Bernd Schmidl - Head of IT Business Applications & Partnerships

Recommended expert

Groß-Gerau, Germany

Experience

Jan 2023 - Present

3 years 1 month

Darmstadt, Germany

Strategic overall management of the global IT application landscape and further development of the roadmap for core applications (Salesforce, SAP, Workday, OpenAir, Jira)
Realignment of the IT architecture towards cloud-native (IaaS/SaaS) and establishment of an agile DevOps culture and process automation
Leading the IT application workstream for the successful separation of four business units (carve-outs)
Acting as a strategic business partner for C-level functions (COO, CRO, CHRO) to ensure IT-business alignment
Representing IT interests to employee representative bodies and ensuring compliance
Reduced maintenance effort by 66% by designing and rolling out a new customer portal
Implemented a fully automated CPQ self-service to accelerate sales processes
Successfully went live with critical business platforms to support the target operating model (e.g., Dayforce for HR/payroll, Coupa for P2P, Zuora for billing)
Replaced legacy custom software with scalable SaaS standard solutions (legacy modernization)

Oct 2020 - Dec 2022

2 years 3 months

Darmstadt, Germany

Established and led a global PMO organization, including defining company-wide project management standards and governance processes
Program management of the group-wide IT security initiative "SecureBiz" (budget responsibility: €50 million)
Operational implementation of the IT strategy in close coordination with the IT leadership team and the executive board
Introduced a central portfolio management including KPI reporting for real-time monitoring of the project landscape
Significant and measurable hardening of the IT security architecture through the successful execution of the transformation program

Jun 2018 - Sep 2020

2 years 4 months

Darmstadt, Germany

Overall responsibility for the digital agenda in the sales area and management of the digitalization budget (€5 million)
Identified and implemented strategic digitization projects to increase process efficiency in sales
Achieved a 300% increase in pipeline opportunities by introducing a data-driven account planning solution
Optimized sales processes through strategic stakeholder management and tailored IT architecture measures

Oct 2014 - Jun 2018

3 years 9 months

Darmstadt, Germany

Cross-departmental leadership of global strategic major projects for corporate development
Leading project management for setting up a joint venture, including intensive C-level stakeholder management to ensure strategic objectives
Successfully implemented and certified integrated management systems according to ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 22301 (business continuity), and ISO 27001 (information security), significantly improving process quality and resilience

Apr 2010 - Sep 2014

4 years 6 months

Darmstadt, Germany

Served as lead solution architect and development lead in complex client projects
Analyzed and redesigned critical business processes to improve operational excellence
Designed and implemented integration solutions (EAI/BPM) as part of active software development
Provided technical sales support by creating proofs of concept (POCs) and delivering expert training sessions for the webMethods Suite
Achieved major efficiency gains for large clients by designing and implementing customized, high-performance integration architectures

May 2003 - Mar 2010

6 years 11 months

Senior IT Executive & Strategist

Track Record: Over 15 years of experience in IT strategy, operations, and digital transformation within global corporate structures (€1 billion revenue).
Leadership: Experienced in leading globally distributed teams (up to 25 FTE) and managing complex budgets (Capex/Opex up to €50 million).
Business Value: Established "Trusted Advisor" for C-level (COO, CRO, CHRO) focusing on business enablement through cloud-first approaches (SaaS/IaaS) and process automation.
Focus Areas: Application management (Salesforce, SAP, Workday), IT transformation, post-merger integration & carve-outs.