Curriculum vitae
Michael Schmid
Chief Operating Officer
Business development · Digital transformation · Innovation
87634 Obergünzburg, Germany[email protected]michael-schmid.digitallinkedin.com/in/michis0806I combine operational leadership with business development, digital transformation and technical implementation. Over more than 20 years, I have developed digital business models, built teams and shaped change, from agency work to group-wide platform projects.
My focus is on bringing together business goals, people's needs and technical possibilities. I lead collaboratively, encourage ownership and promote a culture in which mistakes can be discussed openly. I use AI to reduce the workload of business teams and provide a better basis for decisions.
Professional experience
Chief Operating Officer
Responsibility for workflows, management accounting, operations, customer service and e-commerce. Cost, revenue and profit responsibility for D2C and Amazon Vendor; direct management and professional leadership of eight employees.
- Expansion of digitalisation and automation across operational processes: around 95% of orders are processed automatically from end to end – from receipt to invoicing and checks of incoming payments and eligibility for early-payment discounts.
- Independent development of an Amazon API integration, AI-assisted order entry and early-payment discount checks with AI support; leadership of the team's B2B shop rollout.
- Introduction of AI applications for procurement, delivery monitoring and quality management into daily use. Automated goods-receipt reconciliation saves around 8–10 hours per week.
- Establishment of structured demand planning and early identification of delivery delays. Gradual introduction of new applications, with plausibility checks and trials by the relevant business teams.
Head of E-Commerce / Digital / Operations
- Development of digital infrastructure and end-to-end business processes. Selection of the ERP system and responsibility for ERP and EDI implementation, including process design, data modelling and project management.
- Selection and management of agencies and external service providers for e-commerce and digitalisation; alignment of requirements, priorities and delivery.
Development across both roles since 2020: Significant expansion of D2C and Amazon Vendor through social media advertising, catalogue structuring and improved order fulfilment, with stabilised margins. Repeated bestseller rankings in the wet dog food category on Amazon.
Earlier professional experience
Product Owner / Business Development / Project Management
- Product Owner for redFACT from November 2018: consolidation and prioritisation of client requirements and integration into product development in collaboration with the development teams.
- Development of the service offering and cross-team processes; leadership of client projects for CMS, single sign-on and portal relaunches.
- Leadership of a data project, including coordination of external service providers, project performance monitoring and alignment of delivery with management.
COO / Head of Production and Development
- Significant contribution across several roles to the development from a portal team to a web agency and then a full-service advertising agency; company growth from two to around 25 employees.
- Direct management and professional leadership of around 20 employees across technology, design and content management; responsibility for budgets, financial results and strategic business development.
Group-wide responsibility for e-commerce
Expansion of responsibility beyond the agency: from leading the e-commerce workstream within the group-wide SAP programme to process ownership across group companies.
- April 2014–January 2017 · E-commerce workstream lead: Leadership of the e-commerce workstream for the introduction of SAP Hybris, the platform selected at group level; definition of requirements and processes, and coordination with all other SAP workstreams.
- January 2017–September 2018 · E-commerce process owner: Alignment of requirements across group companies, planning of further development and support for migrations to the shared platform.
Head of Online & Mobile
Coordination of the digital activities of Mediengruppe Allgäuer Zeitung and development of its web and advertising agency.
Early career in electronic media
Internship (November 1999–August 2000), vocational training (September 2000–July 2002), online media designer (August 2002–September 2003) and working student in online media (October 2003–July 2006). Independent responsibility for all-in.de's technical operations after vocational training and contribution to the development of the web agency; university studies alongside work.
Education and service
Diplom-Betriebswirt (FH)
German degree in business administration
Kempten University of Applied Sciences · 2003–2006
Marketing management, business development and consulting
Digital and print media designer
Vocational training at Allgäuer Zeitungsverlag / State Vocational School Kempten · 2000–2002
Abitur (German university entrance qualification) · Allgäu-Gymnasium Kempten · 1997
Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Swabia · February 2004–August 2020
Member of the examination board for digital and print media designers
Skills and practical experience
Operations and business development · Leadership · Management accounting · Process improvement · E-commerce · Supply chain · Project and product management
Systems: combit CRM, SAP, SAP Hybris, OXID, Microsoft SQL Server, Shopware 6, EDI, Amazon API, DATEV
Administration: Linux administration
AI and AI-assisted development: ChatGPT / Codex, Claude / Claude Code, Gemini
Languages: German (native), English (fluent)
Personal app projects: apps.schmid.tv