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Maximilian ClaessensMC

Maximilian Claessens

Strategy & Internationalization Expert | Ex-Bain

€1,400/day
München, DE
3-7 years

Average response time: 1 hour

About Maximilian

Former Bain Manager, Head of International and Commercial Director with a strong track record of building and scaling international businesses and omnichannel expansion.
I combine top-tier strategy expertise with hands-on execution – not just defining concepts, but delivering measurable commercial impact.

In my recent roles, I led the international expansion and go-to-market strategy of a fast-growing consumer brand, scaling the business from €200M revenue across multiple markets. This included full P&L ownership, building and leading cross-functional teams, and defining core commercial levers such as pricing, portfolio, channel strategy, and execution playbooks in D2C/ e-commerce, offline and online B2B.

I typically support clients in:
  • Developing corporate and business unit strategies
  • Scaling businesses internationally (D2C & B2B)
  • Defining and executing go-to-market and growth strategies
  • Driving commercial excellence (pricing, sales, channel strategy)
  • Building organizations and operating models for scale
  • Leading transformation and value creation initiatives

Clients value my ability to quickly structure complex problems, align stakeholders, and translate strategy into tangible results.

If you are looking for a hands-on operator who can both define the strategy and make it happen – I am happy to support.
  • German

    Native or bilingual

  • English

    Fluent

  • French

    Conversational

  • Italian

    Basic

  • Spanish

    Basic

  • Dutch

    Conversational

Can work on-site
München (up to 50km), Berlin (up to 50km), Düsseldorf (up to 50km), Hamburg (up to 50km), Frankfurt am Main (up to 50km)

Experience

  • The Quality Group GmbH (ESN, More Nutrition)
    Commercial Director Go-to-Market
    AGRICULTURE
    October 2025 - Today (9 months)
    Hamburg, Germany
    • Leading B2B Go-To-Market strategy across Germany and international markets, aligning central function teams and country teams to deliver revenue growth
    • Steering expansion roadmap and channel activity masterplan while defining commercial fundamentals incl. portfolio, pricing, promotion & merchandising
    • Building the GTM Commercial organization, developing playbooks, toolkits and capabilities to drive scale & execution excellence across offline and online B2B
    Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy Commercial strategy Pricing strategy Omnichannel Strategy Commercial Excellence
  • The Quality Group GmbH (ESN, More Nutrition)
    Head of International
    AGRICULTURE
    January 2025 - September 2025 (8 months)
    Hamburg, Germany
    • General management role with end-to-end responsibility for international expansion of sports nutrition brand ESN, incl. full P&L responsibility outside DE
    • Leadership of central & country teams in DACH, Benelux, UK, Italy and Spain
    • Scaling up of international business from <5M to 200M EUR omnichannel
    International Expansion Omnichannel Strategy Team Leadership General Management Commercial strategy
  • The Quality Group GmbH (ESN, More Nutrition)
    Head of International Business Development
    AGRICULTURE
    November 2023 - December 2024 (1 year and 1 month)
    • Responsible for accelerating the international expansion of ESN
    • Leadership of 4 FTE and co-supervision of teams in Hamburg, NL and UK

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Education

  • MASTER IN MANAGEMENT, M. SC.
    University of Mannheim
    2020
    MASTER IN MANAGEMENT, M. SC.
  • EXCHANGE STUDY
    Jiao Tong University
    2019
    EXCHANGE STUDY

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