Curriculum vitae
Michael Schmid
Chief Operating Officer
Business development · Digital transformation · Innovation
87634 Obergünzburg, Germany[email protected]schmid.tvlinkedin.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
Responsible 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.
- Expanded the digitalisation and automation of 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.
- Independently developed an Amazon API integration, AI-assisted order entry and early-payment discount checks with AI support; led the team's introduction of a B2B shop.
- Brought AI applications for procurement, delivery monitoring and quality management into daily use. Automated goods-receipt reconciliation saves around 8–10 hours per week.
- Established structured demand planning and early identification of delivery delays. Introduced new applications gradually, with plausibility checks and trials by the relevant business teams.
Head of E-Commerce / Digital / Operations
- Built digital infrastructure and end-to-end business processes. Selected the ERP system and took responsibility for the ERP and EDI implementation, including process design, data modelling, project management and coordination of external service providers.
Development across both roles since 2020: Significantly expanded D2C and Amazon Vendor through social media advertising, catalogue structuring and improved order fulfilment, while stabilising margins. Achieved 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: consolidated and prioritised client requirements and worked with development teams to incorporate them into the product.
- Developed the service offering and cross-team processes; led client projects for CMS, single sign-on and portal relaunches.
- Led a data project: coordinated external service providers, monitored project performance and aligned delivery with management.
COO / Head of Production and Development
- Played a significant role in the company's development from a portal team to a web agency and then a full-service advertising agency across several roles; the company grew from two to around 25 employees.
- Managed around 20 employees across technology, design and content management; responsible for budgets, financial results and strategic business development.
Additional responsibilities across the group
April 2014–January 2017 · E-commerce workstream lead: Supported the introduction of SAP Hybris, the platform selected at group level; defined requirements and processes, and coordinated with all other SAP workstreams.
January 2017–September 2018 · E-commerce process owner: Aligned requirements across group companies, planned further development and supported migrations to the platform.
Head of Online & Mobile
Coordinated the digital activities of Mediengruppe Allgäuer Zeitung and helped build 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). After completing vocational training, independently maintained all-in.de's technical operations and helped build the web agency; studied 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 used as ERP, Microsoft SQL Server, Shopware 6, SAP Hybris, EDI, Amazon API, DATEV Unternehmen online
AI-assisted development: Claude Code, Codex; Gemini for image recognition tasks
Languages: German (native), English (fluent)
Personal app projects: apps.schmid.tv