Munich, Bavaria, Germany
I am a people leader with 10+ years of professional experience in top management consulting and start-up from early to listed stage, with a broad experience on strategy, finance, fundraising, M&A, and project management. I am passionate about deep-tech and mobility, multi-cultural setups, and my family and kids. I hold a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and obtained my education at TU Munich, Stanford, and University of Texas at Austin
Leadership role reporting to CEO - Broad stakeholder management: work with C-level, founders and board of directors - Overall responsibility for all operational and strategic finance topics of FERNRIDE (Accounting, Controlling, FP&A, Business Partnering, Tax, Risk, Shareholder Reporting): Built and rolled out new budget management and liquidity forecasting tools, completed annual audits - Leading internal team and working with team of external advisors (tax consultants, banks, legal counsel, auditors) - Responsible for FERNRIDE Long Term Financial plan and Fundraising Strategy and materials (Equity Story, VDR, DD) - Leading multiple workstreams on equity and debt financing, public grants, and other liquidity instruments
- Leadership role in Finance Division with broad remit reporting to CFO, close collaboration with accounting, legal, FP&A, Investor Relations, Commercial and Engineering teams - Broad stakeholder management: work with C-level, founders, board of directors, financial and legal advisors, analysts, investors, suppliers on pressing topics - Financial strategy: deliver company Business Plan incl. Unit Economics, Go-to-Market plan, cash forecasting, controlling tools, and reporting materials - Fundraising: develop capital strategy and investor targeting, provide materials (Equity Story, VDR, DD), and run full end-to-end process for equity, public/state, debt funding - Drive strategic partnerships and M&A along Lilium’s full value chain - Cross-divisional strategic projects, e.g., on batteries, industrialization, future businesses Selected achievements in this role: · Built and developed strong and high-impact team of former consultants · Raised >$500mn of capital since de-SPAC · Led two strategic minority investments into key suppliers in battery space
- Develop initial commercial and go-to-market strategy and Business Plan - Build strategic partnerships - Fundraising and investor management Selected achievements in these roles: · Core member to close one of Germany’s largest SPAC IPOs working with CEO, CFO, and board across full process, managing 50+ stakeholders (banks, lawyers, investors) · Developed make-buy/partner strategy along Lilium’s operating stack · Conducted 100+ interviews as one of Lilium’s hand-picked bar-raisers to help founders and leaders across all divisions build and scale their teams
As part of McKinsey’s Advanced Industries Practice, I worked with clients from the automotive and process industry (OEMs and suppliers, mid-sized companies and Global Hidden Champions) as well as from the financial sector (PE). I led workstreams and co-led projects around corporate and product strategy, due diligence, operational excellence, advanced analytics, cost optimization, organizational design. Selected project experience: Automotive industry: - Content and cost optimization program for premium OEM Achievement: Led workstream to identify and plan implementation of cost levers - Re-design of organizational setup of R&D ressort for premium OEM Achievement: Defined future tasks of E/E function and optimized org structure - Introduction of advanced analytic tools in sales for mass market OEM Achievement: Developed big data method to identify customer preferences - Due-diligence on Tier 1 automotive supplier Achievement: Led workstream to develop market model and competitive landscape Heavy vehicle industry: - Product strategy and engine roadmap of multi-brand OEM to standardize offering Achievement: Developed engine market model and created buy-in of all stakeholders - Organizational redesign of finance function of multi-brand holding structure Achievement: Developed structure and sizing for state-of-the-art finance function Process industry - Lead time reduction and project planning & steering for machine manufacturer Achievement: Developed redesign planning and steering function and delivered new and transparent project execution process - Design, quantification and preparation of restructuring program Achievement: Led multi-lever approach (cost-down, org. design, product strategy)
Doctorate (Dr.-Ing.) in Computational Fluid Dynamics