Stuttgart Region
Experienced and results-driven CFO with a strong financial leadership mindset combined with the ability to handle high pressure and complexity by visualizing and simplifying variables. Focused on transparency and continuous business processes improvement. Effective trilingual communicator and confident in dealing with people from all levels and cultures having worked internationally for many years. Key Competencies: • Strong ability to communicate complex financial information effectively • Expertise in guiding the company towards financial health and sustainable growth • Highly recognized reliability, quality of output and presentation • Solid intercultural skills gained having lived and worked in several countries around the globe • Confident and fluent in written and spoken English, German and French • Decisive and focused on the objective • Skilled at establishing strong operational and financial focus performance culture
Full scope of financial responsibility: Global P/L, B/S, Cash, Investment, Operational / Strategic Plan, M&A, IT and Process Management of Division Aftermarket 3800 Mio USD Sales, 10000 employees, 90 reporting units (manufacturing, sales and distribution) Major achievement: • Steering: Less than 1 year in the position, drove change in the reporting structure and created global business performance transparency (Full Through View)
Full scope of financial responsibility: Global P/L, B/S, Cash, Customer Quotes, Operational / Strategic Plan and M&A of Division Passive Safety 4800 Mio USD Sales, 40000 employees, 110 reporting units (manufacturing and engineering) Major achievements: • Carve-Out: Set the Division for Carve-Out Readiness • Financial Management: Created and set up finance and reporting / controlling structure from BU to Division as well as from regional and functional “focus” to global business view • “Crisis” Management: Identified early crisis in Q1 2019 and set up crisis management measures (headcount flexing, indirect spend control, etc.) • Predictive Forecasting: Set up a tool to predict Sales, Profit and Cash Flow based on historical and top down or external inputs rather than bottom-up planning allowing reduction of workload and time saving to support restructuring measures
Full scope of financial responsibility: Global P/L, B/S, Cash, Investment, Offers to Customers, Operational Plan and Strategic Plan of Occupant Safety Systems Business Unit 4200 Mio USD Sales, 30000 employees, 50 manufacturing and engineering locations Major achievements: • Claims Management: Set up a claims management process and structure • Business Quotation Tool: Set up a tool allowing agile and digitalized quotation • Forecasting Tool: Created a sales forecasting tool linked to market intelligence
Key activities include Strategic Planning (with diversification of portfolio), cash management (design of specific KPI’s to optimize cash flow, negotiation with credit institutes and optimization of foreign currency exposure) and turnaround activities. Area of responsibility: Finance, Accounting, Controlling and IT 120 Mio USD Sales, 300 employees Major achievements: • Turn Around Management: Turn Around and exploration in non-automotive business to face “Australian Automotive Crisis “ • Networking / Public Relationship: Involvement in industry and governmental discussion groups and conventions (helped in securing grants)
Lead of Location Business Unit Finance Organization ensuring compliance of financials with internal and external stakeholders. Major achievement: • Change Management: Led the financial team during merger of 2 companies (change of management, reporting structures and processes - quotation process)
Coordinate Planning, Budgeting and Forecasting for P ED NAFTA (Sales ~ 250 Mio USD) Coordinate and consolidate Strategic Business Plans for the location, the region and for segments Drive productivity activities (TOP WIP) in ED NAFTA Control and optimization of manufacturing costs (productivity, labor efficiency, inventory, material, etc.) Major achievement: Consolidation, Synergies: Identify synergies based on combination of two responsibilities (quotation parameters based on actuals, optimization of operating and strategic planning)
Manage Due Diligence (successful closing with sell of business) Define financial controls and management KPI’s, optimize processes Major achievement: • Due Diligence: Successfully closed a due diligence (from selling company point of view)
Define strategy of industrialization (worldwide responsibility, Turnover of ~ 60 Mio EUR) Financial Analysis, Budgeting, Costings Optimize Account Receivable situation (overdue) with creation of new process and reporting Major achievement: • Cash Flow: Created a process to improve past dues account receivables