Locations: Mülheim an der Ruhr and Düsseldorf
The role
In the Holding, you own the AI agenda end to end, including implementation: you define the roadmap and turn ideas into working, governed solutions with Group IT.
Across selected portfolio companies, you act as an enabler and help shape the roadmap together with management (covering both product-related and efficiency use cases). Implementation is driven by the portfolio companies‘ own teams; you support them along the way, including in selecting the right implementation partners, and ensure adherence to the governance standards set by the Group.
Why this role exists
- Uneven adoption: AI maturity varies widely across portfolio companies, often depending on the affinity of local top management. The Holding and the portfolio companies need a clear AI roadmap and a realistic path to implementation.
- Ungoverned use: AI use is spreading faster than we can standardise, secure and support it. Tool selection is inconsistent, sensitive data is exposed to compliance and data-residency risk, and sanctioned use cannot be told apart from unsanctioned use.
- Delivery bottleneck: Routing every internal tooling need through a formal business-to-IT hand-off has created delay, backlog and solutions that miss the mark.
- Unrealised return: We are investing in AI tooling, but its return is neither systematically pursued nor consistently measured.
What you will do
- Roadmap: Build and maintain the Holding’s AI roadmap; prioritise use cases by value, feasibility and risk.
- Implementation: Co-develop Holding solutions with business teams (dashboards, workflow aids, automations) using AI-assisted development, then hand them over to Group IT against agreed readiness criteria.
- Portfolio support: As an enabler, help selected portfolio companies develop their AI roadmaps (product-related and efficiency use cases) and ensure they follow Group governance standards.
- Partner selection: Assess and recommend implementation partners and vendors; support the selection process and contract scoping.
- Governance: Set Group-wide AI policies, an approved toolset and data-handling standards, bring shadow AI into a governed framework and provide local, more sovereign options where sensible. You recommend; management decides.
- Business enablement: Drive adoption in non-technical teams (e.g. finance, operations, sales, legal) through proven use cases, training and internal champions; keep technical teams‘ usage safe with lightweight oversight.
- Value tracking: Define KPIs for AI investments and report on adoption, cost and realised benefit.
- Horizon scanning: Track new models and tools so the Group keeps working with the most effective technology (secondary to implementation).
What success looks like after 12 months
- An agreed AI strategic and implementation roadmap for the Holding and for the priority portfolio companies.
- A clear AI policy and approved tool landscape.
- First use cases live in the Holding, with measurable time or cost savings.
- Internal champions in key business teams in Holding and across portfolio companies.
What you bring
- Degree in computer science, engineering, business informatics or a related field.
- 5+ years in digital transformation, data/AI, consulting or IT, and a coding background. Proven track record of taking ideas to working solutions, with genuine fluency in modern AI-assisted, web-based development – the core of the role.
- Deep, current, hands-on command of leading GenAI and automation tools, how to apply them productively, and their limits and risks (data protection, EU AI Act).
- Experience assessing vendors and steering implementation partners.
- Strong communication (a must-have): you explain technology in plain language, move between management, business teams and IT, win over sceptics, moderate and handle conflict well.
- Consultant mindset: you grasp processes quickly, advise across departments and help teams find the right path; pragmatic, hands-on and comfortable across companies with different maturity levels.
- Curious and open-minded, with an appetite for staying at the frontier of a fast-moving field.
- Fluent English and German. Willingness to travel to portfolio companies.
Contact
Silvia Helfberend
Phone: +49 (0) 208 99 91 236
Please send your application (CV and relevant certificates) to:
hr@schauenburg.com