Interim Managing Director · Commercial & Transformation Executive

Paul Fritz Mendel

When growth stalls and change fails to reach execution, I take responsibility.Commercial impact today. Greater execution capability for tomorrow.

Interim Managing DirectorCommercial DirectorAdvisory Board & Operating Partner

Industry, energy & infrastructureGrowth, performance & new marketsTransformation, organisation & AI

Book an initial consultation Download executive profile
Available from 1 October 2026Germany · internationally mobile
Portrait of Paul Fritz Mendel
15+ yearsI connect complex established businesses with new markets, ideas and AI-enabled speed.
0 → 28Employees built
€2.6mThree-year framework
€983.6mPlatform sales by a two-person team
~21,000Stakeholder environment

01

When to bring me in

When growth, performance or execution need fresh momentum.

I take operational responsibility at short notice, address the enterprise constraint behind the symptom and align sales, performance, organisation and execution around one direction.

Review the mandate fit in detail
01

Growth and order intake have stalled

A technically strong business needs sharper priorities, customer access and disciplined commercial control.

OutcomeFocus, higher-quality pipeline and an executable growth plan.

02

A leadership role must be covered quickly

The business cannot wait for the permanent successor and needs immediate decision-making capacity.

OutcomeStability, clear ownership and an orderly handover.

03

Change is stuck inside the organisation

The direction has been agreed, but leadership, communication and involvement are not yet changing behaviour.

OutcomeOrientation, participation and a dependable execution rhythm.

04

The constraint sits between functions

Sales, procurement, production and delivery pursue reasonable individual targets but do not operate through one shared performance logic.

OutcomeClear priorities, dependable interfaces and one joined-up operating cadence.

05

Technical delivery and the market are misaligned

Capabilities are not translating into clear propositions, customer conversations or commercial decisions.

OutcomeOne joined-up commercial and operational direction.

06

Transformation needs an accountable operator

The programme matters strategically, but progress depends on leadership across functions and cultures.

OutcomeDecisions converted into coordinated, accepted delivery.

02

What I bring

Proven leadership. Cross-functional execution. AI-enabled speed.

01

Own the whole business picture

I connect direction, decisions, sales and operations and make ownership explicit across the organisation.

02

Turn strategy into market work

I connect business development, customer access, market entry and sales execution - without advisory distance.

03

Lead inside technical complexity

I operate confidently across energy, infrastructure, technical distribution and major project environments.

04

Manage across organisational boundaries

I coordinate companies, teams, authorities, asset owners and technical disciplines.

05

Make change work culturally

I explain the why, listen, create involvement and still insist on clear decisions and dependable execution.

06

AI-enabled leadership and execution system

I use AI for analysis, information synthesis, decision support, action control and recurring workflows. Judgement, leadership and accountability remain mine; usable structures and knowledge remain with the business.

Movement · Future-ready change

Stability creates the ground. Movement builds the future.

I lead classic change through clear accountability, presence and disciplined execution. My distinctive strength is movement: I connect new markets, ideas and technologies with complex established operations and turn them quickly into an executable direction.

01

Turn complexity into direction

I connect market, technology, people and numbers into a clear situation picture that creates decisions and priorities.

02

Move new markets into action

I identify adjacent opportunities, shape them into propositions and bring sales, engineering and the organisation into market execution together.

03

Use AI for 10x speed

I use AI to connect knowledge, test scenarios in parallel and make new approaches executable faster – not as theatre, but in daily operations.

04

Embed movement in the organisation

I combine speed with listening, involvement, clear roles and accountability. Movement becomes valuable only when the organisation can carry it forward.

My measureI do not pretend to predict the next 30 years. I make businesses sufficiently capable of learning and movement to shape their own future in 30 years' time.
My Movement Operating System

04

Proven impact

Evidence before assertion.

0 → 28

Employees built

I built a business from inception and led its growth to 28 employees.

€2.6m

Three-year framework

I entered the high-barrier transmission-grid market and secured a three-year infrastructure framework.

€983.6m

Platform sales by a two-person team

This team volume was processed in 2012 through the platform I helped develop and scale as part of Germany's two-person E-Business function.

~21,000

Stakeholder environment

I steered four external companies and approximately 60 people in a major transmission programme.

05

Selected case studies

How I get growth, organisations and execution moving.

Industrial · Energy · Infrastructure · Technical B2B

01

Company build & difficult market access

2019–2024

Founder & Managing Director · critical infrastructure

Assignment and outcome
Situation
Build a company from inception and enter a hard-to-access technical infrastructure market.
My contribution
I focused the target accounts, established direct access to leading operators and built sales, team leadership and delivery governance.
Outcome
28 employees, approximately €1.2m annual revenue and a €2.6m three-year framework.
Read the case study
02

Commercial cost optimisation

2015

Interim sales project lead · technical product business

Assignment and outcome
Situation
Professionalise an established product business and change an underperforming cost and supplier model.
My contribution
I redesigned specification, supplier selection and packaging sourcing and developed an adjacent CNC-based product concept.
Outcome
Unit cost reduced from approximately €2.00 to €0.30, creating recurring material six-figure savings.
Read the case study
03

Complex programme control

2022–2025

Sub-project lead · major infrastructure programme

Assignment and outcome
Situation
Make a complex programme with many stakeholders, companies and technical interfaces manageable.
My contribution
I established roles, cadence, decision paths and dependable cooperation across organisational boundaries.
Outcome
Operating control for four external companies, around 60 people and an environment of approximately 21,000 stakeholders.
Read the case study

06

My first 30 days

Understand first. Focus next. Then execute consistently.

I combine visible leadership with a rapid commercial and organisational assessment. This creates sound decisions early without running over the organisation.

Days 1–5

Listen & clarify

I speak with leaders, sales, key people, customers and relevant operating interfaces. With AI support, I condense fragmented information into a testable situation picture faster – the judgement remains mine.

Days 6–15

Decide & focus

I prioritise the central enterprise constraint, opportunities, risks and leadership decisions, test market and action options in parallel and stop activity that has insufficient impact.

Days 16–30

Execute & embed

I launch concrete commercial and operational actions, establish a clear leadership and execution cadence and make knowledge reusable.

See my 30-day approach

INSIGHTS

Paul Fritz Mendel

Insights from operating responsibility

I write about how I stabilise technical B2B businesses and move them forward at the same time: through clear leadership, new markets, culturally credible change and AI-enabled speed.

016 min read

Sales leadership · Technical B2B

When a sales problem is really a leadership problem

More leads, more meetings and a new CRM achieve little when priorities, accountability and decisions remain unclear.

Read insight
027 min read

Commercial Transformation · Operational stabilisation

Commercial transformation, not restructuring theatre

Not every difficult situation is an insolvency case. Often the business needs commercial realignment, visible leadership and disciplined execution.

Read insight
036 min read

Change Management · Organisational culture

Why change fails culturally in technical B2B

Change rarely fails because the slide deck was missing. It fails when leadership rewards behaviour that contradicts the strategy.

Read insight
046 min read

Mandate decision · Technical B2B

Interim Managing Director or Interim CSO: which responsibility does the business need?

The title is secondary to the decisions that must be made. This is how I distinguish enterprise leadership, commercial leadership and a transformation mandate.

Read insight
057 min read

Movement · Change · AI

Change in technical B2B: stabilise, move and accelerate with AI

Stabilisation is necessary, but insufficient. I connect proven leadership with new markets, ideas and AI-enabled speed.

Read insight
All insights

07

Executive experience

My career was built inside operating businesses.

Commercial, digital and transformation responsibility across technical distribution, consulting, critical infrastructure and international engineering.

View career history

UGS Undergroundsysteme GmbH / Geostock

Market & Business Development · Commercial Transformation

Areas of responsibility: sales governance, key accounts, new markets and cross-functional execution across CCS, geothermal and field operations.

VNS

Founder & Managing Director · shareholder since 2024

I built a critical-infrastructure services company, entered the German transmission-grid market and established its leadership structure for continued growth.

EY

Senior Manager · Interim & Transformation Assignments

I led client-side assignments spanning new markets, international sales, technical project sales, e-commerce and commercial-data transformation.

GC-Gruppe

E-Business

I was part of the two-person function developing and scaling GC Online Plus in Germany, alongside digital catalogue, e-procurement and automated-ordering initiatives.

08

Leadership profile

Close enough to the detail to act. Senior enough to align the system.

I combine entrepreneurial ownership, commercial focus, technical project understanding and direct execution across organisational boundaries.

I have built a company, led teams and external partners, opened difficult markets and worked across international business environments. Competitive rowing - including a European junior title in quadruple sculls and national-squad-level experience - shaped my discipline and understanding of team performance.

EducationMBA Project Management · B.A. Business Administration

LanguagesGerman, native · English, business fluent and used daily · French, basic

MobilityGermany · internationally mobile

More about me and how I lead

09

Direct contact

Let us discuss confidentially which form of responsibility will move your business forward now.

Book an initial consultation paul@paul-mendel.de +49 160 9954 2826

Germany · internationally mobile

Available from 1 October 2026