People Developer Product Manager Digital Transformer Innovation Consultant

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Karsten Baumgartl

I could say that my soul is that of a business- and people-developer, while my heart is one of a product manager.

Product management is a professional ambition that carries me because of its long-term commitment to continuously delivering something that benefits its users as much as possible. For that reason, I’ve spent much of my career improving my knowledge of methodologies and performance-improvement mindsets to overcome the complexities of modern digital product development and enable any team I participate in to deliver the best possible quality with high motivation. Furthermore, thriving for automation and optimisation led to my gaining knowledge on the goal-oriented selection of KPIs that make telling a compelling story possible while maintaining team focus on results instead of reporting.

Throughout the numerous projects I participated in, the relevance of synergy within teams and in the general organisational scope gained obvious relevance. Harmonisation as an essencial asset for sustainable growth in productivity and individual fulfilment meant that a humanised approach was paramount to make the seeking of common goals a reality, also putting the focus on the human element.

Combining methodical and technical knowledge, an absolute focus on sustainable and productive relationships with people and a holistic approach to user-centric product philosophies, I have measurable success in diverse endeavours and strive to maintain this for both my professional and private life.

100 %
YoY increase in productivity through agile methodologies and performance improvement
0 bn€
proposed new revenue streams through innovation and transformation
0 mn€
cost-savings through pandemic-related innitiatives (no influence on the payroll)
0 +
new users serviced with new digital products and features globally

Manager | Consulting

EY Germany, Aug. 2020 - Present

  • Leading three simultaneous workstreams in internal program to address and potentiate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for EY.
  • Active member and speaker of the GSA Consulting Young Leadership Board, driving initiatives targeted at further aligning senior leadership with the Consulting community.
  • Active role in digitizing processes and providing software-based solutions to a global dealership network of one of the world’s largest manufacturers of agricultural equipment.
  • Workstream lead for the transition of allservice-and support-capabilities of a leading automotive OEM to a third-party provider, including implementation of agile processes to ensure LEAN iterative improvement and the keeping of essential milestone timelines.

Senior Product Manager

etventure, MAR. 2018 - Aug. 2020

  • Professionalization and standardization of SCRUM methods in projects.
    Prolongation of first project as Senior Product Manager for BMW within the first three months of employment.
  • Deployment of internal initiatives, a primary example of which a continuous customer satisfaction dashboard that enables stakeholders to be warned of developing client pains and market trends that ensure sustainable client relationships.
  • Rapid improvement of soft- and leadership-skills with chapter employees, enabling collaboration efforts between product- and project-management that led to the development of the RepairFix MVP for BASF.

Head of Product

Troi GmbH, Nov. 2012 - MAR. 2018

  • Introduction of agility into the company with the Troi 6 product development.
  • Successful transition of the Troi 5 development method into Scrum in the first sprint with an immediate increase in velocity.
  • Introduction of metrics-based decision making process with established KPIs along with homegrown ones such as the Synergy metric.
  • Transition from inherited 10 years of loss containment to profitability (innovation, design-thinking) in one year.
  • Introduction of design-thinking process for user-centric development.

Founding Partner | CD

insane4frame, Feb. 2010 - Nov. 2012

  • Concept creation for image films for brands such as BMW, Webasto, MAN, Alantum, Sony Ericsson, and Mini.
  • Administrative controlling of company strategy, including development of sustainable relationships with clients, creation of retainer model and resource distribution.

Skills

Languages

Through bicultural upbringing, gaining proficiency in both Brazilian Portuguese and German was a natural consequence, highlighted by the graduation in the Swiss Matura in Brazil.

Portuguese
English
German
French
Spanish

Technologies

Thorough affinity to technology became an asset, as learning to handle new tools and languages became a hobby, bringing much fulfilment to professional endeavours.

BI Tools
Atlassian Suite
Sheets & DBs
Backend
Frontend
Workflow Generators
Automation
Digital Process Optimisation

People

The frustration of striving to achieve greater productivity through automation and seamless use of methodologies while colliding with teammates led to a program of further developing people.

  • Empathy Focus

    While primarily focused on the needs of the project mandating the shift in focus for the people, pivoting to developing on people's strengths and challenges let to much better outcomes for clients.

  • 360° Counseling

    A top-down bilateral exchange proved ineffective, as individual knowledge was unable to fill possible experience gaps other members of the group could have. The 360° model was developed so that the counselling member could act as both an advisor and a facilitator, while other members are pushed to serve as advisors themselves.

  • Focus on Fulfillment

    Due to the impossibility of finding the right projects for people, which led to high attrition in the organisation, the focus was put on finding fulfilment within or outside of the comfort-zone of each group member. The right project didn't exist, only the right mindset to join any project and seek fulfilment all the same.

Certifications

Prince2 Foundation & Practitioner Certified

  • Advanced Project Management

    PRINCE2 enables its practitioners to execute complex longterm programs and projects through cyclic stakeholder management and a multilayered approach to work-package execution.

  • Complex Program Structures

    Following similar routines to PMP, a streamlined approach to alignment between from task thru project and program levels allows for near-infinite scaling of a successfully executed program.

Professional SCRUM Master Certified - Scrum.org

  • Theory meets Experience

    Unifying years of practical experience implementing SCRUM in diverse on-, near- and off-shore teams with the rulebook approach, the SCRUM Master Certification complements the freestyle approach.

  • Methodical Diversification

    After years of applying singular product ownership knowledge, the more holistic approach from the SCRUM Master's perspective to the initiative's execution provide the perfect addition to a varied skillset.

Product Owner Advanced Certified - Bor!s Gloger

  • Complex Stakeholder Management

    Facing complex stakeholder structures for different product categories in the digital space, the theoretical approach provided the necessary knowledge to collaborate with client- and internal stakeholders to establish a comprehensive and thought out prioritisation method.

  • Prioritisation and Business Value

    Additionally, harmonising a synergised attribute-set to define business value guaranteed long-term growth for the product's acceptance and retained adoption.

Education

University of Applied Sciences Munich - Bachelor in Business Administration

Gaining bachelor-level knowledge of business administration, from financial mathematics to human resource management, through statistics, micro- and macro-economics. The unification of existing knowledge from work-experience with the academic nature of the acquired learnings proved valuable to improve output and outcome quality in daily managerial work.

Swiss School Brazil in São Paulo - Swiss Matura

Multicultural education, diversified between Brazilian and Swiss programs, including the full graduation from the Swiss Matura. Among learning programs from both backgrounds, five different language programs were offered as well.

On to the fun stuff

Running

At 32 I decided to live my life better and to maximise the potential that was being offered to me. From couch-potating (is that even a word?) to having bad habits I managed to transform running from a chore, that needed to be done three times a week to an obsession that allows me to meditate and be healthy, both physically and mentally. I am now the proud owner of a 41m51s 10k time and ran the Berlin Marathon in 3h34m44s.

Technology

Much more than an asset in my career, technology has always been a part of my life. I love automating things, improving workflows, adding focus modes to my daily tasks, tracking my fitness and exploring new possibilities.

Both professionally and personally, I am greatly satisfied when technology works for me, not the other way around, so I follow the necessary news outlets, listen to experts and always make an effort to be on the cutting edge.

Wakeboarding

My father is both a waterskier and a competitive sailor. So, due to an act of providence, my brother went into competitive sailing while I decided to go into professional wakeboarding (because skiing was no longer cool) at the age of 18. I did win some chanpionships in the open categories and competed in the Brazilian professional national tour until “retiring” at the age of 24… I was good, but not money-making good. I was and, still am, happiest when I am strapped to a wakeboard.

Movies

Giving up movie-making as a professional was probably one of the toughest decisions I ever had to make. In hindsight, it is a decision I will never regret making. Movies have always been one of my biggest passions and the friction created by trying to “make it” as a screenwriter was turning that passion into hatred. I still follow the industry very closely and love it when my current endeavours in IT allow me to use the knowledge I gathered into providing better results.

Contact

In the best interest of having a positive influence in the world and promoting a message of improving outcomes while reducing the underlying effort, I am excited to engage in conversation with people from all backgrounds and the ambition to have an impact in the future.

I welcome your message and look forward to having a chat about whichever topics entice you, where you believe I can be beneficial for your endeavours.

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