Freelancer profile translated to English.

Description

Companies in regulated industries gain an experienced IT executive with me who not only knows DORA, NIS2, MaRisk, and BaFin requirements but also implements them operationally.

As an Interim CIO, Head of IT, or IT Governance Consultant, I take responsibility where it matters: building and developing IT organizations, implementing compliance frameworks, preparing for audits and examinations, and strategic IT leadership at the C-level.

20+ years of IT experience, including several years in BaFin-regulated institutions with a direct reporting line to the Management Board. AI Officer according to the EU AI Act — one of the few freelancer profiles with real implementation experience in the AI governance environment.

My mandates: IT Governance setup, DORA/NIS2 implementation, outsourcing management, interim leadership, BCM, and IT strategy — preferably in finance, energy, and infrastructure.

Hamburg & remote

Industry field of expertise

Languages

German
Native or bilingual
English
Fluent

Workplace preferences

Can work on-site

Harsefeld (up to 50km), Bremen (up to 50km), Hannover (up to 50km), Hamburg (up to 50km)

EDEKABANK AG
Lead IT, IT-Governance & Process Administration
BANKING AND INSURANCE
January 2025 - Today (1 year and 5 months)
Hamburg, Germany
Strategy & Governance:

Strategic and operational management of IT Governance, IT Compliance, and Process Administration with direct responsibility for the IT risk landscape
Support of the Management Board through IT analyses, quarterly forecasts, and strategic decision proposals
Development and implementation of a complete IT strategy, considering BAIT, MaRisk, and DORA
Development of standardized procedures for meeting regulatory requirements; close collaboration with the ISB (2nd Line of Defense)
Responsibility for IT emergency management and Business Continuity Management (BCM)

AI Responsibility & AI Officer (EU AI Act):

Establishment of an AI Governance Framework: Classification of AI systems by risk class, ensuring regulatory compliance
Evaluation of AI application scenarios in banking operations (compliance checks, document processing, internal knowledge assistance)
Piloting AI-supported automation solutions to reduce manual routine tasks
Building internal AI competence: training, policies, and guidelines for responsible AI use

Infrastructure & Operations:

Full responsibility for the entire IT infrastructure: VMware virtualization, Cisco network & firewall, Azure & GCP, Microsoft 365, as well as backup & recovery with Veeam
Ensuring the recoverability of all critical systems according to BCM and DORA requirements
IT Strategy DORA IT Governance BCM
Wallis GmbH (Finanz Informatik / StarFinanz)
Head of IT & DevOps
BANKING AND INSURANCE
January 2021 - December 2024 (3 years and 11 months)
Hamburg, Germany
Greenfield setup of the entire IT organization and IT strategy from scratch in a newly founded, BaFin-regulated fintech. Full alignment with ZAIT requirements as a basis for obtaining BaFin approval as a payment initiation service provider.
Infrastructure & Operations:

Multi-cloud infrastructure based on Kubernetes on-premises – 99.9% availability, +50% performance increase
CI/CD platform with GitLab: full automation of build, test, and deployment; Infrastructure as Code as standard
Observability stack (Prometheus & Grafana): real-time monitoring, alerting, and AI-supported anomaly detection
Central IAM system: role-based access control, SSO integration, lifecycle management
SOC setup with Splunk as SIEM: Detection Rules, Incident Response processes, Security Dashboards

AI & Automation:

Internal AI assistant prototype for automated classification of support requests (LLM API integration)
AI-supported anomaly detection in infrastructure monitoring for proactive error detection
Piloting GitHub Copilot and AI-supported code review solutions

Operational Successes:

Complete setup of the IT organization from scratch – including obtaining BaFin approval
Establishment of internal IT support structures: +50% efficiency, NPS > 80
Implementation of DMS, CRM, and accounting systems – Zero Major Incidents
Establishment of governance frameworks for DORA, NIS2, and ISO 27001
Stadtwerke Stade GmbH
Network Billing & Process Management / IT Administration
May 2011 - December 2020 (9 years and 7 months)
Spreenweg 1, Rostock, MV, Germany
Gradual assumption of IT responsibility: from network billing and process management to the central interface function IT/business departments with responsibility for Microsoft 365/Azure and digitalization projects.
• 50% reduction in workload through process optimization and digitalization
• Project responsibility for Microsoft 365 / Azure migration and implementation of a process management system
• Implementation of MaKo 2020, planning, and introduction of an online contract conclusion portal