Senior Program Manager | Annett Nagel

Senior Program Managerin

“The scope of duties for an IT engineer at thyssenkrupp is quite diverse. We are faced with new challenges every day. It stays exciting this way.”

How I got started – Diversity at thyssenkrupp

After completing my degree in business informatics at the University of Duisburg-Essen, I initially continued to work in a university setting and established contact with many companies in the Ruhrgebiet region of Germany while working on internship projects. I decided to join thyssenkrupp because it is one of the most important companies in Essen and the Ruhrgebiet region. Its diversity offers a wide range of opportunities to tackle interesting challenges.

It was quite easy to settle in at thyssenkrupp IT Services GmbH; my superiors and colleagues made me feel welcome and part of the “WE” from the very beginning. Even though the “WE” campaign didn’t exist at that point, the general notion did. My job in the field of business development was to establish the internal project management platform and work with the developers to expand it based on the users’ requirements. It was the perfect start for a business informatics engineer!

My challenges-many opportunities

By switching to IT management at thyssenkrupp AG, I was able to work on a global IT infrastructure project. Our team was responsible for the design and implementation of tool-supported processes. After completing my part of the project, I joined the Architecture, Digital Transformation & IT Infrastructure Management department as part of the digital transformation team, where I am now. Especially in these times, when buzzwords like Industry 4.0, digitalization, Internet of Things, big data, etc. are all the hype, us IT engineers are needed to explain what all of it means as well as to design and implement these concepts.

My environment – success factor "teamwork"

The range of topics we deal with in our corner of IT is wide. That’s why teamwork is a critical factor for success at thyssenkrupp. Every colleague has a different skillset and is willing to lend their expertise. This makes us strong.

My projects – a common language

The exciting thing about working on projects is that you get to work with many different people, depending on the scope of the specific project. In addition to the client and the technical and IT departments, specialists in the areas of IT security, legal, data protection, etc. may also join the team. This means that, as we communicate with the many different stakeholders, we have to try to find a common language and reach a consensus despite our diverging interests. This is a challenge we gladly accept.

Picking up on technologies and trends – a look into the future

Business and IT are growing ever closer. We use new technologies and trends to help business become even more successful. Conversely, our colleagues in business report their problems and needs to us and we address them with practical solutions. One of the most important aspects to me is to identify and implement synergy effects using best practices.