Max Fortmeier - Senior Product Manager/Owner & Consultant (Freelance)

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Wiesbaden, Germany

Experience

Jan 2025 - Present

7 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Hybrid

Lead Product Manager / Owner and Project Lead

Company in the banking and insurance sector

Concept and implementation of new digital applications and features to replace multiple legacy systems
Analysis of legacy data structure issues and design and implementation of an improved data structure for the new applications
Management of internal and external development teams
Focus areas: digital transformation, agile software development, agile project management, CRM, stakeholder management

Jun 2024 - Dec 2024

7 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Hybrid

Senior Product Manager / Owner for digital platform and application journeys

Company in the banking and insurance sector

Design and implementation of a new digital advisory platform and new digital application journeys for banking and insurance products
Product discovery to evaluate different implementation options for replacing a legacy system
Management of internal and external software development teams
Focus areas: agile software development, digital transformation, stakeholder management, agile organizational development

Sep 2023 - Dec 2023

4 months

Berlin, Germany

Remote

Consultant for product strategy and portfolio

CDP

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data products portfolio and development of a scoring methodology to prioritize the portfolio
Development of an overall product strategy and clear recommendations to simplify the product portfolio

Jan 2023 - Jul 2023

7 months

Berlin, Germany

Remote

Lead Product Manager / Owner & Product Consultant

CDP

CDP is an NGO that provides systems and data products so companies and local governments can publish and sustainably improve their environmental data
Building and coaching CDP's first product team made up of data engineers, data scientists, UI designers, and QA
Advising senior management on product, product-led organizations, and agile working

May 2022 - Sep 2022

5 months

Hamburg, Germany

Remote

Lead Product Manager / Owner for e-commerce funnel and CRM

Energy provider

Responsible for designing and implementing an e-commerce funnel and CRM system for the B2C business
Product Manager / Owner for a product team (> 10 people) of developers (frontend, backend, Microsoft Dynamics), product designers, QA, and agile coach
Gathering and translating requirements, backlog prioritization and management, creating and refining epics, user stories, and bugs
Stakeholder management and agile project management

Apr 2022 - Oct 2022

7 months

Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Remote

Consultant for Web3, NFT & blockchain

Web3 start-up

Consultant for a start-up aiming to launch its own NFT collection and become a central hub for women in Web3
Advice focused on Web3, NFTs & crypto (esp. different blockchains, technical implications, smart contracts, community building, etc.)

Sep 2021 - Mar 2022

7 months

Hamburg, Germany

Remote

Lead Product Manager / Owner for native app

Energy provider

Responsible for designing and implementing the native app for the B2C business
Product Manager / Owner for a product team (> 10 people) of developers (iOS, Android, backend), product designer, QA, and agile coach
Gathering and translating requirements, backlog prioritization and management, creating and refining epics, user stories, and bugs
Stakeholder management and agile project management

Aug 2019 - Apr 2021

1 year 9 months

Frankfurt, Germany

On-site

Senior Product Manager

CHECK24 Comparison Portal for Property Insurance GmbH

Built and led a product team (>5 people)
Expanded product strategy and managed the product roadmap
Responsible for product discovery and product delivery for two comprehensive digital products across different environments (desktop, mobile, app)
Enhanced the CRM tool and optimized back office processes

Jan 2016 - Jul 2019

3 years 7 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Hybrid

Senior Associate in Customer & Operations / Management Consulting

PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH

Various international and national project assignments focused on digitalization, product management, agile transformation, and crisis management
Business development in digitalization and agile transformation

Jun 2015 - Sep 2015

4 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Remote

Master Thesis

Deutsche Bank AG

Master thesis in cooperation with the Organizational Development Unit of Deutsche Bank on the topic "How to Measure Matrix Effectiveness?" (grade 1.1)

Feb 2015 - Aug 2015

7 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Hybrid

Working student

Frankfurt School of Finance & Management

Working student at the Chair of Strategic Management for Prof. Dr. Nils Stieglitz

Jun 2014 - Sep 2014

4 months

Düsseldorf, Germany

On-site

Intern

MediaCom Agency for Media Consulting GmbH

Intern in strategic media planning and media beyond advertising

Mar 2013 - Jul 2013

5 months

Frankfurt, Germany

On-site

Tutor

Frankfurt School of Finance & Management

Tutor for accounting and controlling

Jul 2011 - Aug 2011

2 months

Munich, Germany

On-site

Intern

2W Media GmbH

Intern in marketing and IT and direct support of management

Apr 2010 - Jun 2010

3 months

London, United Kingdom

On-site

Intern

Maybourne Hotel Group

Internship in marketing and PR for Claridge’s, Connaught, and The Berkeley hotels

Summary

As an experienced Product Manager/Owner and consultant, I help companies with all challenges around digital product management and agile project management. From strategy and conception to building and improving digital products & services.

For more than 9 years, I’ve worked in the digital and IT sector, including over 7 years in digital product management. Before I became a freelancer in 2021, I worked in management consulting at PwC and in product management at CHECK24.

Skills: Product management, Product Owner, agile project management, IT project management, stakeholder management, digital transformation, consulting, Agile, Scrum, Kanban

Industry knowledge: Internet, IT and services, software, banking and financial services, insurance, energy, NGO, management consulting, Web3 / blockchain

Languages

German

Native

English

Advanced

Spanish

Advanced

Education

Mar 2014 - Sep 2015