Claus Schmitz

Head of Transformation & Value Creation | PMO, COO Office | PE & Mittelstand | DACH, NL

Greater Dusseldorf Area

About

Transformation & Value Creation / Wertschöpfung leader — I turn board ambition into delivered EBITDA across PE-backed scale-ups, owner-led Mittelstand, family-office-controlled holdings and large corporates. Ten years running the 90–180-day window where strategy meets execution: Value Creation Plans (VCP), 100-day / 100-Tage-Pläne, PMO set-up, carve-out and Post-Merger Integration (PMI) support, operations and fulfilment network design, KPI/OKR systems, operational excellence and Kostenprogramme — plus the human work between them. Selected impact: - 8-figure EUR recurring annual savings program delivered at a ~€3bn European e-commerce platform - Chartering fleet built 0 → 350 trucks at a Series-D logistics unicorn - Chief of Staff to COO, supporting a nine-figure Series D round I work well with three audiences that rarely share a table: - Sponsor-backed boards, Operating Partners and portfolio-ops teams: Exit-ready EBITDA, carve-out / PMI velocity, buy-and-build, value-creation cadence - Owner-led Mittelstand, Familienunternehmen and family-office-controlled holdings: Continuity, Cultural Fit, quiet durable operational gains - DAX/MDAX divisions and large corporates — Transformation execution, organisational design, Kostenprogramme, program management Current focus: Director / VP Transformation, Head of Value Creation / Wertschöpfung, Chief of Staff, COO Office, Operating Partner / Portfolio Operations. Interim or permanent. Based Greater Düsseldorf (NRW), travel-ready across DACH, Netherlands and UK. DE native · EN fluent · ES advanced.

Experience

  • Interim Transformation Lead at Claus Schmitz Interim Management
    Jan 2026 - Present · 7 mos

    Focused on transformation, PMO, operations and supply chain management in PE-backed and corporate environments across Europe.

  • zooplus ()
    • Head of Transformation & Operations Strategy
      Oct 2023 - Oct 2025 · 2 yrs 1 mo

      - Led multi-year e-commerce supply chain transformation at a PE-backed European pet-supplies platform (~€3bn revenue), delivering an 8-figure recurring EUR annual savings program while improving product availability and customer experience. - Owned the operations value-creation plan for the COO area — fulfilment-centre cost program (double-digit-million EUR EBIT uplift p.a.), inbound hub design, tactical network planning unit. - Built a combined Strategy / PMO / Analytics function as internal value-creation office for Operations: data governance, executive dashboards, demand forecasting and incremental-impact measurement. - Partnered with sponsor operating teams on quarterly value-creation reviews and board reporting.

    • Chief of Staff to the COO
      Jan 2022 - Sep 2023 · 1 yr 9 mos

      - Partnered with the COO to define and execute the COO-area strategy; set up OKR-based operating rhythm and investor reporting for sponsor ownership. - Led a cross-company initiative improving product availability from the low-80s% to the mid-90s%, unlocking a significant revenue and contribution-margin uplift. - Built and led the Tactical Network Planning team to optimise peak/Q4 e-commerce fulfillment and logistics capacity and service levels across the European fulfilment network. - Ran the COO office as a decision-velocity engine: weekly operating reviews, exec 1:1 prep, and portfolio-level prioritisation across 6+ functional tracks.

  • sennder (2 yrs)
    • Chief of Staff to the COO
      Apr 2021 - Dec 2021 · 9 mos

      - Owned annual budget cycle and recurring board presentations for a Series D-stage logistics platform. - Upgraded company steering to a metrics-based operating model (weekly KPI pack, leading-indicator dashboards, variance reviews). - Led a Tech/Business re-organisation that removed cross-functional handover friction and shortened release cycles. -Scaled the freight logistics chartered-truck business by streamlining ops processes and supporting tech rollout (freight-tech stack).

    • Senior Consultant Strategy and Growth
      Jan 2020 - Mar 2021 · 1 yr 3 mos

      - Supported the Series D funding with new revenue business cases, contributing to a ~€130m raise. - Led the logistics outsourcing Control Tower (4PL) effort from concept to first double-digit-million EUR in revenue. - Created a 4PL lead funnel worth triple-digit-million EUR (~30 active leads). - Ran a COVID-era margin improvement program (>€300k saved) — spun out as the standing Operational Controlling function.

  • Arthur D. Little ()
    • Consultant
      Jan 2019 - Oct 2019 · 10 mos

      Operations Management & Travel and Transportation - Founded a subsidiary to market non-core assets — triple-digit-million EUR EBIT p.a. for a transport client (process design, RACI, organisation set-up). - Modelled the end-to-end operations process for an international railway client.

    • Business Analyst
      May 2017 - Dec 2018 · 1 yr 8 mos

      Operations Management & Travel and Transportation - Led the PMO for a Lean Management program targeting triple-digit-million EUR in savings, including continuation concept. - Designed the KPI system steering a >70,000-employee German transport organisation.

  • Consulting Intern at INVERTO AG
    May 2016 - Jul 2016 · 3 mos

    • Supported a team on a project to determine cost reduction potential of a client in the health care sector and reengineer procurement processes • Created documents for the acquisition of new clients leading to a project