities, organizational elements, decision-making paths and collaboration principles.
• Design and operationalization of a layered model with autonomous delivery teams, supporting units and clearly defined governance functions.
• Design of governance for Service Delivery Management, People Leads, Global Service Owners (GSO), operational teams, clusters and management committees.
• Structuring of the transformation rollout into ramp-up, implementation, hardening and operations, as well as development of kick-off, communication and feedback formats.
• Further development of PMO and office structures as well as portfolio and workforce management to create transparency around resources, risks, dependencies and decision requirements.
• Facilitation of cross-functional workshops and decision-making meetings, and translation of different stakeholder interests into actionable principles, rules and measures.

Interim assignment: IT Service and Operations Management

• Assumption of operational responsibility for Citrix and AD/Access, including incident, escalation, transition and quality management in day-to-day operations.
• Clarification of operational interfaces and clear separation of responsibilities between internal units, Service Delivery Management and external service providers.
• Conduct of structured GAP analyses of existing service descriptions, preparation of make-or-buy decisions and clarification of roles with KPI integration.
• Management of conflicting objectives, dependencies and escalations in complex customer, operations and transformation situations.

Selected results

• The transformation target model was translated into directly applicable roles, governance rules, organizational elements and rollout formats.
• Decision-making paths, responsibilities and interfaces between operational delivery, supporting functions and management were described transparently and bindingly.
• The foundations for self-organized teams, standardized service descriptions and reliable portfolio, resource and management transparency were established.

Methods: Operating Model Design, Governance Design, RACI, GAP Analysis, Stakeholder Analysis, Workshop Facilitation, Change Communication, Risk and Escalation Management, KPI and Service Management

Stabilization of an Azure/.NET landscape in live operation.

• Architecture, DevOps, and operational readiness; technical decisions under time pressure
• Azure DevOps, monitoring, ETL/ELT, cloud security, FinOps, and data-mesh-related topics

Technologies: Azure DevOps, .NET, CI/CD, monitoring, FinOps

• Strategic and operational leadership of the technical service organization
• Improvement of all processes and workflows
• Development and introduction of a service management IT tool incl. AI database, customer app, and self-service portal

• AI product development: Design of an AI-supported GRC platform to automate compliance processes.
• AI expertise: Strategic deepening in Agentic AI and GenAI as a core asset for modern IT governance
• IT interim management and strategic consulting

• Industry: mechanical engineering, vehicle manufacturing
• Regulations: Data Act
• Project focus: data governance, legally compliant use of machine data, data platforms
• Assigned by: CFO, platform product owner

Successes/Results (early phase):

• Compliance support for the setup of an internal standardized data usage platform based on Databricks.
• Created the basis for the legally compliant and effective use of machine data, including:
• Technical: gap analysis and closing of gaps in the segmentation and maintenance of collected machine data.
• Technical: consideration of data flows from the platform to users and third parties.
• Organizational: drafting and finalizing the required data usage agreements.

Context: Business transformation - Establishment of a central Corporate Management & Transformation unit

• ▪ Established and provided interim leadership for the newly created Corporate Management & Transformation department
• ▪ Defined the target operating model as well as the tasks, responsibilities and governance structures of the new unit
• ▪ Established company-wide project portfolio management for transparent prioritization and management of strategic projects and initiatives
• ▪ Developed governance, decision-making and escalation processes for transformation and change initiatives
• ▪ Designed company-wide process management with an end-to-end process map, defined process ownership and consistent process governance
• ▪ Further developed standards and methods for project management, change management and organizational development
• ▪ Managed and supported strategic transformation, digitalization and organizational projects across the organization
• ▪ Established systematic benefits realization to measure and track the benefits of change initiatives
• ▪ Advised the management team on the prioritization, governance and organizational integration of company-wide change initiatives---

I support the development of an industrial automation and communication product in which hardware, firmware, embedded software, system architecture, and testing work closely together. As a coach and technical sparring partner, I support product and project owners as well as development teams in turning product goals into a clear technical delivery structure.

• Technical Vision & Strategy: translated product goals into prioritized requirements, milestones, decisions, and executable work packages for HW-/SW teams.
• HW-/SW Collaboration: structured the interfaces between hardware, firmware, Embedded Linux/RTOS, fieldbus/connectivity, system test, and product management; made risks and dependencies transparent.
• Coaching & Leadership Sparring: clarified roles, responsibilities, prioritization, and decision paths with technical leads and teams and strengthened cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Methods & environment: Polarion, GitHub, requirements engineering, configuration management, PROFINET, embedded systems, agile delivery, coaching, and facilitation.