Expert Organization Announces Personnel Changes:
New Management Board Members at DEKRA
Generational changes in DEKRA SE senior management: Effective January 1, 2021, Stan Zurkiewicz (41), previously in charge of DEKRA’s business in East and South Asia, will succeed Clemens Klinke (64) as COO and member of the Management Board of DEKRA SE. This will put him in charge of the future six global DEKRA regions, operating business, and sales. Effective April 1, 2021, Ulrike Hetzel (48), former Executive Vice President at Robert Bosch GmbH, will succeed Ivo Rauh (60) as CTO and member of the Management Board of DEKRA SE. She will be responsible for Services, Innovation, and IT. On January 1, 2021, Wolfgang Linsenmaier (54), who has been chief officer for finance and human resources on the Management Board of DEKRA SE since 2019, will join the Management Board of DEKRA e.V in addition to his current duties.
- Stan Zurkiewicz to take over from Clemens Klinke as COO on January 1, 2021
- Ulrike Hetzel to take over CTO duties from Ivo Rauh on April 1, 2021
- Wolfgang Linsenmaier to be additionally appointed to the DEKRA e.V. Board
Stan Zurkiewicz has held the role of General Manager China at DEKRA since 2009 following the takeover by KEMA Quality, and has been in charge of DEKRA’s East & South Asia region since 2016. Under his leadership as Executive Vice President, the region achieved annual double-digit sales growth and a significant increase in earnings.
Ulrike Hetzel has specialist expertise in digitalization, IT, and corporate infrastructure. The qualified civil engineer and business administrator worked for her last company, Robert Bosch GmbH, for over five years – first as Vice President Corporate IT and since 2017 as Executive Vice President and Member of the management board for Corporate IT. She worked previously at IBM for sixteen years – including as Director of Infrastructure Technology Services.
Clemens Klinke will be stepping down from the global expert organization on December 31, 2020, approaching retirement age. He began his career at DEKRA in 1984 as a testing engineer and inspector at the Göttingen branch. He was on the Management Board of DEKRA Automobil GmbH from 2004 to 2015, and served nine years as its Chairman. During his tenure, the sales of DEKRA’s largest single company grew to well over EUR 1 billion. Before accepting the position of COO in 2019 as part of the new TOM 2020 corporate structure, he sat on the DEKRA SE Management Board for eight years, during which he was responsible for the extraordinary growth of the company’s largest business unit, DEKRA Automotive.
Ivo Rauh will be leaving DEKRA at his own request at the end of his third mandate on March 31, 2021, after a total of nine years. As the Management Board member responsible for the Industrial business unit, from 2012 to 2018 he expanded its sales to nearly EUR 1 billion. In the corporate restructure, he was made CTO and put in charge of the development of the eight service divisions and the future-related areas of innovation and digitalization as well as global IT.
Thomas Pleines, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of DEKRA SE, thanked Clemens Klinke and Ivo Rauh “for their tireless commitment over the years and all the excellent work they have done,” adding: “Without these two top managers, DEKRA would have never developed into such a powerful, service-oriented, innovative, and competent company. I wish them both all the best and good health during the next chapter in their lives.” Supervisory Board Chairman Mr. Pleines had the following to say about the two new Management Board members: “I’m delighted that we have appointed Stan Zurkiewicz, an internal senior manager, and Ulrike Hetzel, an expert in digitalization and IT, to these key positions. I’m confident that the two of them will continue the company’s successful trajectory, while also providing us with fresh impetus.”
Stefan Kölbl, Chairman of the Management Boards of DEKRA e.V. and DEKRA SE, made the following statement: “I would like to thank my two colleagues for an exceptional working relationship based on mutual trust, and I wish them all the best in retirement. The two of them have impressed me time and again with their professional expertise and dedication. And I also speak on behalf of my Management Board colleague, Wolfgang Linsenmaier, when I say that we are very sorry to lose two highly respected colleagues. We are pleased to be forming a new international and diverse Management Board team with the appointments of Stan Zurkiewicz and Ulrike Hetzel. This is an important factor that secures a company’s success in the modern age.”
Wolfgang Linsenmaier will be additionally appointed member of the Management Board of DEKRA e.V., DEKRA SE’s parent company, at the start of the new year. Mr. Linsenmaier, who has a degree in business administration, has been working for the company since 1999. From 2006, he was the Managing Director of DEKRA Automobil GmbH in charge of Finance and IT before being made Chairman of the Management Board in April 2018. He has served on the Management Board of DEKRA SE since 2019. “Wolfgang Linsenmaier has proven his expertise over the past two years as CFO. So it was a logical decision to additionally appoint him member of the DEKRA e.V. Management Board,” stressed Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Thomas Pleines.