Patricia Afonso alemany - Head of Operations

Recommended expert

Berlin, Germany

Experience

Jan 2025 - Present

1 year 1 month

Berlin, Germany

Head of Operations

StratifAI GmbH

Designed, managed, and implemented the company’s operational, compliance, procurement, and financial strategy, ensuring alignment with rapid scaling and regulatory objectives.
Built and scaled operational infrastructure across IT, HR, Finance, Procurement, and Compliance, supporting growth from 4 to 20 team members in 6 months.
Oversaw financial management of OPEX, including budgeting, monitoring, and cost optimization to sustain high-growth operations.
Developed and executed a procurement strategy, including vendor selection, negotiation, and performance oversight.
Procured and managed external consultants (compliance, quality, regulatory experts) and orchestrated collaboration across internal teams and external partners to meet milestones.
Implemented policies, SOPs, and business systems (compliance tracking, eQMS, payroll, vendor management, data governance) to support regulatory compliance and scalability.
Managed and actively oversaw regulatory and compliance programs, embedding GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2, ISO 27001, and ISO 27701 requirements into day-to-day operations.
Directed the rollout of a Quality Management System (QMS) aligned with ISO 13485 to prepare for medical device and AI regulatory certifications.
Led people and culture development, establishing onboarding, performance management, and cross-functional collaboration structures to scale the organization effectively.
Established risk management and business continuity frameworks, including security controls, risk registers, and compliance safeguards.
Engaged executive leadership, board, and investors to align operational strategy with corporate goals and market expansion.
Enabled technology-driven operations, selecting and implementing digital systems (e.g., Drata, Qualio) to ensure compliance and efficiency.
Scaled StratifAI’s operational backbone to support rapid growth and international market readiness.
Achieved ISO 27001, ISO 27701, SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance within 6 months, enabling enterprise and healthcare partnerships.
Implemented a QMS system aligned with ISO 13485, paving the way for regulatory approvals and positioning for upcoming ISO 13485 certification, CE-IVDR marking, and FDA clearance within 12 months.
Designed and executed governance, procurement, and financial controls, ensuring efficient resource allocation and sustainable compliance.
Established a culture of structured growth, integrating people, processes, and compliance frameworks to maintain operational excellence.
Enabled StratifAI to confidently enter regulated US and EU markets, building the foundation for long-term expansion.

Jun 2024 - Jul 2025

1 year 2 months

Advisory Board Member

EIT Culture & Creativity East, a.s.

Sep 2023 - Aug 2024

1 year

Cologne, Germany

Chief Operating Officer & Managing Director & Interim CFO

EITCC GmbH

Directed operational and financial transformation through an integrated HR, Finance, Legal, and IT readiness strategy.
Served as Interim CFO, executing financial restructuring, cost controls, and budget governance under EU/EIT rules.
Established PMO, HR, and IT departments, designing frameworks for recruitment, onboarding, and performance management.
Strengthened governance through policies, internal controls, KPI/OKR systems, and transparent grant and co-funding reporting.
Collaborated closely with the CEO and Board on strategic planning, risk management, and organisational effectiveness.
Built the operational backbone and reporting cadence aligned to EU/German requirements.
Implemented PMO, HR, and IT with monitoring tools that improved execution and accountability.
Stabilised finances through restructuring and rigorous funding compliance.
Positioned the organisation for sustainable growth within the European innovation ecosystem.

Jul 2023 - Present

2 years 7 months

Chief Operating Officer & Board Member

World Women Organization

Oversight of HR, Finance and Legal to ensure efficiency, reporting and compliance.
Development of measurement tools, KPIs and processes for growth and effectiveness.
Leadership of strategic initiatives and HR programs to expand global presence.
Introduced structured reporting and KPI frameworks that improved program visibility.
Strengthened operational governance to support international expansion and partnerships.

May 2022 - Jul 2023

1 year 3 months

Malta, United States

Chief Operating Officer

Rank Group

Ensured structures, systems and practices were cost-efficient and flexible for current and future needs, aligning resourcing across departments and locations.
Identified and pursued opportunities to drive profitable brand growth via customer proposition and operational model enhancements.
Monitored competition and adjacent sectors for ideas.
Oversaw day-to-day delivery across Malta and Barcelona covering commercial and technology projects.
Integrated organisation-wide development initiatives and major people and system changes.
Monitored business growth and revenue versus targets, driving remedial actions and change implementation.
Upheld regulatory requirements and company policies aligned to international norms, embedding AML and Responsible Gambling standards.
Managed 4 direct and 30+ indirect FTEs across locations, setting performance expectations and ensuring proper staffing.
Strengthened cross-border operating model and governance, improving execution reliability.
Established resourcing and performance frameworks that increased transparency and cohesion across Malta and Spain.
Protected revenue trajectory through proactive monitoring and timely corrective actions.
Embedded AML and Responsible Gambling into day-to-day processes, lifting regulatory assurance across brands.

Aug 2019 - Feb 2022

2 years 7 months

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Director of Commercial Operations

Sustainalytics/Morningstar

Built and led teams of 4 direct and 34 indirect FTEs, serving as hiring manager and capability builder through training and knowledge sharing.
Defined strategy, structure, daily operations, and procedures, setting OKRs per team and level.
Scheduled, assigned, and coordinated work with clear deadlines.
Led change programs and automated activities and workflows, designing lead management and end-to-end automations.
Managed renewals, churn programs, and client transitions for new offers.
Took a new CRM live, migrating from legacy systems with continuous design and improvement.
Automated inter-system connections.
Structured proposals and automated contracting across Sales, Legal, Inside Sales, and Contracting Solutions.
Built automated reporting for Executive Team, Finance, Sales, PM, and Projects using Power BI.
Created forecast and capacity reporting and OKR tracking.
Deployed a new global CRM with successful migration and automation of sales and contracting workflows.
Reduced churn and improved renewals through dedicated customer success programs.
Delivered unified commercial metrics and automated reporting, increasing visibility and control.
Standardised lead-to-cash processes, improving speed, accuracy, and compliance.
Increased overall revenues from below 1 million to over 80 million EUR.

Jan 2018 - Present

8 years 1 month

Consultant – Freelance

Business Ops Solutions

Provide executive-level operational leadership as a fractional COO, overseeing operations, finance, compliance, and governance to ensure stability, scalable growth, and strategic alignment.
Build and optimize operational infrastructure, including HR, Finance, IT, PMO, and Compliance functions.
Implement workflow automation, KPI and OKR systems, and change management programs to improve efficiency, accountability, and performance.
Design and implement systems and frameworks for CRM/ERP automation, team structures, and scalable processes to prepare organizations for rapid expansion.
Stabilize organizations facing operational or financial stress through rapid interventions, restructuring budgets and workflows, rebuilding governance, and restoring stakeholder confidence.
Lead 90-day operational readiness sprints to prepare companies for investors, enterprise clients, or regulatory compliance by delivering operational roadmaps, governance frameworks, and systems and controls.

Jul 2017 - Jul 2018

1 year 1 month

Berlin, Germany

Senior Manager Back Office & Operations

Agder Energi AS

Managed 10 direct FTEs, strengthening processes, training, and knowledge sharing as hiring manager.
Conducted end-to-end process mapping and optimisation, developing internal control system policies.
Approved and controlled trade executions, managing scheduling, purchase and sales order creation, and cost, stock, and storage processes.
Handled budget and invoicing approvals, ensuring monthly and yearly closings met deadlines.
Safeguarded custody of stock positions.
Provided business metrics and forward-looking analysis with economic interpretation.
Streamlined operational workflows and strengthened internal controls, improving accuracy and cost efficiency.
Improved execution reliability and stock and position visibility through process and reporting enhancements.
Delivered on-time financial closes with better transparency to stakeholders.

Oct 2013 - Jun 2017

3 years 9 months

Berlin, Germany

Head of Operations

Trailstone Group

Co-created an ETRM system mapping for day-ahead and intraday trading, implementing and managing operational workflows, tools, and training.
Controlled round-the-clock trading operations across international and Spanish markets, managing power scheduling systems and trading platforms.
Ensured adherence to market regulations and internal governance, reporting trading activity, market results, matching, and cross-border analysis.
Managed a team of 8 FTEs, training graduates, new colleagues, and traders, and overseeing back office logistics and payments for power trading.
Implemented new markets and onboarded two power scheduling systems.
Ran daily and intraday production and delivery scheduling for 11 cross-border interconnections.
Improved operational reliability and reporting quality across the UK, Germany, and Spain.

Summary

15+ years of senior leadership experience across multiple industries, with extensive international expertise driving strategic change and optimising operations. Proven track record in building organisations, departments and business units from the ground up, and in coaching senior stakeholders to deliver growth and operational excellence. I specialise in operationalising businesses by embedding governance, managing risk and driving innovation while leveraging data-driven insights to enhance resilience, maximise performance and ensure sustainable growth.

Skills

Technical & Business Systems Expertise

Salesforce
Microsoft (Crm & Erp)
Hubspot
Netsuite
Microsoft Power Automate (Flows)
Api Integrations
Workflow Automation
Atlassian Jira & Confluence – Project & Knowledge Management
Systems Admin (Microsoft & Atlassian)
Helpdesk & Itsm

Category Standards/frameworks

Information Security & Privacy: Iso 27001, Iso 27701, Iso 13485, Soc 2, Gdpr, Hipaa
Financial & Corporate: Sox, Mifid Ii, Emir, Ifrs; Governance Controls/reporting Standards
Quality & Risk: Qms, Isms, Risk Registers, Audit Readiness, Ai Ethics
Trading & Market Regulations (Eu/uk): Entso-e; Epex Spot; Omie; Eu/uk Cross-border Gaming Aml; Responsible Gambling

Languages

Spanish

Native

English

Advanced

Education

Oct 2022 - Jun 2024

London Metropolitan University

MBA, International Business · London, United Kingdom

Oct 2022 - Jun 2024

EU Business School

MBA, International Business · Switzerland

Oct 2015 - Jun 2017

The Open University

MSc, Finance · United Kingdom

...and 2 more

Certifications & licenses

Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals

IBM

Ethics Of AI

University Of Helsinki

Change Management

Acuity Institute

EDM For Admin. / Suppliers / Reporting

ORACLE

Six Sigma Black Belt

AVETA

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Experience

Head of Operations

StratifAI GmbH

Advisory Board Member

EIT Culture & Creativity East, a.s.

Chief Operating Officer & Managing Director & Interim CFO

EITCC GmbH

Chief Operating Officer & Board Member

World Women Organization

Chief Operating Officer

Rank Group

Director of Commercial Operations

Sustainalytics/Morningstar

Consultant – Freelance

Business Ops Solutions

Senior Manager Back Office & Operations

Agder Energi AS

Head of Operations

Trailstone Group

Summary

Skills

Languages

Education

London Metropolitan University

MBA, International Business · London, United Kingdom

EU Business School

MBA, International Business · Switzerland

The Open University

MSc, Finance · United Kingdom

Certifications & licenses

Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals

IBM

Ethics Of AI

University Of Helsinki

Change Management

Acuity Institute

EDM For Admin. / Suppliers / Reporting

ORACLE

Six Sigma Black Belt

AVETA

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