We spoke to Stefan and gained exciting insights into his experiences - in particular about how fascinating the IT world is for him at Berenberg.
What do you love about your job?
What I particularly love about my job is the opportunity to actively drive things forward and master complex challenges. In my role as Head of Architecture, Quality and Cloud Transformation, I am responsible for three teams and maintain an overview of a highly complex IT landscape with over 900 networked applications. This complexity fascinates me - understanding the interdependencies between the systems and developing them further is an exciting challenge for me, and one that I enjoy anew every day. I particularly enjoy working with lots of different people. The exchange with colleagues from different areas always brings new perspectives and ideas. I enjoy the opportunity to rub shoulders professionally, have controversial discussions and find the best solution together. My job is demanding and requires a clear strategy, but that's exactly what makes it so exciting.
What is it that you love about working for Berenberg?
What I particularly like about working at Berenberg is the extraordinary dynamism and the strong team spirit. The collaboration with my colleagues is characterised by open, helpful cooperation - everyone pulls together to achieve our common goals. This goal-orientation makes the work not only efficient, but also incredibly motivating. What makes Berenberg particularly exciting for me is the constant change. The bank reinvents itself every day, scrutinises old processes and focuses on automation. Despite our long tradition and over 400 years of history, we are in no way in the technological shadow of other banks. On the contrary: we are constantly evolving and boldly breaking new ground. I also appreciate the flat hierarchies. Decisions can be made quickly and ideas are listened to - regardless of position.
What skills, characteristics or behaviours do you possess that have helped you thrive in your role?
What has enabled me to grow into my current role is above all my ability to abstract complex relationships and recognise patterns. There are countless connections and dependencies in IT architecture - reducing them to the essentials and organising them into a clear structure is essential. My analytical thinking helps me to break even highly complex issues down to their core elements and communicate them in an understandable way. I also believe that my interaction with people plays a major role. In my position, I work with many different people - open, constructive communication is crucial. I listen, mediate between different perspectives and find the best solutions together with my team. Another important aspect is my willingness to take on responsibility. I like making decisions and actively driving things forward. This mixture of analytical thinking, strategic foresight and interpersonal skills has helped me to develop in my role and fulfil my position successfully.
What has been your best experience at Berenberg?
It is difficult to name a single biggest milestone, as there have been several significant successes over the years. One of the most important was certainly achieving a high level of operational stability in our IT landscape. In view of the enormous complexity of our systems, it was a major challenge to optimise processes and drive forward technical development at the same time. Another milestone that is particularly close to my heart is the further development of my employees. I became head of department in 2020, reorganised my teams and developed them over the years. Seeing them grow, take on responsibility and develop both professionally and personally is one of my greatest achievements. One particularly exciting project was the implementation of instant payments in the cloud. This innovation not only improved our internal processes, but also helped to position Berenberg externally as a modern, forward-looking bank - especially for younger target groups. Such projects show that we, as a traditional bank, can keep up technologically.
What surprised you the most about Berenberg once you started working here?
What surprised me most at the beginning of my job was the enormous complexity of the IT landscape at Berenberg. With over 900 networked applications and a large number of interfaces, the entire system is highly interlinked - far more than I had previously expected. The challenge of maintaining an overview of this complex architecture and continuously developing it was impressive right from the start. At the same time, I was fascinated by the extraordinary efficiency of our work. Berenberg is a full-service bank with a wide range of services, and yet we manage all these IT processes with just 250 employees in IT. This shows how structured, targeted and focussed our work is here. This combination of high complexity and efficient implementation positively surprised me right from the start - and still does today.
What has Berenberg done to invest in your professional or personal development?
Berenberg has significantly promoted my professional and personal development by giving me the opportunity to manage a department and take on responsibility. This opportunity not only helped me develop professionally, but also honed my leadership skills. Being responsible for an entire department means much more than just making strategic decisions - it's about shaping teams, developing employees and creating a vision for the future. This role has allowed me to significantly develop my management, team leadership and decision-making skills.