Stefan Häuser

You've been with us as Strategic Finance Projects Manager for about a year and a half now. After your positions in auditing at KPMG, in consulting, and as Head of Finance at finway: What appealed to you most about the strategic role at Checkmk?

The clear focus on the further development of Checkmk and improvement of the organizational structure and processes. In my role, I mainly work on a project basis again and support our management in the implementation of the OKRs. My projects are incredibly diverse, so I constantly have to deal with new topics. That's something I already liked very much during my time in auditing and consulting.

The title 'Strategic Finance Projects Manager' sounds like exciting, cross-departmental topics. What does your typical workday look like and which large projects are you currently enjoying working on the most?

My workday varies greatly depending on the project. Currently, I am supporting our operations team with the introduction of a new CRM solution in project management. Especially in the current phase of the project, many workshops on process design and appointments to coordinate internal and external stakeholders determine my everyday work.

In parallel, I am revising our financial model for budget planning 2027. This is always a welcome change from the appointments from the CRM project. I think my favorite project from the last few months is the automation of our reporting. With the help of AI, I am moving our old Excel reporting to an almost fully automated BigQuery setup in the Google Cloud.

You bring valuable experience from the audit and restructuring area as well as from management consulting. How does this extremely analytical background help you today in managing strategic finance projects for a growing software company like Checkmk?

I was lucky enough to receive a fairly holistic financial education. In audit, I dealt deeply with accounting and process issues, whereas in restructuring, financial planning and customer workshops were more the focus.

I need both today at Checkmk. For example, we are currently holding process workshops in the CRM project to define the ideal process in the new tool. I definitely benefit from my consulting and audit experience there. When revising our reporting or the budget model, my planning knowledge from restructuring consulting comes in very handy.

You studied 'Management & Technology' at TU Munich – even with a focus on chemistry. How important is it for you as a financial expert today to also have a good technical understanding of our IT monitoring product in order to make the right economic decisions?

Compared to other topics, rather secondary. Of course, a basic understanding helps, but it is much more important for my work to understand our internal processes in detail. In order to draw the right conclusion from a number, it is essential to understand what operational steps actually lie behind this number. Therefore, I need a relatively good understanding of what our internal processes are.

In your previous position at finway, you carried a lot of responsibility as Head of Finance. What agile mindsets or 'best practices' from that time were you able to bring into the finance team at Checkmk particularly well? At finway, I worked in a much smaller team and younger company. Due to the scarce resources, I worked in a highly automated process landscape there. I try to integrate this idea into all my projects at Checkmk as well.

When you're not busy with strategic financial models, process optimization or large Excel spreadsheets: How do you prefer to spend your evening in and around Munich to really clear your head?

Sports have always been a big part of my life, although I always like to try new things. Currently, I go to the gym and swim a lot. But I am also a very social person, so spending a lot of time with friends is very important to me. Together we do everything possible – from short trips to bar evenings to art exhibitions.

How did your journey at Checkmk begin? What made you start at Checkmk?

I explicitly wanted to get out of a management role and back into a shaping individual contributor role. That is exactly what I found at Checkmk. I believe that I can fully play out my strengths in analyzing, questioning, and optimizing here. At the same time, the team is extremely important to me. In my role, I work a lot with David. I already had the feeling during the interviews that we harmonize well with each other and that has been fully confirmed to this day.

What makes Checkmk – or your team in particular – special?

An absolute focus on results and a high degree of personal responsibility. In the end, the successful completion of my projects is what counts. When, where, and how I achieve this goal is largely up to me. That gives me incredible flexibility in organizing my work and way of working, and I appreciate that very much.

If I want to go to sports at noon, I can easily do that. Also, whether I work from our office, the co-working space in Berlin, or from home, is up to me.