Jörg Schäfer
Interim Manager / Consultant
Interim Manager / Consultant
A.Mueller group (part of Sunlight Industries, GR)
Market-leading corporate group for energy storage; group: 6500 employees, revenue: USD 1800m.
- After majority takeover of the Müller Group by Sunlight, following restructuring and integration projects of subsidiaries.
- Restructured 3 subsidiaries in Germany, UK & Portugal.
- Profitable realignment of the German company; integration, sale or closure of the UK & PT companies.
Interim Manager / Consultant
ecoATM, LLC
Market leader for automated buyback of small electronic devices (smartphones, etc.); group: 480 employees, revenue: USD 65m; business model based on AI and e-commerce.
- Majority owned by Apollo Global; after financing rounds, international expansion & market entry into Europe & Japan; decision to fully exit international markets by Q4 2022.
- Market entry, advisory, marketing and business development for D/A/CH and Benelux.
- Acquisition of partners with testing and scaling rounds: electronics retail (MediaMarkt/Saturn); malls (ECE, MEC, ILG); grocery/DIY retail (Globus, Rewe); banks/savings banks.
Interim Manager / Consultant
it luggage Ltd.
UK market leader for suitcases; group: 400 employees, revenue: GBP 120m.
- Market entry strategy and business development in German-speaking countries (D/A/CH).
- New customers Tchibo, Metro and Woolworth (+EUR 5m) and expansion of business with Primark.
Interim Manager / Consultant
DataLab GmbH
Restructuring & strategy development for new business and customer segments for a major Big Data provider; company focus on loyalty, analytics and campaigns.
- Further development of the Insight Navigator product based on the Tableau platform.
- New clients in new segments and support (Rewe Austria, Aldi Süd).
Interim COO & Restrukturierung/Reorganisation
Aquarius Deutschland GmbH
Consumer electronics in personal care and household. Germany: 60 employees, revenue: EUR 18m.
- Strategy to end the Carrera brand business & focus on core private label business for the largest non-food retailers, especially Aldi International.
- Cost reduction planning for HR, locations, marketing, development, SCM.
Head of Sales – DACH Region
Steiner Optik GmbH (Beretta Gruppe)
Market-leading manufacturer of spotting and targeting optics + opto-electronics. Manufacturer, Germany: 155 employees, revenue: EUR 40m, group: 3000 employees, revenue: EUR 700m.
- Restructured and completely realigned sales in the DACH region.
- Domestic market in Germany represents half of commercial sales.
- Reorganized customer structure and intensified cooperation with key accounts.
- Developed and introduced a new pricing and sales model.
- Pushed e-commerce internally (own webshop) & externally (Amazon, eBay), balancing with offline sales.
- Turned revenue decline of -24% into growth of +2% within 12 months.
Interim Manager / Consultant
Martin-Braun Gruppe (Dr.Oetker Gruppe)
FMCG (F&B), group: >13,000 employees, >EUR 2700m revenue.
- Market analysis / UK market entry.
- Various wholesale customers around London. No concept for UK market existed. Considered more extensive direct supply to wholesalers and retailers or switching to an exclusive importer for the UK.
- Analyzed potential of different sales channels (retail, e-commerce, convenience, horeca).
- New business approaches with leading retailers.
- Decision for direct sales to multiple buyers with two national sales reps to hire.
- First lasting successes by adding new items to the permanent range of a leading national retailer.
- New contracts >GBP 3m annually, previous revenue <GBP 2m per year.
Interim Manager / Consultant
Feetures
Sports goods manufacturer, 18 employees, sales volume: 1.5m pairs, revenue: USD 16m.
- US market leader for high-performance sports socks looking for a new German distributor.
- Dissatisfied with current partner’s performance.
- Active search and placement with minimal budget.
- Presented 2 new partners after 6 weeks.
Interim Manager / Consultant
CML F&L Ltd. (Teil der Culina Gruppe)
FMCG (F&B); fulfillment & distribution, 400 employees, Culina group: >5000 employees, >GBP 550m revenue.
- New business & development of new business areas, reporting to owners/MD.
- Developed new business with higher margins > own import with exclusive distribution rights > earnings from distribution/import and own logistics/fulfillment.
- Expanded service range to include exclusive own import.
- Searched for leading DACH companies in F&B without exclusive UK distributions.
- Set up a new specialist department to secure support and further development.
- Developed proposals to optimize rollout through group-wide exchange with department heads.
- Signed exclusive contracts with leading F&B companies from Austria and Germany, revenue GBP 11m in 2016, profit GBP 1.2m and 3-year plan revenue >GBP 40m.
Interim Manager / Consultant
Afar Group
Sports goods and optics / trading, 28 employees, revenue: USD 24m.
- Taiwanese trading company has ongoing need to place new items in the European market, especially UK.
- Matched items with potential buyers.
- Active search at trade shows, e-commerce, distribution firms.
- Sales successes with UK buyers GBP >1.5m p.a.
Vorstand - Verkauf, Marketing, SupplyChain, Einkauf, Projekte, Finanzen
MCP AG
Manufacturing & European distribution of electronics & accessories (focus on production equipment: lighting systems, computers, safety, opto-electronics) capital: EUR 1.3m, staff: 24/group: 2100; revenue: EUR 18m / group: USD 270m. Sales responsibility: USD 85m and EUR 16.5m.
- Realigned and restructured European sales in the interest of the main shareholder based in Hong Kong and its Chinese factories.
- Created suitable product and project teams to integrate and further develop the 3 different business units:
- Full-service provider for the largest retailers and their suppliers (Aldi, Tchibo, Lidl, etc.).
- Leading manufacturer for top brands in sports electronics (Sigma, Bosch, etc.) and opto-electronic units for the two-wheel and automotive industries.
- Development and production for private label business of specialist retailers (Decathlon, Intersport Intl., Beurer, etc.).
- Business unit 1 revenue growth from EUR 4m to EUR 16.5m.
- Business units 2 & 3 direct factory > buyer, annual fee to MCP EUR 1.5m from USD 85m factory revenue.
- 2012/3 decision by main shareholder to sell its factories and liquidate/sell the distribution companies.
Head of new divisions & Intl. new business development
Medion AG (vorm. Phase GmbH)
Electronics and consumer goods, 1100 employees, revenue: EUR 1750m / personally responsible: EUR 158m / group staff: >60,000, revenue: USD 44,000m. Reporting directly to CEO Gerd Brachmann.
- Developed processes from sourcing in Asia to B2C service provider for all new business and product areas.
- Integrated and built new business areas: sports electronics, fitness, medical care, mobile computing, navigation, PNA/PDA and home appliances.
- Together with Head of Notebooks, developed/structured the new Frankfurt site from 12 to 28 staff and integrated all new investments and acquisitions.
- Coordinated project, product, logistics, aftersales, engineering and QA at headquarters in Essen/Mülheim with project/product teams in Frankfurt.
- After taking over sole sales responsibility for Aldi Süd & Intl. from CEO, increased direct sales from EUR 31m to 74m in 12 months and international country sales from EUR 28m to 84m.
- Successfully coordinated old and new clients in different areas; discount/high volume (Aldi, Tchibo, McD, ...) versus specialist retail chains/specialty suppliers (Media/Saturn, Karstadt, Decathlon, ...) and launched e-commerce platforms.
- From July 1998 to February 2003 also served as managing director of PHASE GmbH (Frankfurt and Hong Kong): manufacturer and trader / sports electronics and medical technology, 9 employees, revenue: EUR 28m.
- Oriented and restructured a pure patent tech company into an operating company, achieved profitability after 12 months.
- Transferred planned production site Germany > Hong Kong; then > Shenzhen/China.
- Medical tech clients (Siemens, Dräger) component sensorics (patient monitoring).
- First and at that time only competitor to Polar heart rate watches in sporting goods retail; key accounts national brand Sport Scheck, Intersport, Karstadt, Lex Group.
- OEM/ODM production of heart rate watches for various third-party brands and major buyers (Tchibo, Aral).
- Very successful growth from EUR 0.5m to EUR 28m; initiated, negotiated and completed successful M&A process 2002 between Phase GmbH and Medion AG.
Geschäftsführer, Verkauf/Einkauf/Marketing
Toho GmbH
Sports goods distribution with exclusive representation in Germany and Europe in cycling and outdoor sector, 14 employees, revenue: DM 11m.
- Developed company into a Top 3 supplier for helmets & apparel (Louis Garneau/CAN).
- Searched and set up exclusive trade agencies transitioning to permanent sales reps from 1996.
- From 1996 significantly expanded brand/product program in cycling and outdoor.
- LG so-called "IN" brand in 1995/96 integrated with all major specialist retail partners and associations (ZEG, Bico).
Organisationsleiter
Helvetia Schweizerische Versicherungen
Head of organization.
- Headquarters for Germany / staff: 380, group: 7000 / group revenue: EUR 7766m.
Growth & Optimization
Restructuring & Organizational Development
Corporate Management
Cost Reduction
New Business Areas
Scaling
Exit Strategies
Electronics
Mobility
Sports
Big Data
International experience in general management, especially in Europe
Many years of expertise in leading and structuring sales teams
Instinct for spotting opportunities and mitigating risks
Experienced in complex project businesses with products that require explanation
Expert in multichannel sales models for B2B, B2C and DTC
Since 2014 high experience with UK companies built in UK
Knowledge in building and relocating production sites
Experienced in all supply chain models and their optimizations
Developing product strategies for own and third-party brands
Very successful in finding and securing brand and distribution rights
Good contacts, long experience and sales history with leading retail major clients, especially in Germany and the UK
Berufsakademie Mannheim
Diploma in Business Administration · Business Administration, major in Insurance · Mannheim, Germany
Gesamtschule Oberursel
High School Diploma · Oberursel, Germany
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