Chief of Staff / Strategy & Operations / Project Management
Christin Pootsmaa
"I talk to people. I make the analysis. Leadership gets the answer."
About
I'm a strategy and project management professional with 5+ years across management consulting, financial services, and international programme delivery. My sweet spot: sitting between leadership and the organisation - interviewing people, making sense of what's really going on, and turning it into decisions that stick. MSc in Business Administration (Change & Leadership, VU Amsterdam), Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and an unreasonable love for a well-structured decision paper.
- 5+ years experience
- 4 countries worked across
- 30+ people coordinated
- MSc, VU Amsterdam
What I actually do
Listen & interview
From board members to warehouse teams: I ask, people talk, and I find out what's actually happening.
Analyse & synthesise
I turn scattered input into one clear story: decision papers, roadmaps, and recommendations leadership can act on.
Align & deliver
Steering committees, cross-functional teams, non-negotiable deadlines. Everyone aligned, from kick-off to done.
Experience
Next chapter · manifesting🇳🇱
Strategic & Business Risk Specialist, Adyen
- Second-line strategic risk: execution, competition, macro and geopolitics, close to the leadership team.
- Six years of work pointed here. Two interviews in, and it is the role I would have written for myself.
- Not asking - preparing. Frameworks, decision papers and a point of view, ready on day one.
Jan 2026 – present🇳🇱
Project Manager Supply Chain & Commerce, Action
- Built and launched a new department centralising supplier engagement across the business.
- Leading an EU regulatory implementation with 30+ people across functions, against a hard deadline.
- Prepare and facilitate Steering Committees; decision papers and escalations for the Management Team.
Sept 2024 – Sept 2025🇳🇱
Senior Consultant, Synechron Amsterdam
- Partnered with the Management Team on company strategy; translated it into a strategy booklet and the annual company day.
- Ran key strategic initiatives on behalf of the executive team.
Nov 2021 – Aug 2024🇪🇪
Senior Consultant, PwC Estonia
- Led the development of a data-driven policymaking methodology for the European Commission, coordinating teams across countries.
- Go-to-market and transformation strategies in telecom, financial services, and the public sector.
- Drove the cross-Baltic advisory integration; promoted to Senior Consultant in 2023.
2021🇪🇪
Investor Relations Specialist, Crowdestate
- Investor communications and monthly investor materials for a crowdfunding platform.
2020🇪🇪
Private Banking Intern, SEB
- Market overviews and investment reports on the Bloomberg Terminal.
Projects
01
European Commission
Co-developed and piloted a data-driven decision-making framework for evidence-based policymaking.
02
Action
Designed and launched a brand-new department, from operating model to implementation.
03
PwC Baltics
Built the platform and leadership cadence that connected three countries' advisory practices.
Skills & Education
Strategy & Transformation
- Strategic Planning & Execution
- Business Transformation
- Operating Model Design
- Change Management
Project & Programme Management
- Cross-Functional Project Management
- Programme Delivery
- Steering Committee Facilitation
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
Leadership & Stakeholder Management
- Executive & C-Level Engagement
- Stakeholder Alignment & Communication
- Workshop Facilitation
- Change Adoption & Embedding
Education
- MSc Business Administration - Change & Leadership, VU Amsterdam
- BA International Business Administration - Estonian Business School (+ Toulouse Business School exchange)
Languages
- Estonian - native
- English - C2
- Dutch - A2 (ask me again next year)
- Spanish - A2
- Russian - A2