TÜV NORD: making innovative and new technology safe

Steffen Bender worked at the Jülich Research Centre as a strategic communications officer and personal assistant to the executive board. Three years ago, the political scientist moved to the global TÜV NORD Group, where he heads the executive board office.

You started out as a strategic communications consultant at the Jülich Research Centre. What was your day-to-day work like there?

After studying politics and completing a master's degree in political management (University of Duisburg-Essen / NRW School of Governance), this was my first full-time job. What made it particularly exciting was that the Strategic Communications department had just been set up at that time: My boss at the time and I built it up from scratch, so to speak, on a greenfield site, as they say. Through restructuring and outsourcing certain communication topics, strategic communication and politics became more of a focus. My tasks and thus my daily routine included establishing contacts with elected officials – for example, the then State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. We organised events and much more with many members of the Bundestag and Landtag from the local constituencies and subject areas. When a new building was constructed (for example, the ‘daycare centre’ for the little foxes of the research centre), there was a groundbreaking ceremony, a topping-out ceremony or an opening with guests from politics, business and science. That was a small form of project management: What do you have to think about and when? What can we communicate externally, what internally? Contacts with the neighbourhood were also very important on the agenda: That's how I came to be in charge of the Jülich neighbourhood dialogue. When a parental leave replacement was sought as personal assistant to the deputy chairman of the board, I was approached directly and moved to the ‘board’ – which then turned into a longer commitment.

After that, your path led you to TÜV NORD. How did that come about?

The CEO of TÜV NORD – a physicist by conviction – did his doctorate at the research centre more than 35 years ago. He knows the Jülich cosmos. That's how we got talking. Ultimately, I was attracted by the idea of working in a central position for a global technology company with more than 15,000 employees. At the same time, the position in Essen was a good opportunity to return to my home region, the Ruhr. In November 2022, I started as personal assistant to the CEO. Today, I head the executive office, manage three employees and work across locations in Essen, Hanover, Hamburg and often in Berlin.

What is your role as head of the Executive Board Office?

I am responsible for information and communication management in the Executive Board Office. This includes strategically coordinating, preparing and following up on appointments – when will we talk to whom and why? Are there any political messages we need to convey? I also have an important filtering function: my job is to decide when an issue is ready to be presented to the Executive Board. Organising support and time for the CEO are also key concerns. I am often the CEO's first point of contact. Preparing Executive Board and committee meetings also plays an important role. I prepare speeches and presentations. And often it's about communicating information internally to the right people, following up and staying in touch – as an interface manager for the entire company.

What do you love about your job?

In this position, a day rarely goes as planned: I have had to deal with topics such as quantum physics, drone certification and IT security issues, which are not really my areas of expertise as a political scientist! After all, the core task of TÜV NORD as a testing company is to make innovative and new technologies safe and accessible to the general public. Our employees inspect vehicles, but also test materials for satellites and international Mars missions and ensure digital security in state-of-the-art testing laboratories. Exploring the structures of an international corporation is extremely interesting. Although the Jülich Research Centre is also very complex, understanding a large corporation in its entirety and helping to shape it on a daily basis is particularly exciting and challenging.

How does your current job at TÜV NORD differ from your work at the research centre?

The biggest difference is certainly the specific characteristics of public service and the private sector. The research centre offers numerous interesting tasks and positions. However, due to different and international structures in the private sector, my current job is faster-paced and the business as a whole is more fast-moving.

TÜV NORD supports Schalke 04, among others, and you were involved in the jersey handover. Are you also personally involved in football?

The sports marketing cooperation with Schalke 04 was a crazy, special and challenging project. At one of our main locations – in Hanover – we had an initial partnership with Hannover 96, which was a very successful pilot. We then decided to extend our involvement to other TÜV NORD locations. I took on this task for the Ruhr area. We spoke to two clubs. Of course, that wasn't part of my job description. Ultimately, however, the decision to enter into partnerships is always made by our management committees. It was a really cool project. Admittedly, my personal knowledge of football came in handy here. In the end, it was also a lot of fun to combine this with the company's interests. Privately, I am actually also a fan of Schalke 04.

You are a member of the Young Initiative Group Ruhr: What is that?

The Initiative Group Ruhr is an economic alliance for the Rhine-Ruhr region and the Ruhr area, in which all major economic players from the Ruhr area and beyond are involved – including TÜV NORD – with the aim of promoting the region. This includes economic, social, cultural and educational initiatives. The Young Initiative Group itself is part of this economic alliance: member companies were asked to send young managers who specifically support young people in the Ruhr area and give them a voice. This allows me to get to know my counterparts from other corporations and companies ‘in the neighbourhood’ and exchange experiences. We also organise joint events, such as ‘Connecting.Ruhr’, where we discuss and highlight career prospects for postdocs, students and young professionals. Ultimately, it always comes down to one question: what can we do for the region? The (Young) Initiative Group Ruhr has a strong network character – a network from which all participants clearly benefit.