Hofheim am Taunus, Hesse, Germany
I am currently leading a highly distributed 600+ people software engineering organisation at HERE Technologies. Growing as a leader, I always circle back to the topics of “how to build a better organisation?” and “how to execute efficiently and effectively?”. My top 3 three focus areas I start with a new team ... 1. Understanding the ontology - the concepts - that the organisation and the surrounding teams are build upon. Especially in organisations where teams are undergoing continuous transformations the concepts are often diluted and you will see inefficient communication. Related to the ontology is the process landscape that the teams are following. A right amount of not-to-detailed work instructions have to be applied and frequently audited as a solid foundation for a good organisation. 2. I look at talent distribution in combination with the location strategy of the teams. As an example I moved one big team that was distributed across the globe to one single location which had positive impact on the productivity of the team and further increased the site-identity and engagement. 3. From time to time - usually in crisis situations - I will get into execution details and bring the project back on track. Being able to guide organisation improvements based on execution experience is more effective. I started my career at the Technical University of Darmstadt - electrical engineering and economics - and I graduated in 2001. Next, I continued research in the e-learning domain and in computer science in general at the Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering (ISST) in Berlin. In the course of my affiliation, I designed and implemented a knowledge sharing platform and authored various articles about knowledge sharing and collaboration systems. After 3+ years of research, I quit Fraunhofer to work as a senior consultant for customers as Deutsche Bank and Vodafone. I worked in projects in the area of multi-channel publishing and output managment. I was part of a team as an architect and technical lead, which build the central Output Management System for Deutsche Bank. By now, that system has delivered billon of pages of different PDF documents (e.g. account statements) to customers through online and offline channels. In 2009, I joined Momax GmbH to build payment solutions for different scenarios. Beginning 2010, Momax GmbH launched a revolutionary micropayment solution for digital content for which I designed and developed the core system. My journey at HERE started as an Agile Coach in 2011.
I am currently leading a highly distributed 600+ people software engineering organisation "Maps & Services Engineering". The team creates location services for search, rendering and navigation based on HERE Maps. Our NDS (Navigation Data Standard) and SDK based deliveries bring the HERE Maps as navigation map databases and maps for adas/autonomous driving application to vehicles.
Designing the business architecture and technical architecture of a cloud-based, online-payment system for digital content and a booking system for ride-sharing companys. Introducing a ticketing system and collaborative platform to improve team communication. Developing backend components, including database layer and business logic layer.
Ensuring prioritization, testability, clarity and feasability of requirements for high-volume web applications. Leading three cross-functional teams in a startup-like environment as a scrum master. Helping the teams to remove obstacles as fast as possible. Establishing a two week release cycle for product increments of web applications. Improve company-wide management processes by organizing ,communities of practices‘.
Tracking and reporting project risks and progress for a high volume output management system for Deutsche Bank. Creating cross-department project plans by organising joint planning workshops for the national rollout of a new operating system for 3000 service terminals. Elaborating a message- orientied architecture for a further stage of expansion of the ouput management system.
Designing and implementing a web based social knowledge management system. Writing scientific articles about knowledge management. Presenting results of scientic work on knowledege and e- learning conferences (e.g. Learntec Karlsruhe).