Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Please introduce yourself

I am a 40-year-old German from a small town near Bremen in the northern part of Germany.

Passionate about Latin American dancing on competitive level and spending time with my family and my dog. Voluntary member of a local rescue dog unit and junior chamber international for social projects and commitment.

When did you join MDLZ? And why did you choose to join MDLZ?

I joined MDLZ for an internship in the marketing department during my studies of international business in 2009 and was impressed and attracted by the passion of the colleagues and the brands. Before my studies I worked in the automotive industry, but, thanks to my internship, I got keen to be a part of MDLZ brand’s success story and to take over own projects and responsibility very quickly. Therefore, I came back for another internship in sales 2010 and decided to fully quit the automotive sector after my degree to start my career in the FMCG industry in a junior management program (JUMP) at Mondelēz in 2011. The JUMP includes roles in sales, marketing and even a period in the field force to gain experiences from product management via key account to the outlets where consumers get in touch with our brands. This Program gave me a fundamental understanding of our business and a great opportunity for my personal development.

What is your current role and what makes it exciting?

After 7 Years of marketing experience as Brand Manager for Philadelphia DACH, I was keen to return to a sales role. Since June 2022, I am Regional Key Account Manager, responsible for the drugstores in Germany selling our wonderful brands like Milka, Oreo or Tuc. I decided to do this cross functional move for my personal development i.e., to strengthen my negotiation skills. Interesting about this role is that drugstores are not exactly like the other big traditional retailers. I love to learn from my colleagues on how to manage customers also in challenging situations especially in these competitive economic times. What makes me very confident is the power of our well-known, market leading brands, that our consumers love.

What personal qualities or skills make you successful in your position?

In general an agile attitude to embrace constant change and to grow every day are basic qualities to be successful in nearly any position in the company. Thanks to the JUMP program, I gained experience in several functions for a fundamental business understanding. Enriched with training for gaining negotiation skills and the international recognized category management certification via the GS1, I feel well prepared to be successful in my current role.

But also, very important is to be passionate about our brands and persistent in pursuing your targets are good characteristics.

How has your career developed at MDLZ?

I did a quite classical career based on the JUMP program, that is focusing on marketing and sales roles for 2.5 to 3 Years. After the program I was Brand Manager for Candy DACH for 1 year and as of 2015 I was a Brand Manager responsible for Philadelphia DACH with focus on Austria and Switzerland. Since June 2022, I moved to a sales role as Regional Key Account Manager for drugstores in Germany. This cross functional move allowed me to strengthen my professional profile and personal development and growth.

How do you describe the culture at MDLZ?

The colleagues at MDLZ are cooperative, warm hearted with a positive thinking “can-do” attitude. It is easy to feel when new employees are joining the company but after all the years at Mondelēz and some organizational changes, I feel every day that the colleagues in our company are making the difference. I never felt working in a negative “elbow-society”. In challenging situations there is a strong sense of belonging and result/help driven team spirit. On the other hand, in case of successes we recognize great performances and celebrate our results together. The description of a “Mondelēz family” applies very good.

What is your view on working from home, a hybrid model and the way MDLZ handles this?

Before the pandemic situation I used to work from the office in Bremen but in my previous role in Marketing I had to connect with my colleagues in Austria and Switzerland already via our digital channels. Thus, the change to work 100% mobile/from home was a quite easy change for me.

In the meantime, I love the great option for a good work-life balance. On the one hand working from home, especially for tasks that need high concentration and only low involvement of other functions. On the other hand, the face-to-face collaboration or simple coffee break with colleagues in the office to be up to date or to have alignments or workshops.

Mondelēz did a great step during the pandemic situation to offer more flexibility to pay for the employees’ personal needs and preferences. There is definitely a new way of working at Mondelēz.

And finally, why do you continue to choose MDLZ?

I continue to choose MDLZ because of the positive culture, the people, the great brands and the opportunities for further personal growth and professional development.