Chris W. - Freelance Project Manager

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Oberasbach, Germany

Experience

Jan 2022 - Present

3 years 9 months

Zirndorf, Germany

Freelance Project Manager

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Transformation
CRM: strategy, concept & implementation; provider selection
PMO leadership of a transformation program with >200 project staff
(IT) project management
Customer service setup
Requirements engineering
Digital solutions
Design thinking
Partner management & commissioning
Stakeholder management
Process optimization
Automation
Innovation

Jan 2019 - Dec 2022

4 years

Managing Director

Rechtecheck

Building and scaling a legal tech startup with two core areas
B2C: content and service provider for legal questions and issues, including lawyer placement
Establishing the entire funnel/customer experience (internally and as a service provider for law firms), including opt-in/consent management
Conversion and customer journey optimization
Setting up an affiliate concept/performance channels
SEO optimization (including AI-powered content creation)
Traffic increase from 10,000 to >200,000 unique visitors per month
B2B: CRM and lead management software provider (SaaS), including content management
Managing IT, customer experience, product management, marketing (SEO/SEA, TV, radio, offline campaigns)
Leading a team of 20, managing vendor relationships
Developing digital products/services/software using Scrum

Jan 2013 - Dec 2019

7 years

Management Consultant

Iskander Business Partner

(IT) project manager, product owner, Scrum Master

Consultant

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Project: SRC Reduction (Industry: ICT, Duration: 5 months)
Reducing service retention costs for existing customers (CLV-based)
Analysis, design of solutions and implementation
Implementing a value-based commission model for sales reps in the existing customer segment
Setting up a cross-department KPI/performance report for management
Designing the optimization of an existing Next Best Offer tool for sales

Interim Manager/Department Head

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Project: Setting up customer management for existing customers (Industry: reservation system provider for restaurants, Duration: 6 months)
Reorganizing existing customer management
Loyalty program management; CRM setup and expansion (loyalty program, customer experience, consent management)
End-to-end setup/optimization of customer communication (B2C & B2B) across all channels, including loyalty program setup
Setting up churn management (including churn prediction, reporting, etc.)

Head of PMO

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Project: RAITT (Digital transformation program for telco) (Industry: ICT, duration: 12 months)
Transformation of the entire IT landscape; implementation of Salesforce Vlocity, including migration of (customer and telco) data
Optimization of project management (capacity planning, introduction of end-to-end reporting (scope & progress))
KPI setup & implementation for measuring the program's success (Salesforce / Tableau); SCRUM Master
Project management (SCRUM + SAFe; scope planning & challenge)
Stakeholder management; decision papers
Governance setup, optimization & implementation

Head of PMO

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Project: K2 (Industry: ICT, duration: 6 months)
Took over the project management office during the migration of the entire tariff portfolio to a new tariff structure, including the system change of a telecom provider
Adjusted opt-in/consent setup for contract migration
Budget controlling, risk management, progress measurement, setting up & optimizing governance and process organization
Introduction & setup of the project management tool (JIRA/Confluence)
Derivation of measures & creation of decision papers
Management of the PMO
Stakeholder management

Product Owner

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Project: Virtual Agent (Industry: ICT, duration: 5 months)
The client wanted to expand their self-service strategy. In this context, a virtual agent should be implemented on the website to answer customer questions interactively
Selection of the service provider and scope definition
Assumed the role of product owner on the business side
Led & managed the project from design (design sprints) to soft launch
Training setup & execution

Project Manager

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Project: CRM push (Industry: automotive manufacturer, duration: 6 months)
CRM organization setup: team, IT/infrastructure (Salesforce), OKRs
Setup & optimization of consent management for digital services
CRM strategy setup
Loyalty Program Setup
Proposition Development
Introduction of relevant KPIs
Concept: CLV-based next-best-offer logic

Project Manager

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Project: Hardware 24h (Industry: ICT, duration: 7 months)
Digitalization & optimization of product and campaign launch processes
Reduced time to market by up to 90%
Documentation of current processes & design of target processes
Management of 5 IT projects for process optimization (SCRUM Master, multi-project management)

Project Manager, SCRUM Master

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Project: Legal Tech Customer Service (Industry: Legal Tech, Duration: 2.5 months)
Set up/optimized call center department, including processes, IT & personnel
The client (legal services provider) needed to digitize & professionalize customer service to scale services & solutions
Designed the entire customer service processes (lead flow, handling) & organization (team setup, escalation management, etc.)
In this process, the existing CRM and call management software was adapted to the new requirements; set up & optimization of the project management method according to SCRUM

Project Manager, SCRUM Master

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Project: JIRA Implementation (Industry: ICT, Duration: 4 months)
Introduced a project management tool.
Solution: JIRA, especially since JIRA was already partially used in the client's organizational units.
Analyzed and captured requirements. Business alignment and implementation for project management.
Stakeholder management with other business units and designing a cross-departmental implementation of project management and reporting requirements
Set up & conducted training for employees

Project Manager, SCRUM Master

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Project: Special Forces Implementation (Industry: ICT, Duration: 5 months)
The client area needed to handle an increased volume of projects (multi-project management).
Managed 7-8 parallel projects (50k to 150k€ budget each).
RTI (Project Manager): Feasibility check for a sales automation software (incl. vendor selection, business case & use-case definition)
Digital Care/eCare: Improved/expanded eCare offerings for customers incl. opt-in management (SCRUM Master)
Speech analysis (Project Manager): Implemented a speech analysis tool from test environment to live environment (SCRUM Master)

Rollout Manager / Project Manager

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Project: HoReCa International Rollout (Industry: e-Commerce/Gastronomy, Duration: 5 months)
Rolled out the company's first digital products (focus: restaurants/hotels) to country subsidiaries (go-to-market strategy)
Designed & owned the rollout plan, country onboarding, planning and implementation of sales channels, and managed operational support for country subsidiaries
Directed product development for the sales and CRM software (Salesforce-based) as product owner.
Optimized customer service processes (B2B)

Support & Sparring Partner for the Executive Management

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Project: NEXT (Industry: ICT, Duration: 7 months)
Founded and shaped a subsidiary for IoT and big data analytics business models
Proposition development
Designed finance, HR, operations, IT, and guiding principles

Subproject Lead

Chris Willmanns Consulting

Project: Digital Care (industry: ICT, duration: 2 months)
The client wanted to expand their self-service strategy. In this context, the Digital Care project was created, focusing on digitizing self-service and knowledge management
Took over the stream “Quick Wins”
Conceptualized and prioritized topics within the stream (Digital Invoice, Set-Up New Phone, network issues, third-party blocking)
Training setup & delivery

Summary

I bring over a decade of hands-on experience in project management, digital transformation, and operational leadership. I have built and optimized processes across industries such as ICT, legal tech, e-commerce, and telecommunications. My work spans strategy development, CRM implementation, agile & waterfall project steering, and customer service modernizations, always aiming for efficiency and innovation.

I have led large teams and complex programs, ensuring seamless digital solutions and clear performance guidelines. With a solid background in both consultancy and executive roles, I focus on delivering real value through practical, sustainable change.