Critical projects. Back under control.
Executive Turnaround & Delivery Leadership
for capital projects under pressure.
I establish where your project truly stands, make decisions possible again, and bring execution back under control.
25+ years of international leadership · capital projects
exceeding €1.5 billion · EPC · EPCM · owner and investor side · Europe & Africa
LASTING STABILIZATION RARELY COMES FROM PRESSURE ALONE
You know it before the report confirms it.
Milestones slip. Forecasts shift. Decisions are made and reopened weeks later. The reports still show progress — your confidence in the project no longer does.
At this point it is no longer about individual project issues. The question is whether the project organization still recognizes the situation in time, decides, and acts decisively to protect the investment.
- The reported status no longer matches what you see yourself.
- Critical decisions remain open — or fail to hold.
- Project leadership is pulled into day-to-day operations and loses the overview.
- Schedule, cost, contracts, and engineering are steered in isolation from one another.
- Escalations reach you only once correction has become expensive.
Seeing this early is not a bad sign — it is the best moment to act. At that stage, more reporting does not create control. Leadership does.
I DO NOT ADD ANOTHER LAYER OF CONSULTING TO THE PROJECT.
I restore your ability to steer.
One unvarnished overall picture.
Schedule, cost, contracts, engineering, organization, and stakeholders in one clear view for executive management — not another status report, but the interpretation: what is happening, why, and what it means for the investment.
Decisions that hold.
Clear responsibilities and escalation paths. Decisions are made at the right level, on a sound basis — and carried through into execution.
A project organization that delivers again.
I align project leadership, technical functions, commercial teams, contractors, and stakeholders behind one objective. Where leadership is strong, I strengthen it; where it is missing, I close the gap.
THREE TYPICAL STARTING POINTS
When I step in
Before the loss of control becomes visible.
The project is running — but complexity is growing faster than the ability to manage it. I strengthen leadership and control before it turns into a recovery case.
When the project is already critical.
Deadlines have been missed, forecasts are no longer believed, and pressure from the board, shareholders, and investors is rising. I establish the situation, set priorities, and take responsibility for stabilization.
When the project has outgrown its organization.
The investment has become larger and faster than the original structure can carry. I build the leadership and delivery organization for the next phase.
EVERY CRITICAL SITUATION IS UNIQUE
Where project risk becomes company risk
A complex major project is not an isolated technical task. It is a strategic investment in the company’s performance. When execution slips out of control, the impact reaches far beyond schedule and budget:
- Commissioning is delayed.
- Revenue, production, and market targets come under threat.
- Contractual and commercial risks rise.
- The confidence of investors, shareholders, and supervisory bodies declines.
- The credibility of the responsible leadership is at stake.
I see the project from both perspectives — from execution and from the entrepreneurial responsibility for the investment. This lets me translate technical complexity into clear decisions for executive management — and management’s objectives into effective delivery.
Proof
Broad industry exposure
For more than 25 years I have led complex projects and multidisciplinary organizations across Europe and Africa — in EPC, EPCM, and owner-side structures. Sectors: semiconductors, battery manufacturing, data centers, research infrastructure, energy, oil & gas, infrastructure, and real estate.
Investment volumes
Leadership responsibility within international major projects and investment programs with project volumes of around or above USD 1 billion.
International clients & project mandates
International project and advisory mandates across Europe, Africa, North America, and Asia. Long-term leadership roles with close integration into project organizations and lasting results over project durations of six months to four years.
Leadership responsibility
Leadership of multicultural project, engineering, and delivery organizations with direct and indirect responsibility for teams of more than 100 specialists and managers.
Selected mandates
A project organization that delivers again.
- PowerCo battery-cell plant · Germany · construction volume > €1 billion — D&S Project Director · 2024–2025. Taken over mid-execution with client confidence low; decision paths rebuilt and the engineering & execution organization scaled to full delivery strength.
- Wolfspeed semiconductor fab · Germany · construction volume approx. USD 1 billion — D&S Project Director / EPCM Lead · 2022–2023. A first-of-its-kind EPCM mandate without established structures; built the executive structure — Project, Technical, and Commercial Director — and stood up an independent delivery organization.
- FAIR particle accelerator · Darmstadt, Germany · construction volume approx. €1.5 billion — D&S Project Lead · 2017–2021. A siloed project-owner organization across more than a dozen buildings with a connecting tunnel system, merged into one integrated project-owner organization with shared decision-making.
- Oil & gas / industrial infrastructure · Nigeria — Project & operational leadership · 2006–2015. Projects for Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and NLNG; led a 30-strong engineering and supervisor team plus up to 700 local staff; stabilized a critical situation and secured firm completion dates.
Voices
What clients say
LASTING STABILIZATION RARELY COMES FROM PRESSURE ALONE
Thomas Markus Bittner, MBA, MRICS
Executive Interim Manager · Turnaround · Recovery · Critical Projects · Delivery Leadership
Founder & Managing Director, TM Bittner – Interim Solutions Ltd.
Until 2025, Associate Partner, member of the Senior Management, and authorized officer (Prokurist) of Drees & Sommer SE.
- Dipl.-Ing. Civil Engineering · TU Dortmund
- Real Estate Management (ebs) · EBS European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel
- MBA Energy Management · Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU)
- Senior Executive Programme · London Business School
- MRICS · RICS (since 2011)
- Chamber of Engineers (Ingenieurkammer, since 2006)
- DDIM (since 2026)
Contact
Let’s start with what no status report tells you.
You don’t need to prepare a presentation. Tell me where confidence has been lost, which decisions no longer hold, and what the project organization may not be saying openly. I will tell you clearly whether executive-level intervention is needed — and what has to happen first.
The first conversation is confidential and without obligation.
tmbittner.com · Focus: Rhein-Main & international