Hire the best Turnaround Managers in Germany matched in minutes from over 15,000 CVs with the power of AI.
From corporate restructuring and liquidity management to operational transformation in the German industrial sector. Get precisely matched with vetted, available freelance specialists ready to stabilize your business.
About the role
Stabilizing Businesses in High-Stakes Situations
A freelance restructuring expert steps in when companies face severe financial or operational distress. In Germany, this often involves navigating complex regulatory frameworks like StaRUG or German insolvency laws. These professionals quickly analyze the balance sheet, assess liquidity, and establish immediate cash preservation measures. They work closely with management, lenders, and trade unions to align stakeholders on a viable path forward.
Key Deliverables in Crisis Situations
- Rapid liquidity analysis and short-term cash flow forecasting
- Development and execution of restructuring concepts under IDW S6 standards
- Negotiations with German banks, creditors, and works councils
- Operational restructuring, including site closures or workforce adjustments
- Negotiation of social plans and reconciliation of interests
Expertise in German Industrial Sectors
Top-tier crisis leaders bring deep experience in Germany’s core industries, such as automotive supply chains, machinery engineering, and chemical production. They understand the specific cost structures, supply chain dependencies, and collective bargaining agreements (Tarifverträge) that define the German market. This domain knowledge allows them to make informed operational decisions from day one without requiring a ramp-up period.
When to Engage a Freelance Turnaround Expert
Companies hire external restructuring specialists when internal management lacks the capacity or objective perspective needed for painful structural changes. These situations include imminent liquidity shortages, breach of bank covenants, or the need for an independent Chief Restructuring Officer to satisfy lenders. Bringing in an interim professional provides the necessary authority to execute tough decisions swiftly while preserving the core business.
Meet FRATCH Turnaround Managers
Matthias Bullmahn
Interim Manager for Transformation, Change and Restructuring
Last position:
Member at Rotary – Passport Club Werderscher Markt
Christian Hildebrandt
Senior Business Consultant, Crisis and Turnaround Manager Marketing and Technology
Last position:
Senior Business Consultant CTV Sales - Livestreaming at Under NDA
- Strategic consulting for the implementation of a CTV sales concept in the livestreaming area - sports
- Consulting and support in selecting sales partners
- Strategic consulting and screening of ad technologies, their integration, and delivery of an integrated business workflow
- Stakeholder management and management support
- Pricing, cost and benefit analyses
- Sub-project leadership for external and internal stakeholders and teams
Andrew Steinhauer
Interim Manager Supply Chain / Operations / COO – Restructuring, Crisis Management & International Sourcing
Last position:
CSO/COO Interim at Testa Motari GmbH
- Interim leadership responsibility for realigning the entire leadership organization – away from classic target setting and solution specification toward a teal-oriented organization with clear responsibility for each individual employee.
- Stabilization of production processes and reduction of the backlog in all customer projects.
- Building up the necessary material inventory (agreed with end customers by contract) – eliminated backlogs and special runs, achieved 2 weeks of material inventory.
- From the start of the assignment, also took over overall technical responsibility for Research & Development (R&D).
- In addition to the CSO/COO role, took over responsibility for controlling and finance in the last 9 months.
Volker Schreiner
Operations Manager ATT Area
Last position:
Operations Manager ATT Area at Klingelnberg AG
Bridging the vacancy of operations manager ATT area
Process optimization
Reduction of lead times
Reorganization of the ATT area
Increase in OTIF from 73% to 92%
Greater flexibility in employee deployment through internal equipment training
Integration of a new cooperation partner
Implementation of an MDE system
Ralf-Kurt Koberschinski
Interim Executive | C-Level, Country & Sales Turnaround | Passion for People – Motivating Teams for Lasting Success
Last position:
Interim Executive Director Sales and Country Manager Germany at KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG
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
Christian Witte
Managing Director
Last position:
Agile turnaround & team leadership in a scaled IT environment at Full Service Provider Banks
Analysis and shadowing of existing PI, Scrum and Kanban processes
Support for PI planning, refinements, sprint planning, reviews and retrospectives
Agile coaching of squad leads, product owners and teams
Temporary takeover of moderation, control and leadership tasks in critical situations
Creation of clear structures for features, epics, capacity planning and prioritization
Introduction of standardized work and feedback formats in Jira and Conceptboard
Support for leadership in decision-making, goal clarity and role definition
Preparation of a stable foundation for a tribe-wide agile playbook
Increased schedule reliability and more realistic commitments in the PI and sprint context
More transparency about goals, dependencies and actual capacities
Relief for leaders through clear structures and clean role models
Empowered teams with a better understanding of Scrum, Kanban and their practical application
Improved collaboration between squads, product owners and management
Sustainable basis for the further development of the agile organization even under difficult conditions
Markus Gattermann
Interim Project Manager / Head of Engineering & Operations | Mechanical & Special Machinery Engineering | Turnaround & Series
Last position:
Managing Owner at GEC-Solutions
Interim management, project leadership and technical consulting in mechanical and plant engineering for projects in mechanical engineering with a focus on automotive, e-mobility and series production
- Taking over and stabilizing critical projects in special machine construction and the automotive sector (SMEs, OEM, mechanical engineering, automotive)
- Supporting companies facing project delays, scheduling issues and operational challenges
- Leading engineering and project teams and managing complex project structures
- Optimizing processes in development, production and project execution
- Focus on on-time delivery, efficiency, quality and series readiness
Skills:
- Automotive
- Interim Management
- Mechanical Engineering Project Management
- Special Machinery Construction
- Engineering Management
- Operations Management
- Series Ramp-up
- Production Optimization
- Project Stabilization
- Turnaround Management
- Troubleshooting
- Automotive
- E-Mobility
- CAPEX Projects
- Project Management
- Process Optimization
I take on responsibility as:
- Project Manager
- Engineering Manager
- Operations Manager
- Interim Manager
Industries:
- Automotive
- Mechanical Engineering
- E-Mobility
I take on responsibility at short notice in critical mechanical and plant engineering projects and bring schedules, costs and organization back under control.
Complex projects are part of my daily routine. As a senior mechanical engineering expert, I am used to working in the dynamic automotive environment.
Aleksej Rovenskij
Interim Head of Global P2P Procurement Restructuring Project / Interim Head of Procurement Department for 2 Plants
Last position:
Interim Head of Global P2P Procurement Restructuring Project / Interim Head of Procurement Department for 2 Plants at Confidential
- Led the global restructuring and efficiency improvements in operational and strategic procurement
- Restructured personnel (HR headcounts) in cooperation with works council, HR, and legal
- Outsourced partial activities (procurement and finance with invoice control) to shared service center
- Built a shared service organization
- Improved S&OP processes and digitized procurement workflows using SAP Ariba and SAP S/4HANA with e-catalogs
- Implemented SAP IBP
- Led negotiations for direct and indirect goods
- Managed 9 cross-functional workgroups
- Developed and implemented improvement proposals in coordination with corporate management
- Worked according to ISO 13485
- Achieved savings of over €7M
Christoph Lerch
Interim Executive | Transformation & Restructuring
Last position:
Interim Executive | Transformation & Restructuring at Independent
- Supporting companies in restructuring and transformation phases, with a focus on marketing and digital organizations.
- Working on structure, decision-making, and operational execution in complex, politically sensitive settings.
Benedikt Garçon
Interim Insolvency Restructuring Officer
Last position:
Interim Insolvency Restructuring Officer at Fliesen-Zentrum Deutschland GmbH
- Operational business continuation in the preliminary self-administration proceedings alongside the insolvency law general representative
- Negotiation with lessors on restructuring contributions while continuing contracts
- International retailer with multiple locations in Germany and abroad
- Payment and order approvals
- Coordinating communication and maintaining supplier relationships in the context of ongoing self-administration proceedings
- Sector: retail of building and DIY supplies
- Revenue: double-digit millions
- Employees: approx. 500
- Situation: self-administration proceedings
Hans-Dieter Vetter
Interim Manager & Change and Turnaround for Mid-Sized Companies / Stabilization and Improvement of Results
Last position:
Director of Production and Process Optimization with Leadership Support for Sustainable Plant Development at Customer-specific material and cut solutions including professional processing
- Process optimization (adjustment and new implementation of operational processes in the plants)
- Co-led management team workshop to develop and implement corporate strategies for sustainably securing and increasing the company's competitiveness
- Warehouse and logistics conversion (analysis and optimization of existing warehouse and logistics processes, support and ensuring smooth implementation of new processes)
- Designing and supporting change processes, e.g., during transformation and restructuring (establishing production planning and quality assurance)
- Shop floor improvements including identifying improvement potentials, developing measures to increase efficiency and optimize workflows, and supporting and monitoring implemented improvements
- Managing two plants and supporting the stabilization of leadership teams in three plants, including measures to stabilize operations and leadership culture, developing managers and employees, and promoting a performance-oriented corporate culture (e.g., working with KPIs and regular staff briefings and discussions)
Result: Optimized the plants' operational processes, reducing lead times by up to 30% and increasing delivery reliability to at least 95% (up from 78%). Stabilized and optimized operations (including leadership culture) through measures such as adjusting and reimplementing work and logistics processes, promoting performance through KPI use and regular employee communication, which led to a significant reduction in machine and staff downtime by up to 15% and an efficiency increase of at least 20%.
Sebastian Hefczyk
Overall Project Manager; Turnaround Manager & Coach
Last position:
Overall Project Manager; Turnaround Manager & Coach at Statutory Health Insurance Fund
- Taking over the troubled project from the internal project management and successful turnaround of project phase 1 (cutover of approx. 1000 servers (VMs)/standard desktops, specialized desktops)
- Responsible project management for the successful phase 1 transition (planning in the shortest possible time followed by implementation (very successful with low ticket volume))
- Stakeholder management – taking over direct (daily before cutover) communication with the client from the Chief Operation Manager in the format of regular meetings in taskforce mode. Rapid rebuilding of the previously lost trust base and restoration of the client relationship for optimal satisfaction
- Taskforce mode to eliminate all existing issues/showstoppers before cutover
- Scope clarification, setup, and scheduling of phase 2 activities (e.g. silo/admin servers)
- Kick-off of phase 2 / handing the project back to the success line for the internal project management/line to handle the remaining defined topics
- Establishing, preparing, and conducting steering committees with V-1 management to align the guardrails
- Moderation of various regular meetings and operational workshops
- Participation in the lessons learned with the client to address dissatisfaction related to the internal project management (before my start! They are extremely satisfied with my work)
- Tools: Atlassian Suite (Confluence/JIRA), MIRO, Sharepoint; MS Office (PowerPoint, Excel, MS Project)
Dominik Bahr
Independent Advisor for M&A, Transformation and Restructuring
Last position:
Independent Advisor for M&A, Transformation and Restructuring at EquiNexT Consulting
- Advise corporates, start-ups and investors on M&A, PMI, carve-out, value creation and restructuring initiatives (scope depending on mandate)
- Drove M&A readiness for a MedTech start-up by building the business case, developing an integrated financial & target operating model
Rahman Degermenci
SAP PM/EAM | Turnaround Management | Maintenance | Asset Management | 10+ Years BASF Process Industry | Chemicals | Remote
Last position:
Accident Repair, Painting Work and Hail Damage at CarTech Manufaktur
- Integration/implementation of an MS Office environment including structure, governance, and rollout support
- Implementation and configuration of SharePoint
- Development of document management standards
- Development of an authorization and access concept including compliance and data protection requirements
- Training, quick guides, and support for sustainable use
Efstatious Vasilopoulos
COO, CRO, Plant Manager, OPEX, Restructuring, Transformation
Last position:
Plant Manager at GustavoGusto GmbH Group at EV Consulting
- Covered vacancy at the Munich-area site with ~200 employees in multi-shift operations
- Transformed maintenance from reactive to preventive, reducing losses in yield, staffing, and waste
- Coached leadership in OPEX and shopfloor management
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
Turnaround Managers statistics
Aggregated from the professional profiles of matched freelancers.
Experience
26 years
Position duration
3 years
Positions per freelancer
13
Top business areas
Operations, Project Management, Strategy
Top industries
Manufacturing, Professional Services, Automotive
Certification focus areas
Strategy, Human Resources, Project Management
Bachelor's degree or higher
94%
Master's degree or higher
33%
Doctorate
6%
Certifications per freelancer
3
Most common languages
German, English, French
Speak two or more languages
86%
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 Turnaround 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
Questions in mind? Get key insights about FRATCH
A turnaround manager focuses on restoring financial viability and operational efficiency to a distressed business. In Germany, this often requires preparing restructuring opinions according to the IDW S6 standard to secure bank financing. They prioritize cash preservation and stakeholder communication to prevent insolvency.
While traditional advisors focus on analysis and strategy, an interim restructuring consultant takes direct operational responsibility to execute changes. They often step into executive roles like Chief Restructuring Officer to drive tough decisions. Their focus is on immediate survival and execution rather than long-term theoretical growth plans.
Companies should secure a freelance crisis manager at the first signs of structural decline, such as persistent cash flow issues or breach of financial covenants. Waiting too long limits the legal options available under German frameworks like StaRUG. Early intervention increases the chances of a successful out-of-court restructuring.
A qualified interim turnaround director must possess deep knowledge of German insolvency law (InsO) and the corporate stabilization framework known as StaRUG. They must understand the legal obligations of directors in crisis situations to protect the board from personal liability. This expertise ensures all restructuring measures remain legally compliant.
High-stakes restructuring projects require a heavy on-site presence. A crisis management expert must lead negotiations with local works councils, inspect production floors, and build trust with the local team. While analytical work can be done remotely, key stakeholder meetings in Germany are almost always conducted in person.
The best way to evaluate a restructuring specialist is by reviewing their track record of successfully completed corporate turnarounds. Look for proven experience in handling similar company sizes and industry-specific challenges, such as German manufacturing or retail. Reliable references from financing banks or legal advisors are also strong indicators of quality.
Hiring a freelance restructuring leader brings an objective, unbiased perspective free from internal company politics. These projects are highly intensive but temporary, making a permanent hire unnecessary once stability is achieved. Freelancers also bring specialized crisis experience that existing management teams rarely possess.
In Germany, works councils have strong co-determination rights regarding operational changes and layoffs. An experienced turnaround consultant must negotiate reconciliation of interests and social plans constructively. Managing these relationships professionally is critical to avoiding labor strikes and securing a peaceful restructuring process.
The average hourly rate for Turnaround Managers in Germany is 143 €, which corresponds to a daily rate of about 1,142 € based on an 8-hour working day.
Of the freelancers working as Turnaround Managers in Germany, 94% hold at least a Bachelor's degree, 33% hold at least a Master's degree, and 6% hold a doctorate.
On average, freelancers working as Turnaround Managers in Germany have 26 years of professional experience, with a single engagement typically lasting around 3 years.
The most common languages among freelancers working as Turnaround Managers in Germany are German (95%), English (91%), and French (27%).
The most common industries among freelancers working as Turnaround Managers in Germany are Manufacturing (68%), Professional Services (55%), and Automotive (50%).
The most common business areas among freelancers working as Turnaround Managers in Germany are Operations (86%), Project Management (86%), and Strategy (68%).
FRATCH Turnaround 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
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Philipp Thomaschewski
FRATCH CEO
