Cindy Hadhri
Senior Innovation Advisor - Freelancer
Experience
Jun 2025 - Present
1 month Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Senior Innovation Advisor - Freelancer
Agile Cosmopolitan
- Market: Middle East + Germany
Jun 2024 - May 2025
1 year Hamburg, Germany
Manager Innovation & Project Lead
ZAL Center of Applied Aeronautical Research
- Managing innovation projects, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and timelines
- Monitoring project progress, tracking milestones, and report on outcomes and impact
- Leading and facilitating workshops on emerging technologies and innovation trends together with international partners
- Establishing and maintaining a comprehensive network of industry partners, including startups, universities, and research institutions
- Identifying and evaluating numerous innovation opportunities in the aviation sector
- Representing the company and the city of Hamburg at various industry events and conferences
- Conducting in-depth market analyses and feasibility studies for new projects
- Acquisition of new project partners internationally, especially from the Middle East
Jun 2022 - Mar 2023
10 months Hamburg, Germany
Senior Innovation and Future Strategy Consultant
TRENDONE
- Innovation Management / Technology Consulting
- Trainings + Keynotes / Ideation Workshops / Trend monitoring
- Advising companies on developing a sustainable future strategy and navigating the complex and uncertain future by providing strategic guidance, driving innovation and empowering them to embrace opportunities as they arise
- Simultaneously managing diverse projects, stakeholders, processes, timelines & project objectives
- Developing strategies that are aligned with future trends and challenges - for clients in the finance, IT, mechanical engineering and medical technology sectors
- Supporting clients in developing innovative business models, designing new products or services and formulating long-term strategies to stay competitive
- Developing workshops on innovation, future foresight and trend management (also for training purposes) for customers
- Planning and design of high-quality deep dives, trend reports and studies on relevant global trends and influencing factors
- Acquisition of new projects - internationally
Jul 2020 - May 2022
1 year 11 months Germany
Innovation Manager | Mobility and Energy
Innovation Centre Niedersachsen
- Responsible for driving Growth of the Startups in the Mobility, IT and Energy branches
- Leading strategic collaborations between start-ups, investors, companies and academic institutions to develop innovative solutions together
- Review and evaluation of funding applications for startups in mobility/aviation
- Accelerating the innovation process of interdisciplinary consortia to secure funding and to enhance them to disrupt the market
- Designing and implementing of multiple events with startups, industry and academic players, to impart knowledge tailored to the respective needs
- Exchanging with investors, international startup hubs and startups
- Advisory to medium size enterprises in IT and mobility
- Developing business strategies for SMEs to support them grow
- Managing the milestones, collaboration and projects
- Developing a strategic go-to market process
- Creating formats and managing the knowledge transfer on technology trends for the SMEs community
- Teaching innovation methods while facilitating innovation workshops with medium size enterprises and industry players
- Designing and facilitating (remote) Design Thinking workshops
Jan 2019 - Mar 2025
6 years 3 monthsSenior Innovation Advisor & Keynote Speaker | Founder
Agile Cosmopolitan
Part time since January 2019; Full time from March 2023 to May 2024.
- Innovation Advisory to create innovative solutions, products and services
- Workshop Facilitation & Speaking
- Masterclasses: “Setup of innovative teams” and “Create Your solution”
Activities:
- Planning and facilitation of innovation trainings, Design Thinking workshops and Design Sprints focusing on the development of new solutions (products, services, processes).
- Creating learning programs (workshops and lectures) together with renowned training providers on the topics of innovation methods, team building and remote tools (e.g., Miro)
- Presenting the self-developed “InnovationShortcut” framework (based on Design Thinking) - among others: at the Innovation Arabia 15 conference
- Speaking on the topic of "Superpower Diversity” to increase innovation power in team collaboration
- Guest lecturer on creative education (with Design Thinking) for children at 3Duxdesign in the USA
Jul 2014 - Jun 2020
6 years Hamburg, Germany
Technology & Business Consultant
AKKODIS Germany
- Technology Consulting, for Airbus (et al) in software development (augmented reality):
- Managing the knowledge transfer for the department moving from France to Germany
- Developing agreements for the new collaboration with the suppliers
- Accountable for the time, resources and stakeholder management
- Supporting companies such as Airbus, ZF, Still during their engineering process
- Business Development:
- Contributing to the global innovation strategy of the company
- Responsible for the preparation of commercial and technical Airbus offers (volume: up to 2 m €)
- Hiring new candidates
- Facilitating innovation strategy workshops with interdisciplinary teams
Jun 2012 - Jun 2014
2 years 1 monthStartup Founder
El Hadhri GbR
- Product and Communication Design
- Managing a consortium of aviation companies and suppliers
- Developing an innovative concept in the aircraft cabin
- Incorporating cultural aspects into the technical concept
- Creation of the digital mock-up
- Presentation of the results to funding authorities
- Writing and illustrating a mechanical engineering glossary
Apr 2012 - Sep 2012
6 months Hamburg, Germany
Communication Manager (intern)
AIRBUS
- Responsible for the internal communication and marketing
- Transforming complex context into inter-divisional marketing material
- Design of the department logo, presentation templates, the intranet page and the CI
Oct 2011 - Feb 2012
5 months Brazil
Project Manager (intern)
Volkswagen do Brazil
- Developing a new measurement equipment together with an interdisciplinary team
- Setting the milestones and defining the workflow steps together with the team, manufacturers and stakeholder - distributed across Brazil, Mexico and Germany
Mar 2010 - Sep 2011
1 year 7 months Hamburg, Germany
Manager of the Public Relations Team
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
- Handling public relations, event management, organizing trade show booths, and managing communication with the public
- Secure booth spaces, staff the booth, create promotional materials, and handle inquiries to enhance brand awareness and generate leads
Summary
Dedicated innovation catalyst and ideation workshop facilitator with a strong passion for driving sustainable solutions. I possess a unique blend of engineering expertise and business acumen, enabling me to effectively lead and manage innovation processes and bringing together diverse groups. My ability to analyze market trends, scout for emerging technologies, and foster a culture of innovation has consistently positioned me as a trusted advisor and strategic partner.
Languages
German
Native
English
Advanced
Arabic
Elementary
Education
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
B.Eng. · Aeronautical Engineering · Germany
Certifications & licenses
Agile Coach
Enterprise Design Thinking Practitioner
IBM
Design Thinking: Customer Experience
Lynda.com
Smart Cities: Solving Urban Problems Using Technology
Lynda.com
Event Planning Foundations
Lynda.com
UX Design: Creating Personas
Lynda.com
Innovation in Organisations
Lynda.com
Design Thinking: Implementing the Process
Lynda.com
Principles of Design Thinking
Autodesk
A World of Difference: Exploring Intercultural Communication
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
Building Your Leadership Skills
HEC Paris
Leadership Workshop
CareerService HAW Hamburg
Visual Basic Workshop
CIMPA GmbH Hamburg
Value Management Course (EN 12 973)
VDI Hamburg
iCabin Symposium at Airbus, Lufthansa, and the Hamburg Centre of Aviation Training
EUROAVIA
Light Vehicle Driving License – German: B
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