Program/Project Management Consultant, Interimsmanagement

10/2012 – 3/2014

Customer responsible Program Manager for DACH region

Main tasks:

Operational customer, partner and subcontractor management (multiple management level), primary point of contact for and company representative in any management discussion/meeting

Lead all service delivery activities of cross-functional, multi-cultural and geographically dispersed (onshore/offshore) customer specific project teams (internal & external resources) incl. staff planning (allocation/recruiting), skill definition and team development (training, coaching/mentoring)

Actively driving the strategic customer dialogue on long-, medium- and short-term topics to establish a trusted business partnership with customers, partners and/or subcontractors

Operationally lead first introduction of new integrated Order management and Billing software solution into new target market (Automotive)

Continuous monitoring and reporting (incl. C-level reporting) all projects/project activities focusing on time, cost and quality KPIs (considering the actively defined customer strategy).

Proactively identify and validate upsell opportunities in close cooperation with the customer / Product Management/ Product Development / Sales and create the corresponding offers (price definition based on estimated cost, risk and margin guidelines) and SOWs

Additional tasks:

Define and communicate internally overall customer strategies considering the specific external requirements and the internal product/resource development planning

Support definition and implementation of internal strategy on business unit development

Active contribution to best practice knowledge sharing and global asset development (for reuse)

Communication peers:

External: Customer, Partner, Subcontractor

Internal: Company/BU management (C-level, D-level), Sales, Product development, Product management, Finance/Controlling, Procurement, Partner Management, Legal, Human resources, Technical support.

Work language:

English (prime), German

Projektmanagement (IT), Partner Relationship Management, Programm-Management, After sales management, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Vorverkauf

4/2011 – 3/2012

Lead and manage operations and support team for business customer E-Postbrief solution

Main tasks:

Lead and manage functional and disciplinary the Operations and Support Team (external & internal resources) incl. team recruiting, team change (external to internal) and resource development.

Definition and implementation of internal strategy, positioning/establishing department as line function within business unit and being delegate of authority for head of department.

Internal interface to customer service (1st line), development, test, product management, operational and strategic customer connection department and Sales Support

Introduction and establishing of ITIL based Support processes

Optimization of operational activities regarding operation, linking and support for business customers

Operational subcontractor management for selected VPN technologies and data center infrastructure/operations

ITIL, Service Management, Programm-Management

11/2010 – 3/2011

Definition and planning of department strategy (general setup, processes, optimization initiatives) incl.
monitoring and reporting

Main tasks:

Definition and implementation of department specific reporting and KPIs

Drive definition and support implementation of department setup, processes and recruiting

Management of resource agencies and overall budget control (resources, infrastructure, product specific cost)

Support head of department on all operational topics (resourcing, definition of work packages, implementation planning, monitoring)

Being delegate of authority for team lead as well as for head of department

Communication peers:

External: VPN technology Software/Hardware suppliers, Data center infrastructure/operations
Supplier, Resourcing agencies

Internal: Customer service (1st line), Product development, Test, Product management, Operational and strategic customer connection department, Sales Support

Work language:

German

Programm-Management

12/2005 – 7/2009

Customer Management responsibility for Implementation of OSS/BSS Solutions in DACH/EMEA with disciplinary/functional people management responsibility

Main tasks:

Definition, engineering and implementation of customer specific OSS/BSS software solutions, mainly for Carrier VoIP and Data networks

Consolidation of customer requirements to define a solution concept considering the existing IT-Landscape and operational processes (incl. business models)

Cost estimation of targeted solution (Hardware/ Software, Installation and Commissioning, Customization) incl. selection of 3rd Party software vendor and definition of scope for subcontract.

Price definition based on cost, risk and margin guidelines

Project management (with special focus on delivery in time, cost and quality) of one particular and program management (focusing on planning, monitoring and Hot issue/Engagement management) of various parallel running projects

Partner and subcontractor management to ensure delivery based on contractual agreements

Execution/Monitoring of hand-over process (incl. Acceptance testing)

Additional tasks:

Definition of standardized solutions and implementation processes as well as strategic definition of Service portfolio (incl. vendor selection) and creation of contractual binding Scope of Work documents.

Support Sales and Pre-sales organization to ensure accurate positioning of specific solutions and services by attending/running customer presentations as well as supporting Purchasing and Bid management on delivery content and pricing for subcontracts/bids

Maintenance of customer relationship and push sales by identification and communication of Service
Up-sell opportunities (consultancy, customization, managed services) or presentation of new team related service/delivery capabilities to existing customer base

Communication peers:

External: Customer, Software/Hardware suppliers, Service delivery partner

Internal: Account/Sales, Pre-Sales, Bid-Management, Purchasing, Supply management, Project Office, Tech. Support, Network Integration, Development, Product/Service management, Legal and customer specific operational leader

Work language:

English (prime), German

Programm-Management

11/2000 – 11/2005

Product/Customer responsible 3rd level Support Manager (with disciplinary/functional people management responsibility) for DACH/EMEA region in direct customer contact

Main tasks:

Ensure all reported problems for customers are resolved in accordance with contracted SLAs and existing support processes

Creation and communication of customer specific service reporting (external/internal)

Escalation point of contact for customer/internal management in Emergency situations (Customer Advocacy/Engagement Manager) and management of internal resources to resolve existing outage situations (active case management)

Presentation of final/work around solutions (incl. risk, exceptions) in front of customer management

Ensure accurate problem reproduction and analysis (RCA) incl. customer communication of results

Creation and maintenance of customer specific emergency documentation

Regular (monthly/quarterly) and on demand (emergency/outage) customer visits as well as support CSAT processes and activities

Additional tasks:

Planning of software updates/upgrades with customer

Identification of customer specific software feature requests and communication into Product management/Pre-Sales/Sales as well as identification of Service opportunities (Up-Sell opportunities) and communication into Sales team

Support setup and management of PAN-European team of Customer Support Managers (TAMs)

Creation and maintenance of 3rd level tech. support cost model for EMEA.

Initiate creation and optimization of ‚Installed base database for EMEA, incl. Equipment, SLA targets and KPIs, support budget, software level, customer specific agreements

Analyzing of existing support processes for improvement and internal communication

Communication peers:

External: Customer, Servicepartner

Internal: Account/Sales, Pre-Sales, Bid-Management, Network Integration, Development, Product/Service management and customer specific operational leader

Work language:

English (prime), German

ITIL, Technischer Support

12/1997 – 10/2000

3rd Level Support Engineer for Tier 1 customer Deutsche Telekom
Engineering, implementation and support of Nortel Passport Network
management applications and 3rd party performance reporting, network
analysis and engineering applications

Technischer Support