Head of IT Project Transformation Office (m/f/d)

As Head of IT Project Transformation Office, you will establish and lead a group-wide function that creates a consistent management system for strategic IT programs. You will shape the function from its initial design through to sustainable operation, providing reliable transparency, independent quality assurance, and decision-ready portfolio insights.

Operating as a lean, federated control tower, the Project Transformation Office sets minimum standards without assuming operational delivery or local portfolio management. You will work across business segments, IT, and corporate functions to strengthen governance, arbitrate cross-segment questions, and intervene when project outcomes or transformation objectives are at risk.

Your Responsibilities

• Establish the Project Transformation Office by defining its target model, governance, operating model, roadmap, central team, and federated PMO network.
• Develop the group-wide project management framework, including standards, governance, stage gates, prioritization, and project and portfolio steering.
• Implement consistent portfolio governance, reporting, and transparency standards across all business segments.
• Translate portfolio performance, risks, dependencies, and required actions into integrated, decision-ready insights for executive management.
• Conduct reviews, health checks, and assessments to strengthen the quality and delivery of critical transformation programs.
• Manage cross-segment risks, resource conflicts, and escalations, including escalation of material risks to the Executive Board.
• Partner with Group Project Controlling to integrate financial and operational portfolio steering.
• Build project management capabilities through methodology development, training and development offerings, and communities of practice, supported by a modern portfolio tool landscape, data-driven steering, and AI-based reporting approaches.
• Establish binding project management and reporting standards for external service providers and implementation partners.
• Build strong relationships across business, IT, and corporate functions to support adoption of the Project Transformation Office, and identify structural improvement areas to advance governance, standards, and delivery excellence.
• Lead the Project Transformation Office’s strategy, resources, budget, supplier steering, and team development.

Your Qualifications

• At least 15 years of experience leading programs, portfolios, transformation initiatives, or enterprise PMOs with company-wide responsibility, based on a university degree in business administration, engineering, computer science, natural sciences, or a comparable field.
• Proven experience establishing or transforming an enterprise PMO, transformation office, or portfolio management function.
• Experience steering complex transformation programs in international, regulated corporate environments, including programs with budgets exceeding EUR 30 million.
• Demonstrated expertise in designing risk- and value-based project governance, stage-gate models, portfolio reporting, and forecasting without adding unnecessary complexity.
• Proven people leadership experience, with the ability to lead, develop, and empower teams while creating alignment and setting standards across a federated organization.
• Ability to manage critical dependencies, challenge program leads constructively, escape material risks with sound judgement, and engage C-level stakeholders with confidence and credibility to drive sustainable change adoption across business segments.
• Experience with ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management or comparable portfolio management solutions, as well as Power BI and Power Platform reporting solutions.
• Business-fluent German and English, with the ability to translate complex portfolio data into clear, decision-ready management information at executive level.