Niklaus

Niklaus

Director Digital Unit in Zürich, Switzerland

A passionate and transformational leader with over 15 years of industry experience in digital, innovation and human-centred design. Extensive knowledge of strategic frameworks, discovery and innovation processes, concept development and a proven track record of delivering best-in-class digital products and services.

Deep experience in facilitation, mentoring, group dynamics, enabling high-performance teams and achieving long-term positive relationships with all critical stakeholders in highly complex, uncertain and volatile environments.

Work Experience

2022 — Now
Wollerau, Switzerland

Leading Vorwerk's digital products and channels, driving growth and innovation. Empowered advisers, improved customer satisfaction and achieved digital sales excellence. Successfully positioned e-business as a sustainable channel, facilitating the sale of over 100,000 Thermomix units through digital channels. Harmonised the experience across over ten web platforms and improved overall front-end quality. Implemented cost-saving measures, resulting in a significant 50% reduction in spending while improving delivery speed and quality.

2022 — 2023
Wollerau, Switzerland

Globally accountable for Vorwerk's transactional websites, managing a sales volume of over €100m. Orchestrated the seamless onboarding of seven markets, resulting in tangible collaboration and market satisfaction improvements within nine months. Implemented a new demand and prioritisation process within six months, increasing transparency and efficiency. This initiative reduced time-to-market by 100% while improving overall quality standards.

2019 — 2022
Wollerau, Switzerland

Led Vorwerk's digital experience strategy across all customer touchpoints, specialising in the Cookidoo digital ecosystem (web, app, device), serving a subscriber base of over 4 million. Pioneered the development of scalable, reusable and shareable design solutions tailored to different products and markets. Achieved 100% user growth in one year, expanding the subscriber base from 1.5 million to 3 million.

2018 — 2019
Zürich, Switzerland

Established and led the digital product development department, driving the design and delivery of innovative products and services through user-centred methodologies. Successfully led multiple cross-functional teams to deliver impactful digital solutions—reduced feature development cycles from 9 to 3 months, streamlining the process from idea to product launch.

2014 — 2017
Zürich, Switzerland

Managed the mobile app portfolio for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and directed the redesign of NZZ.ch.

2010 — 2011
2008 — 2010
2007 — 2008
2005 — 2006
2003 — 2005
Niederwangen, Switzerland
2002 — 2003
2001 — 2002
Bümpliz, Switzerland

Education

2017 — 2019
2008 — 2010
Swiss Federal Certificate in Communication Planning at SAWI
Bern, Switzerland
2006 — 2008
Bachelor of Science in Business Information Systems at Berner Fachhochschule
Bern, Switzerland
2003 — 2004
Higher Education in Business and Administration at FEUSI
Bern, Switzerland

Certifications

2020
Certified SAFe® 5 Agilist from Scaled Agile, Inc.
2014
Scrum Product Owner from aragost ag

Speaking

2015
Challenges & applications of mobile technologies at University of St. Gallen
St. Gallen, Switzerland
2014
Fachevent #1 mTrends at smama
Zürich, Switzerland

Awards

2022
iF Design Award for Cookidoo® Created Recipes - provided by Thermomix® from iF Design
2022
UX Design Award Public Choice for Cookidoo®: Created Recipes from IDZ International Design Center Berlin
2022
Red Dot Design Award for Cookidoo® Created Recipes - provided by Thermomix® from Red Dot Design Award
2018
Best of Swiss Apps Award Silver in Design from Best of Swiss Web
2018
Best of Swiss Apps Award Bronze in User Experience from Best of Swiss Web
2011
Edi.11 Gold from Swissfilm Association

Volunteering

2010 — 2012
2005 — 2010

Side Projects

2023

For 2023 I decided to further work on my feedback and reflection skills. This will also mean spending more time working with my teams at Vorwerk and supporting, mentoring and role-modelling how a healthy feedback culture should look like. I reworked the training material that served me well in the last few years and decided to open-source it.

2019

TeamKit provides a practical solution for teams everywhere to work towards improving team culture and experience. It is a self-facilitated team formation process which encourages teams to use the right tools or methods during team formation. TeamKit enhances effectiveness by focusing on “how“ teams come together and define their journey ahead. Importantly, TeamKit does not require any prior knowledge of team formation.

2017

A simple but essential core set of rules to guide us towards better solutions.

Contact

LinkedIn
Medium
GitHub