Timo Sledzinski

Commercial Leader @ MAHLE | Strategy, Transformation & P&L Impact | AI in Business | Clarity, Accountability and Human-Centered Leadership

Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

About

I lead at the intersection of strategy, operations and people, convinced the best business decisions come from holding all three in balance. My path has taken me from shaping corporate strategy and innovation to running a global, P&L-relevant function with significant commercial exposure and cross-functional teams: a deliberate broadening with the same conviction about what good leadership looks like. My core leadership principles: 1) Clarity and humanity: straight talk paired with genuine respect. 2) Accountability and relationships: owning outcomes while building partnerships that outlast any single project. 3) Economic reality and psychological depth: making hard commercial calls without losing sight of what moves the humans behind them. Curious, performance-driven, and convinced that great results and genuine enjoyment of the work belong together. Always open to exchange with peers in general management, strategy and AI-driven transformation.

Experience

  • MAHLE (12 yrs 6 mos)
    • Head of Global Raw Materials Purchasing, Thermal and Fluid Systems
      Jun 2026 - Present · 2 mos

      • Scope & setup: Leading the global raw materials purchasing organization for Thermal and Fluid Systems business unit at MAHLE, with responsibility across all regions. • Responsible for the overall raw materials purchasing strategy, covering supplier portfolio, commercial outcomes, organizational performance and transformation priorities across all material groups including aluminum, polymers and filter media. • Leading the central lead buying team at headquarters with direct responsibility, and steering regional commodity buyers across multiple regions through functional leadership in a center-led procurement setup. • Driving the function through a phase of structural change in global supply chains, with focus on resilience, competitiveness and long-term supplier relationships.

    • Head of Corporate Strategy & Managing Director MAHLE New Ventures
      Jul 2022 - May 2026 · 3 yrs 11 mos

      • Scope & setup: Reporting to the CEO, leading an international team of ~50 strategy, M&A, business development and venturing experts • Owning MAHLE Group strategy, portfolio management and the corporate strategy process across all business units, regions and functions • Led the development and group-wide rollout of MAHLE2030+ together with the Executive Board – the corporate strategy that became the overarching steering framework for the group's transformation toward a diversified technology company. • Drove portfolio reshaping with consistent focus on growth fields (incl. thermal management, electrification); took a leading role across multiple carve-out and divestiture processes – from strategic decision-making through deal origination to due diligence. • As MD MAHLE New Ventures: developed and scaled the unit into an effective platform for corporate venturing and new business fields – including multiple VC funding rounds, scaling the largest portfolio company to high double-digit million revenue, and high double-digit million business impact through startup-BU collaboration. • Strategic sparring partner to the executive board and the regional/functional leadership worldwide on transformation, portfolio and technology direction. • Preparation, coordination and participation in strategic working groups with the MABEG shareholder association on long-term group direction.

    • Head of Corporate Business Development
      Jan 2020 - Oct 2022 · 2 yrs 10 mos

      • Scope: Leading a team of 5 in Corporate Business Development, responsible for strategic special projects, target screenings and business cases for the Executive Board and the corporate strategy function – with a focus on new growth fields, portfolio diversification and M&A preparation. • Led a corporate-wide study to identify and assess industrial growth fields for the diversification of the MAHLE portfolio, including the design of a structured evaluation process up to the selection of the most attractive fields – several of which today generate double-digit million revenues. • Drove M&A target identification and business case development for the Executive Board across multiple potential transactions and new business fields. • Built and developed the team in a phase shaped by Covid-19, strengthening individual skill sets and broadening the service portfolio toward higher-impact strategic projects. The scope of this role was subsequently expanded into the position of Head of Corporate Strategy & MD MAHLE New Ventures.

  • Bachelor Thesis (Market Intelligence) at MAHLE
    Sep 2012 - Feb 2013 · 6 mos

    In my bachelor thesis I developed a new competitor intelligence solution for MAHLE, allowing an efficient global collection and exchange of intelligence data. I was also responsible for the testing and implementation within MAHLE's global sales organization.

  • Internship (Strategic Purchasing) at MAHLE
    Aug 2011 - Feb 2012 · 7 mos

    Developing cost reduction concepts in the strategic purchasing area and supporting the establishment of a e-commerce solution for non production material.

  • Internship (Production and Investment Planning) at TRUMPF
    May 2009 - Sep 2009 · 5 mos

    Gaining first insights into large scale and high quality production environments plus the chance to take over first responsibilities on shop floor level as well as in planning teams.