Approach to develop and successfully manage projects / products

I experienced that combining three principles results in a w orking ecosystem, with more mature innovations and a higher commercial success than an isolated approach:

• Defining opportunity by exploring scenarios to identify clusters of value in trends, target markets, technology, etc. This materializes in new products, services, categories, experiences that succeed delivering a unique value proposition.
• Designing products or services by thinking of product sy stems rather than solely products. That is where the connection bet ween design and business happens and when good design equals good business.
• Driving strategy by analyzing how the changes in business, technology and products affects the whole ecosystem, from employee behavior and performance to customer perception, to profits.

Selected Achievements

• Closely defined user requirements and prioritized futures to match the clients current human and hardware resources in a profit able and economical manner.
• Drove market research on competition and trends to underst and current and future market development, formulate strategies for successful market positioning.
• Implemented go-to-market strategies to win, k eep and retain customers.
• Quickly tested new design and technological ideas to maint ain the trend leader position of the client and stay on the edge of new trends.
• Aligned the user interface and user experience of client platform and web page to create a comprehensive corporate identity.
• Ability to relate on customer ’s needs, problems and e valuate success potential of ideas, based on experience form my own ventures.

Clients

• Startups before and during the f ounding phase.
• Companies that evaluate the potential of new ideas.

Description

• Working at the intersection of design, business, strategy and technology to help established companies as well as startups win, ser ve and retain customers, identify and refine new business opportunities, improve their products and differentiate from competitors.
• I craft the innovation process from ideation to innovation and am equally comfortable to brainstorm new ideas with designers, shape corporate strategy with executives, or review specifications with engineers. My goal is to create en vironments and products where leading edge creativity helps to redefine the competitive advantage of business. My end state is to translate the results into actionable, differentiated, and profitable opportunities for business and products.

Selected Achievements

• Explored complex scenarios and discovered innovation opportunities that materialized in new products, ser vices, categories, experiences and defensible strategies.
• Identified opportunities to develop new customer-centered offerings and lean product development processes.
• Deepened customer understanding and product-market fit to position the brands.
• Drove business and innovation forward and aligned them with human resources under a common leit motiv, so they could complementary evolve and thrive.
• Created Digital Surface 3D Models from 2 dimensional sk etches, scans, engineering sections to determine the final shapes of the models.

Clients

• Start-ups: AppYourCar, Tabit, Parce, Shaver, Pet-Shop, …
• Established Companies: BMW, Mini, Rolls Royce, Audi, Porsche, VW.

Description
Led the CAS (Computer Aided Styling) department and managed small to large-scale and local to global automotiv e projects.

Selected Achievements

• Managed a team of 14 employees, plus up to 20 contractors by efficiently assigning work based on resource needs, project requirements and unique skill set demands.
• Completed 25+ projects on schedule, within budget and meeting quality standards.
• Managed projects with a value of up to 1 million € per single contract.
• Kept track of up to 5 simult aneously running projects by creating plans that incorporated all aspects of project requirements; includin g design, modelling and engineering status, as well as budget, agreements, impact of changes and risk levels.
• Reduced overtime by 15% by maintaining a strong focus on policy, communication, proper manpower utilization and measurement.
• Decreased project cost overruns by flagging and de-escalating potential issues and budget implications in a timely and effective manner; and by identifying risks and proposing options to project profit ability.
• Reduced project cost overruns by 10% by creating staffing demand forecast documents to optimize the utilization of employees and contractor hiring process.
• Filled gaps in the management process by developing a structure that satisfies companies and customer needs and by introducing project charter, project documentation, post evaluation report, rules of conduct
• Created process documentation materials for employees and as part of the onboarding process for new team members by creating manuals, guides and wiki for data releases, technical topics, customer requirements, etc.
• Successfully supervised change management progresses by monitoring the acceptance process and negotiating transition issues.

Clients
BMW, Mini, Rolls Royce, Audi, Porsche, VW, etc. and new car companies like NIO, Lucid. Products ranging from petrol cars to electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and autonomous cars.

1. Company, Description
Capacity Holdings LLC / capacit y.net acquired [on request] in July 2017. Capacity is a marketplace that empowers employers to rent out spare capacity of employees to other companies. The Company was the smart CV for the gig economy. AHR startup that used artificial intelligence (AI) to find the right candidate for job ads and helped freelancers and prof essionals to better show off their skills.

Selected Achievements

• Developed a product strategy road map for product development, so our team was able to plan why, how and when to introduce new features.
• Aligned our technological development and business processes according to the business model and the strategy.
• Managed business technology by defining our technology strategy, to bring products and services in the most profitable way on the market.
• Created successful market positioning and identified go-to-market strategies to win new customers.

2. Company, Description

The Company was a online real est ate platform for matching tenants and landlords. We used individual profiles of tenants & landlords in order to m atch only tenants and landlords that fit. With our AI powered matching tool, we simplified the process for both sides. We helped tenants stand out and accelerated the selection process for landlords. Basically, we worked as a filter for quality in the finding and selection process.

Selected Achievements

• Proud to have had the st art-up accelerator Wayra owned by Telefonica as investor.
• As a co-founder in a start up with a small team and high ambitions, my highest challenge was to quickly tackle several big tasks at once, stay calm and accomplish them with a high level of accuracy, usually under time pressure and with little capital. During this period my learning curve exponentially improved on different levels at once: from planning, prioritizing and delegating tasks, over design, corporate identity and concept definition, to revenue models, strategy and business development.

1. Company, Description

I founded the design agency with the goal to design sustainable products that were in balance with the emotions and needs of end user and to accomplish the goals of companies we worked for.

Selected Achievements

• Developed a design philosophy to differentiate from competitors in the market: “we design products that inspire by their appearance, convince by their user experience and ‘wow’ by challenging conventional thinking.”
• Established a comprehensive approach for work ethics, high esthetics and technological standards by listening closely to our customers.

Clients
E.ON AG, Hymer Innovations & Design Center, Renault/Dacia, EVO Bus, Xbox, WMF, Pioneer Productions, National Geographic, Disruptive Publishers, WBT Datensysteme, Grammer AG.

2. Company, Description

I started my professional career by freelancing as design professional & Alias 3D design modeler. During this time, I had the possibility to gain veritable experience by working for a variety of companies from different sectors like the automotive, consumer goods, health care, electronics and sports industry.

Selected Achievements

• Created Digital Class A Surface Design Models from 2 dimensional sketches, scans, engineering sections or alias data. Worked closely together with other designers and engineers to meet the high esthetics and technological standards of the customers and to incorporate engineering and manufacturing feasibility criteria.
• Vast experience in Class A surface digital modelling. Working knowledge of studio design process and of manufacturing processes. Working knowledge of milling processes for developing clay, foam, plastic and SLA 3D printed models for research and show vehicles.