Axel Zimmermann - Project Manager

Recommended expert

Oberursel, Germany

Experience

Sep 2024 - Present

1 year 5 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Project Manager

NTT Global Data Centers

Project leadership
Coordination of the rollout of 148 firewalls (Palo Alto) for 74 buildings across more than 14 sites in EMEA
Managing the team (8 staff)
Communication with senior management (local) and site managers (EMEA)
Ensuring work packages are completed on time and meet requirements, along with formal acceptance
Intensive use of relevant Microsoft tools
Wrike (project management)

Sep 2023 - Sep 2024

1 year 1 month

Wiesbaden, Germany

Interim Manager / Team Lead

DG Nexolution

Disciplinary and technical leadership of an IT team (7 staff)
Supporting the transformation and restructuring of the department
Procurement and monthly reporting of key metrics to management
Maintenance of standard software (support and change requests/customizing)
Vendor management (renegotiating contract with Monotype (fonts): 50% savings; Chili Publishing: 30% savings)
Release management
Account management for subsidiaries
Recruiting and resource planning
Intensive use of relevant Microsoft tools
Jira / Confluence
Alfresco (DMS)
Magnolia (Web CMS)
Adito CRM (xRM)
4AllPortal

Oct 2022 - Jun 2023

9 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Outsourcing Management Consultant

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC Bank EU AG)

Coordination of existing and new outsourcing contracts in close cooperation with Legal, business units, and subject matter experts such as IT Security, BCM, Data Protection, etc., at locations in Dublin, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo
Service Criticality Assessments
Third Party Risk Management
Periodic review of existing outsourcing agreements (worldwide)
Advising business units on EBA requirements
Planning and conducting workshops on specialist topics (especially GDPR)
Creating necessary documentation to ensure EBA compliance
Progress tracking
Procurement and monthly reporting of key metrics to management
Intensive use of relevant Microsoft tools
Third Party Risk Management (TPRM) Tool

Apr 2022 - Mar 2023

1 year

Frankfurt, Germany

Outsourcing Management Consultant

BNP Paribas

Coordination of new outsourcing contracts in close collaboration with Legal, business units, and subject matter experts such as IT Security, BCM, Data Protection, etc.
Advising business units on EBA requirements and Single Resolution Board (SRB)
Creating necessary documentation
Progress tracking based on KPIs
Maintenance of provided group tools
Reporting
Intensive use of relevant Microsoft tools
MS SharePoint
360 Arrangement
ServiceNow

Nov 2021 - Mar 2022

5 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Functional Project Manager

ING-Diba AG

Sub-project management in a regulatory environment
Managing system harmonization (local/global)
Coordination of project-relevant areas (local)
Communication with senior management (local) and rollout managers (global)
Ensuring timely and requirement-compliant completion of work packages and their formal acceptance
Planning and conducting workshops on specialist topics
Intensive use of relevant Microsoft tools
MS SharePoint
KYCO
Confluence
ServiceNow

May 2020 - Sep 2021

1 year 5 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Chief of Staff (Interim Management) and Digitalization Project Manager

BNP Paribas

Supporting the COO Wealth Management Germany in coordinating his daily tasks
Tracking and coordinating governance (representation, committee meetings) for Wealth Management Germany with all stakeholders (finance, legal, compliance) and in the Wealth Management Europe IT and Operations Hub (Portugal, Switzerland, India)
Assisting in the development of work instructions and procedures for Wealth Management Germany
Supporting departments in implementing first-level controls and monitoring initiated measures for risk minimization
Ensuring complete and transparent coordination between business and support functions
Projects and improvement initiatives for front-office/business monitoring tools (e.g. Lean Management)
Implementing KPIs, managing commercial and sales performance, and analyzing KPIs
Supporting the Operational Risk and Permanent Control Officer on various tasks (preparing information for controls, committee support, managing the new product process including compliance checks)
Ensuring that regulatory projects are carried out in line with business developments
Supporting and managing strategic developments and following up on key projects (digital initiatives)
Introducing a workflow tool (based on MS SharePoint) to fully digitize the client onboarding process
Creating the requirements specification, defining use cases and test cases, and managing testing
Introducing a continuous improvement process (CIP) for the client onboarding process
Lean Management project to optimize the client onboarding process
Extensive use of relevant Microsoft tools
MS SharePoint
NORKOM AML
Olympic
360 Arrangements (risk management, outsourcing contracts)
DocuSign (electronic signature)

Jan 2020 - Mar 2020

3 months

Offenbach, Germany

Project Manager and Interim Manager

Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba)

Continuing the project to implement ITIL processes
Designing and implementing the service request, event, capacity, and availability management processes
Evaluating sourcing options
Defining services to be outsourced
Conducting RFI and preparing RFP
Negotiating with potential sourcing partners
Creating the requirements specification, defining use cases
Tracking budget and estimating costs
Preparing and leading project steering committee meetings for milestone decisions

Jan 2019 - Dec 2019

1 year

Offenbach, Germany

Project Manager and Interim Manager

Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba)

Building an organizational unit (up to 8 employees)
Assuming responsibility for IT operations process governance under ITIL v3 (incident, problem, change, configuration management), including developing and enforcing controls
Assuming responsibility for IT Service Continuity Management governance, including developing and enforcing controls and coordinating with Business Continuity Management
Defining governance structures (especially ITSCM)
Establishing process control (defining KPIs and implementing them in the ITSM tool)
Capacity planning, including recruitment
Budget planning
Ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements (KRITIS, BAIT, internal audit, external auditors)
Introducing communication structures
Developing content for the organizational unit's online presence
Preparing and conducting workshops and training sessions for staff and managers in incident, problem, and change management
Leading the project to implement ITIL processes for incident, problem, change, and configuration management (budget > €1M, >1,000 person-days)
Leading the project to optimize the ordering processes for cloud IT services, including adapting procurement processes (budget > €500K, approx. 300 person-days)
Defining and implementing the ordering process for cloud services from the IT provider
Defining role concepts and job descriptions
Creating the requirements specification and defining use cases
Planning and conducting project team meetings
Project communication
Preparing and conducting workshops and training sessions
Maintaining project documentation
Preparing and conducting project steering committee meetings for milestone decisions
Recruiting new employees and conducting personnel interviews

May 2018 - Dec 2018

8 months

Cologne, Germany

Multi-Project Manager

Cologne Bonn Airport

Identifying and aligning project goals with the client
Conducting stakeholder and risk analysis
Creating the project structure plan (tool: MindManager)
Creating the schedule (tool: MS Project 2016)
Aligning the project assignment
Managing the project
Planning and conducting project team meetings
Project communication
Preparing and conducting workshops (tool: Project Journey/Canvas)
Maintaining project documentation
Tracking the budget and estimating costs
Preparing and conducting project steering committee meetings for milestone decisions

Aug 2017 - Dec 2017

5 months

Düsseldorf, Germany

Project Manager

Deutsche WertpapierService Bank AG (dwpbank)

Conducting self-assessments
Conducting gap analysis
Deriving business requirements
Involving key departments (provider management, test and release management, access management, external service providers)
Planning and conducting workshops
Assessing the implementation status of basic cyber security measures

Dec 2016 - Apr 2017

5 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Project Manager (Functional)

DekaBank

Feasibility study on using Robotic Process Automation to reduce process lead times and operational risks in securities processing (physical certificates)
Process description
Defining functional requirements with special attention to regulatory requirements (KYC, anti-money laundering, four-eyes principle)
Creating the requirements specification and defining use cases

Mar 2015 - Sep 2015

7 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Project Manager (Functional)

DekaBank

Improving support for the institutional sales team for custody services
Process adjustments
Introducing communication structures
Planning and conducting workshops and regular meetings
Gathering sales requirements
Revising sales and proposal materials
Updating information in the sales database
Result: Reduced lead time for creating proposals by up to 50 percent

Jun 2014 - Apr 2015

11 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Project Manager (Product Developer)

DekaBank

Designing, developing, implementing, and rolling out a new securities service in the clearing system, leveraging new regulatory guidelines
Clarifying legal requirements with the regulator in Luxembourg and internal company policies
Defining functional requirements
Assessing the suitability of the IT infrastructure
Stakeholder management
Price calculation
Process adjustment
Website content design

Apr 2013 - Sep 2013

6 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Project Team Member / PMO

DekaBank

Supporting project management and the board with internal and external communications (employees, LBB Invest, works council, supervisory board, DSGV, and other Sparkassen organization committees)
Managing external consultants (legal counsel, auditors, investment bank, management consultants)
Preparing and conducting workshops with LBB and LBB Invest
Performing administrative tasks in the project office

Mar 2011 - Dec 2012

1 year 10 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Project Manager (Functional)

DekaBank

Operational responsibility for the sub-project (budget approx. EUR 2 million) in terms of time, budget, and quality
Communication and reporting to the line organization and committees (program committee, technical committee, steering committee)
Leading 4 project team members
Gathering functional requirements, business processes, and technical solution requirements
Creating the requirements specification and defining use cases
Selecting, hiring, and managing external consultants
Setting up a new organizational unit (group of approx. 10 employees)
Planning, designing, and executing all activities to merge decentralized units
Defining role concepts and job descriptions
Establishing governance structures
Evaluating strategic alternatives (ASP, BPO, joint venture)

Feb 2010 - Jan 2011

1 year

Frankfurt, Germany

Project Manager

DekaBank

Operational responsibility for the entire project (budget approx. EUR 4M) in time, budget and quality
Communication and reporting to the line and committees (program, specialist committee, steering committee)
Leading three sub-project managers
Selecting, contracting and managing external consultants
Implementing a unified test management
Designing the release management with quality gates
Integrating the rollout process into the change management process
Optimizing the incident management process for mass incidents and escalations
Optimizing the problem management process and implementing a configuration management system
Designing a Service Control Center unit
Defining tasks and key figures for provider management

Jun 2008 - Sep 2009

1 year 4 months

Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Project Manager

DekaBank

Operational responsibility for the project (budget approx. EUR 300K) in time, budget and quality
Communication and reporting to the line and committees (management, steering committee)
Selecting, contracting and managing external consultants
Introducing a group-wide standard process for incident and problem management
Improving the change management process to eliminate audit findings
Harmonizing support structures
Introducing KPIs and setting up service reporting
Training employees
Analyzing current process, tools and provider agreements
Conducting a gap analysis with risk and audit findings
Documenting the incident and problem management process
Defining business impact and major incident management
Establishing process control and reporting
Rollout

Summary

Over 30 years of professional experience in the banking industry across various business areas and topics as an executive and large-scale project manager

successful management of business & IT projects
over 8 years of leadership experience in business and IT
outsourcing of processes and business segments (IT and business units)
product development, business development
business analysis
provider management, sourcing, provider selection, SLA management
regulatory matters (GDPR, BAIT, KRITIS, MiFID)
support for project audits and WpHG reviews by external auditors or internal audit
Know Your Customer (KYC), money laundering, Anti-money laundering (AML)
risk management (e.g. operational risk)
business impact analysis (BIA), business continuity plan (BCP)
robotic process automation (functional, feasibility studies)
sales support
broad knowledge of securities processes (front/middle/back office)
banks: wealth management, operations, clearing & settlement, custodian, fund management
ITIL (service management processes; especially incident, problem, and change)
Six Sigma, Lean Management