You're seeing this page as if you were . The main menu is still yours, though. Exit from immersion
Maria TikmanidiMT

Maria Tikmanidi

Supermalter

Senior Business Manager

£778/day
1 project
Brussels, BE
15+ years

Average response time: 1 hour

About Maria

Dynamic Product Owner and IT Project Manager with 18+ years of leadership in EU digital transformation, platform governance, programme management and enterprise-level delivery. Trusted by senior management to turn complex operational, policy and stakeholder ecosystems into coherent digital products, I specialise in translating business needs into platform features, driving agile delivery, and ensuring strategic, compliant, and value-driven product evolution.

My experience spans full product lifecycle management, service governance, roadmap ownership, requirements engineering, UAT strategy, release/change management, and cross-DG coordination. I have managed multimillion-euro programmes, large vendor consortia, and cross-border digital solutions, consistently ensuring regulatory alignment, performance monitoring, and user-centric outcomes.

I bring a unique blend of policy intelligence, digital governance expertise, and hands-on product ownership, strengthening OPMOs and IT departments through structured decision-making, risk mitigation, and enterprise-class documentation. Skilled in stakeholder alignment across the European Commission, Member States, IFIs, and international partners, I excel in environments where clarity, structure, and strategic vision are needed to deliver resilient digital products at scale.
  • English

    Native or bilingual

Can work on-site
Brussels (up to 50km)

Experience

  • European Commisison
    On Boarding Business Manager
    DIGITAL AND IT
    January 2024 - April 2025 (1 year and 3 months)
    Brussels, Belgium
    Customer relationship management aiming at the adoption of digital solutions.
    • Compiling the requirements of stakeholders and internal EC.
    • Guarantee the implementation of the requirements of stakeholders and EC needs.
    • Resolving stakeholders complaints quickly and efficiently.
    • Organization of user acceptance tests and follow up on the results.
    • Creation and coordination of the user group for the GGP with participants from the Commission services.
    Preparation and follow up on change management activities related to the roll-out of the Platform.
    • Contributing to the success of the GGP by keeping stakeholders updated to ensure its use as a working tool.
    • Autonomously turn communication objectives into strategies, tasks and activities and oversee / contribute to their implementation.
    • Managing communications and defining strategies to increase results in line with defined adoption targets (from awareness to action).
    Creating and enforcing plans that help meet the needs of stakeholders.
    • Reporting to relevant structures.
    Product management product owner Internal Audits Agile Project Management Change and Transformation Management
  • European Commission
    Business Manager
    April 2022 - July 2023 (1 year and 3 months)
    Brussels Metropolitan Area, Belgium
    Senior Expert Contracted by NTTDATA Contribution and advice on issues related to financial and contractual aspects of contract management with a view to drafting business requirements;
    • Co-drafting or proof-checking business requirements for managing contracting procedures;
    • Advise and verify the description and mapping of Business Process for procurement and contracting procedures;
    • Contribution to the corporate Business Process Modelling exercises for contract management in collaboration with other DGs (BUDG, DIGIT, GROW, JRC, etc.); Contribution and coordination for the elaboration and validation of legal templates to be integrated in the system (in collaboration with relevant legal units); Contribution to the analysis and recommendations with respect to the simplification and harmonisation of procedures with other DGs of the Commission; Presentation of convergence opportunities and differences between VadeMecum and PRAG arising from the corporate modelling exercises

    3 years 8 months
    Business Manager product owner Procurement
  • INTERREG MED
    Senior Project Manager-PANORAMED
    November 2018 - June 2022 (3 years and 7 months)
    • Directed a €9 million EU programme across 12 countries; managed timeline, budget, risk register June 2001 and change requests in line with PMO standards.
    • Supervised procurement and audit processes ensuring full legal and financial compliance with EU regulations.
    • Chaired multinational coordination meetings and represented the Region at EU fora on digital governance and maritime innovation.
    • Produced performance dashboards and governance reports for decision-makers and funding authorities.
    • Implemented KPI framework and evidence-based decision cycle (beneficiary health checks, )
    Procurement Project Management (PMO) Internal Audits policy analysis Change and Transformation Management

Recommendations

Be the first to recommend Maria

Help this freelancer shine by sharing your experience working together.

These freelancer profiles also match your criteria

AgathaA

Agatha Frydrych

Backend Java Software Engineer

4.7

(3)

2

BaptisteB

Baptiste Duhen

Fullstack developer

4.6

(4)

5

AmedA

Amed Hamou

Senior Lead Developer

4

(2)

7

AudreyA

Audrey Champion

Web developer

4.3

(3)

4

Education

  • Postgraduate Diploma in Public Policies
    SOAS University of London
    2016
    Programme and Policies Evaluaton
  • Masters with Distinction
    Warwick University
    2002
    International Political Economy

Certifications

  • Prince2 Agile Foundation
    PeopleCert
    2025
    Managing IT Projects Managing Agile Projects
  • Prince2 Agile Practioner
    PeopleCert
    Managing Projects in Agile Environments

Skill set

Categories