Find the perfect Managing Director in Hamburg vetted and available with the power of AI from over 15,000 CVs.
Secure experienced leadership for corporate restructuring, sudden vacancy coverage, or local market expansions. We match your company with top-tier interim executives and chief executive officers vetted and ready to lead your business in Hamburg.
About the role
Strategic Leadership in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region
Interim executives step into high-stakes leadership roles to guide companies through periods of transition, growth, or restructuring. In the Hamburg metropolitan region, this frequently involves steering maritime logistics firms, international trading houses, renewable energy pioneers, or rapidly scaling technology enterprises. A freelance managing director takes full operational and legal responsibility, aligning corporate strategy with northern German market realities and complex global supply chains.
Core Responsibilities and Deliverables
- Restructuring underperforming business units to secure financial stability and cash flow.
- Leading post-merger integration and aligning divergent corporate cultures after acquisitions.
- Managing sensitive stakeholder relations, including shareholders, works councils, and local authorities.
- Overseeing complete financial performance, corporate governance, and strict compliance standards.
- Driving urgent digital transformation projects and modernizing legacy business models.
Key Competencies and Professional Background
Strong candidates combine deep financial acumen with decisive, hands-on leadership. They must possess a thorough understanding of German corporate law, including GmbH regulations, and have a proven track record in crisis management. In the local business landscape, familiarity with import-export frameworks, industrial manufacturing, or maritime operations is highly valued. Excellent negotiation skills and the ability to work productively with codetermined works councils are critical for success.
When Companies Leverage Interim Executives
Organizations hire external business leaders when facing sudden executive departures, planned successions, or urgent turnaround situations. An interim general manager or chief executive officer provides immediate stability without the long-term commitment of a permanent executive search. This approach allows the advisory board or parent company to stabilize daily operations and execute critical strategic shifts while searching for a permanent successor.
Meet FRATCH Managing Directors
Serkant Türemiş
Interim Manager Finance & Controlling
Last position:
Interim Manager, License Controlling at Tonies GmbH
- Prepared and reviewed quarterly royalty settlements for licensors across music, publishing and media brands, including minimum guarantees, recoupment, returns reconciliation and process optimisation.
- Reconstructed historical licensing data for an external audit by a major US studio, covering music publishing and recorded music across ROW and AUS, and coordinated the resulting statements with the licensor.
- Supported the reconciliation of music royalties with the German collecting society and its international hub for 2018 to 2024.
- Assessed licensing data for accruals and provisions, and structured metadata for contract negotiations.
- Designed target processes and SOPs for a royalty automation tool and accompanied testing during rollout.
Arne Zühlke
Managing Director and Shareholder
Last position:
Managing Director and Shareholder at ARNESS GmbH & Co. KG
- Founded the company as a full-service consulting firm focused on purchasing and supply chain
- Commercial management of the company
- Digitalization and automation of work steps to reduce process costs
- Project management for optimization projects
- Connecting German companies with manufacturers abroad to achieve shorter delivery times and lower procurement costs at the same time
- Organizing B2B meetings between international companies
- Research on procurement markets (BestCostCountry) for the production of complex welded assemblies
- Taking on interim management assignments
Yashar Sadeghi
Managing Director/Consultant
Last position:
Managing Director/Consultant at Efficient Consulting
- Led strategic IT and process consulting projects, streamlined business processes, and aligned IT systems with business goals, resulting in a 20% improvement in organizational efficiency.
- Led international transformation projects using agile and traditional methods, managing a cross-functional team of more than 15 professionals and delivering solutions on time and within budget.
- Developed cloud-based ERP/CRM systems (Salesforce, Infor, Microsoft) for clients, ensuring seamless integration and reducing system downtime by 30%.
- Led large-scale change management initiatives, actively involving stakeholders at all levels and driving the successful rollout of innovative systems in global organizations.
- Led requirements analysis and the tender process for clients, identified cost-saving opportunities, and improved operational workflows.
Martin Zielinski
Managing Director
Last position:
Managing Director at Noorder Partners GmbH
- Leading strategic initiatives focused on delivering exceptional results from initial project phases, ensuring optimal execution and stakeholder satisfaction across deeptech and interim decision management portfolios.
- Driving business development and client relationships across digital transformation and innovation projects, expanding market presence and revenue streams.
- Establishing operational frameworks and quality standards to maintain excellence in service delivery and organizational performance.
- Managing company resources, budgets, and strategic partnerships to achieve sustainable growth and long-term viability.
Neil Scholten
Program Director & Transformation Architect
Last position:
Program Director & Transformation Architect at Xpertpulse GmbH
- Strategic business development transition: product before customer in <4 months instead of 10
- Strategic business development transition: development cost reduction vs. plan: 40% (-€250K)
- Executive mentor & coach for CEO & CPO: CEO too busy to improve – portfolio, organizational structure, and strategy
- Executive mentor & coach for CEO & CPO: PO→CPO transition for taking full product responsibility for Lohnpulse
- Interim CIO: general contractor vendor scouting / onboarding / handover to CPO
- Interim CIO: transition MVP→operational product by CPO
Udo Neubauer
Managing Director
Last position:
Project Manager / Rollout Coordinator at BWI
Rollout of printers and PCs
- Effective management of external service providers to ensure smooth operations.
- Planning and implementation of a global rollout for 150,000 clients.
- Carrying out a comprehensive risk analysis, including overall risk, site-specific risks, and security risks.
- Successful consolidation of two existing ServiceNow systems to optimize service management.
- Close coordination with program management to achieve the project goals.
Dennis Trawinski
Head of Finance / Commercial Managing Director
Last position:
Head of Finance / Commercial Managing Director at Lotsenbüro für temporäre Bauten und mobile Lösungen GmbH
- Responsible for Finance, Insurance, and Legal, including 3 department heads
- Leading and managing day-to-day accounting
- Preparing and reporting monthly financial statements according to HGB and IFRS
- Corporate controlling including budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis
- Point of contact for external authorities, banks, tax advisors, and auditors
- Implementing group-wide processes at the corporate level
- Preparing annual financial statements according to HGB
- Supporting the annual audit
- Supporting special audits and due diligence projects at the group level
- Insourcing of accounting, including ERP implementation and department development
Guido Bäcker
Independent Management Consultant and Interim Manager
Last position:
Independent Management Consultant and Interim Manager at BCTC Unternehmensberatung Guido Bäcker
Consulting, training, and coaching in the financial sector on strategy, organization, and IT topics
MorgenFund: Advising the operator of a fund platform on software selection for a sub-ledger "Cash Accounts" based on Virtual IBANs (VIBAN)
Structuring requirements, market screening, creating RfIs, communicating with vendors, and conducting the selection process
UniCredit/HypoVereinsbank: Workstream lead "Booking and Customer Reporting" in the payment transformation project "PULS"
Business analysis, creating business requirements and aligning solution items as part of the functional specification with the bank's IT service providers
Business analysis of SEPA CT and SWIFT MX (.camt, .pain, and .pacs formats), change management, team lead for a virtual team of fifteen line experts, and stakeholder management
equensWorldline Germany: Program management for three projects of the SWIFT service bureau (CBPR+, ESMIG, and Euro1Step1 migration) as part of the SWIFT MX migration
Managing individual project managers regarding overarching goals and requirements; reporting to internal and external committees and stakeholders; coordinating with dependent projects and programs
Project management/PMO: interim project management, stand-in for project managers, resource planning, budget and cost management, general PMO tasks
Sören Hüttemann
Partner | Strategy & Venture Development
Last position:
Partner | Strategy & Venture Development at EVEnME GmbH
- Contribute to the strategic development and scaling of entrepreneurial ventures with a focus on strategy, positioning and long-term value creation.
- Co-develop and scale beirat360.de, shaping its strategic direction, value proposition and market positioning.
- Build sustainable venture structures, strengthen governance models and support organisational maturity rather than operational delivery.
- Combine entrepreneurial responsibility with executive-level perspective in contexts where strategy, leadership and governance intersect.
Natalia Naumann
Managing Director & Digital Consultant
Last position:
BIG direkt gesund Krankenkasse
- Development of a central platform for the digital implementation of health promotion measures in daycare centers and schools
- Responsible for project management, requirements management, and technical coordination
Marcus Brandt
Managing Director
Last position:
Managing Director at Petermann Brandt GmbH
- Development and implementation of custom IT solutions for key customers.
- More than 15 years of experience in IT and project management, disciplinary leadership of up to 80 employees.
Christoph Lefkes
Program Manager - SAP S/4 HANA
Last position:
Program Manager - SAP S/4 HANA at BAHAG AG
- Took over the steering of the SAP S4 transformation program after 15 months of project duration
- Assessed the quality of soft facts, especially the quality of collaboration and communication
- Evaluation, program planning, resource control, and realignment of the timeline
- Introduction of the software delivery model and quality gates
- Initial scope definition in the form of business capabilities
- Introduction of enterprise architecture
- Reporting to the SteerCo for the S4 transformation program / C-level
- Risk management and escalation when project risks were identified
- Coordination of the various projects within the program
Klaus-Dieter Pfenning
Freelance Consultant / Manager, Interim Manager
Last position:
Freelance Consultant / Manager, Interim Manager at Freelance
Manfred Böttcher
Interim Manager as CIO and Managing Director
Last position:
Interim Managing Director
- Business result optimization and expansion of sales activities
- Responsible for personnel organization
- Introduction of a document management system (DMS)
- Implementation and optimization of ERP, CMS and CRM landscape
- Introduction of digital signatures
- Increase in sales, cost reduction and EBIT improvement
Petra Carlsen
Consultant, facilitator and coach for organizational and personnel development
Last position:
Consultant for Agile Leadership and Lean Management at flying anchor GmbH
- Consulting on Agile Leadership and Lean Management
- Facilitation of workshops
- Training and coaching in Agile Leadership, Lean Management and team development
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
Managing Directors statistics
Typical experience
24 years
Average project duration
3.6 years
Certifications per freelancer
3
Top business areas
Project Management, Information Technology, Strategy
Top industries
Professional Services, Information Technology, Manufacturing
Most common languages
German, English, French
Bachelor's degree or higher
84%
Master's degree or higher
41%
Doctorate
16%
Salary / 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 Managing Directors & 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
Want to know more? Check out our simple guide about FRATCH
An interim Managing Director is hired for a specific duration to solve a particular business challenge, such as a turnaround or merger. Unlike permanent executives, they focus entirely on execution and objective change without getting involved in corporate politics.
A local interim general manager in the Hamburg area can typically onboard within a few business days. Their extensive experience allows them to assess the company's situation quickly and assume full operational control almost immediately.
Yes, a freelance interim executive can assume full statutory liability as a registered Managing Director under German law, specifically within a GmbH structure. This requires appropriate D&O insurance coverage to protect both the individual and the company.
Many freelance CEOs and operational leaders in the region specialize in maritime logistics, international trade, aviation, and renewable energy. They bring deep network connections and industry-specific regulatory knowledge relevant to the northern German economic hub.
A top-tier interim leader is evaluated by their track record of successful turnarounds, corporate reorganizations, or scale-ups. Strong references from previous advisory boards and a clear focus on measurable deliverables are key indicators of quality.
While some international startups or maritime firms operate in English, a Managing Director in Germany usually needs fluent German. This is crucial for negotiating with local works councils, managing German-speaking staff, and handling legal authorities.
Most engagements for an interim CEO or business head last between several months and a year. The assignment usually concludes once the transition phase is complete or a permanent successor has been successfully onboarded.
Yes, hiring a freelance chief restructuring officer is a common way to steer a company through financial or operational distress. They bring objective analytical skills and can make difficult decisions to restore profitability quickly.
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Philipp Thomaschewski
FRATCH CEO
