More perspectives

Ivo Straßenburg
Business Unit Lead – Greater China

What are you doing at umlaut?

Together with our leadership team, I am responsible for our business in China. However, my areas of responsibility cover a wide range of different fields – for example, I run some of my own projects and also work closely with our partners and customers in a number of teams, mostly in the aerospace sector, where I am also responsible for the development of new business areas. Being able to switch quickly from one topic to another, while at the same time making a valuable contribution in each area, is challenging, but it's also the thing I love about my job.

How did you get where you are today?

I started working for umlaut when I was still a student, parallel to my studies. When I started working for them full-time, it was in the south of Germany where I took the typical route of first working in a team and then later taking on responsibility for my own projects, in my case in the aerospace sector. On account of my close links to China – I spent time at Peking University as part of my degree course – I was given the opportunity to take on responsibility for my first projects there. This led to me taking on a management role in our Chinese subsidiary.

Why umlaut?

I have always found that people here have trusted me, shown great appreciation and treated me with respect. A further plus point is the fact that umlaut umlaut offers all the employees lots of opportunities for personal development. I enjoy working in an environment where I can spend time exploring subject matters in depth with highly-qualified experts, who would not hesitate for a moment to come out with me for a drink after work, in the Schanze district in Hamburg, for example.

What is your ultimate advice for applicants?

Please don't exaggerate or pretend. It comes across well if you know your areas of competence but also know what you don't know. I want to work with people who I can rely on and who will give me an honest opinion.

Milica Djelić
Junior Project Lead Automotive & Mobility

What are you doing at umlaut?

Currently, as a part of the Automotive and Mobility Systems team, I am working as a project lead on e-mobility topics for first tier suppliers and car manufacturers. On the one hand I take care of the team and on the other I communicate with both the customers and higher management. Both aspects, technical expertise and project management, are an integral part of my work. For me, these are my usual tasks: I take part in the work of the team we have assembled – featuring their excellence - and I ensure the detailed follow-up of our work. We make sure that our customers’ requirements are met, and our main goal can be summarised as automating testing and delivering results, amongst other tasks.

How did you get where you are today?

After my engineering bachelor’s, I wanted to follow my interests in automation and Vector tooling, especially for diagnostics topics. The circumstances were so favourable that I had the opportunity to develop these interests into real technical competence in projects where these issues were requirements. From developing an automated speech recognition tool, being responsible for Vector diagnostics, to holding training sessions, being a mentor and leading a team, it has been a fun learning experience from both a technical and managerial perspective.

Why umlaut?

The opportunity to work with the latest technologies and strengthen technical competencies in several different industries, as well as the people that surround you are just some of the many reasons why it’s so great to work here.

What is your ultimate advice for applicants?

Be yourself! One special tip for young applicants - remember that you do not become an expert driver right after you get your licence; you only become an expert after a lot of experience of driving by yourself. The same thing applies to your work. One perk of the job is that you also have a team guiding you and helping you to become an expert even faster, so do not put too much pressure on yourself, read the application requirements carefully and be true to your experience.

Andrew Scott
Systems Engineer

What are you doing at umlaut?

As a systems engineer at umlaut you find yourself in a lot of different types of projects. Currently, my team and I are providing early development resources to our clients that make their production process run smoother. These resources assist in pinpointing potential failures and solutions associated with the production of certain features. I am also part of an IT team that manages our client’s software architecture for their engineering team.

How did you get where you are today?

Growing up seeing the rapid growth of technology I was very interested in computers and electronics, so I found my way into engineering. My family has a history with cars so I knew the automotive field would be the route I wanted to go. After completing an internship with umlaut and seeing the culture and the opportunities that we provide, I knew I wanted to work here.

Why umlaut?

The opportunities that umlaut provides are fantastic. Each team has a wide range of projects that you can experience, with some great clients. Additionally, you are never in it alone. Your team members are always willing to assist you which can turn any part of your project into a learning opportunity.

What is your ultimate advice for applicants?

Relax, be yourself, and be open about your strengths and your passions.

Stefanie Faulian
Global Brand & Marketing Director

What are you doing at umlaut?

Together with my team, I take care of all marketing activities for the coolest company in the world. The area of tasks is very diverse – for example, we make sure that the latest stories from the umlaut universe appear on our website, that we give a competent impression on potential partners at trade fairs, that all of our numerous studies and analyzes from our experts look pretty good or that each of our clients receives a holiday card from his personal contact at the end of the year.

How did you get where you are today?

For many years I’ve been responsible for the communication of products that require an explanation. Of course, that influenced me very much - I love to look behind the scenes of supposedly complicated things, to understand them and then to make an exciting story out of them. That is the reason why I found my way to umlaut – we just have so many great, fascinating projects and products here.

Why umlaut?

Because we're a pretty cool bunch. I have so many great colleagues around the world who, with their know-how and enthusiasm, contribute to make our world a little bit better every day. I am really proud to be part of this company every single day.

What is your ultimate advice for applicants?

Always be authentic and tell us in your application what makes your heart beat faster.

Dusan Pavlovic
Data Analysis Lead Engineer

What are you doing at umlaut?

Our team provides top quality umlaut drive-test and optimisation services for mobile networks around the world. In order to do that, I am constantly enabling my team to think and act in a data-driven approach, by providing big-data tools and innovative algorithms to solve our everyday engineering challenges. Capturing routine work in software algorithms and enabling us to go one step further in being creative and providing on top additional value to our customers, is what makes me forget about Mondays and the day of the week – we are constantly exploring new possibilities.

How did you get where you are today?

I started my career as a telecommunications engineer, but after few years of serious engineering work, I realised that the quantity of data and the scope of technological progress is too much for a single engineer to handle – this is when I got into big-data software development. By replicating the engineering mindset and business logic in computer code, we have truly opened up new ways of understanding problems, also with the support of a lot of heavy lifting muscles in our everyday work – we are now only limited by our creativity.

Why umlaut?

Apart from having an unlimited pool of customers around the world, serious data quantity and limitless possibilities for testing new ideas, umlaut is truly unique when it comes to your colleagues. We have the mindset of a young team, always looking to learn and innovate, and support our colleagues in good and bad times. A lot of strong friendships are constantly being developed, which might also be down to our serious partying capabilities.

What is your ultimate advice for applicants?

We would really like to get to know you, so be yourself and don’t be afraid to express your way of thinking and what motivates you.

Shreya Chatterjee
Senior Consultant, Technology Delivery Management Services

What are you doing at umlaut?

Currently I’m working on a pretty cool Mobility project in the automotive sector, mostly in the capacity of a Product Owner. I get to dabble in multiple things like figuring out what features need to be launched and when, collaborating with vendors to enhance my client’s platform, working with cross-functional teams to ensure the development of the product, deciding how we want to market the product, setup processes, working with multiple teams to decide the layout of the mobile app, what customer communication needs to go out, so on and so forth. What is most exciting is the exposure I get to multiple workstreams from the beginning to the end of a product launch.

How did you get where you are today?

I have always had a thing about wanting to work on new or different things after a while. Consulting seemed the right fit as projects tend to change and one gets to work on new topics from time to time. I started working at umlaut right after graduating from business school and in the last five years, I’ve had the opportunity to work on 7 major projects across 6 automotive clients. Every project has added value and skills to my portfolio and has been a stepping stone to the next big thing. When I look back, everything I know and have implemented in my current project has been the cumulative result of things I have worked on and learned from all the other projects.

Why umlaut?

Because we are a fun bunch! Everyone here is so enthusiastic about what they do, always ready to support and encourage you and contribute to your journey. What I love about umlaut is that I have so many supporting colleagues that it’s easy to call someone about anything I need help with, without worrying if he or she is a manager, principal or partner. It’s a pretty flat organization and they are really invested in your growth.

What is your ultimate advice for applicants?

Be flexible and open to different possibilities. Most importantly, be yourself in your application.

Arjun Karunagath
Systems Engineer

What are you doing at umlaut?

I'm currently working as a Systems Engineer here at umlaut. Systems engineering is a wide discipline which pretty much overlooks the entire lifecycle of a system which could be a product or a service, hardware or software. At umlaut we mainly focus on the automotive product development process. I work with Advanced Driver Assistant Systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicle technologies. I get to see a feature come to life from its early planning stages all the way to implementation.

How did you get where you are today?

After graduating from Georgia Tech in 2015, I joined umlaut as an Infotainment Test and Validation Engineer. I soon realized that umlaut offered a lot of opportunities to pursue. I moved into Telematics testing and also worked as Test Automation Engineer over the years. After gaining some experience in the industry I decided to switch roles and work as a Systems Engineer. I was intrigued by the Systems Engineering process of tackling challenging situations and coping with complex systems. So here I am today with the Systems team doing just that.

Why umlaut?

I was sceptical about moving from Atlanta to Detroit, but after the first week at umlaut I realized that I had made the right decision. People here were very friendly, and I was seamlessly integrated into this culturally diverse environment in no time. I have met some of the most amazing and talented people here doing great work. The other aspect of umlaut I really appreciate is how they value their employees and their feedback. The leadership team is super approachable and down to earth. If you are a go-getter, umlaut has a lot of opportunities awaiting you.

What is your ultimate advice for applicants?

Be honest to yourself about what you want and show us that you are truly enthusiastic about it.

Nicolas Bertrand
Project Lead

What are you doing at umlaut?

I lead projects for our client Airbus in various fields such as engineering, program management, configuration management and manufacturing. Moreover, I lead people from my team to develop their potential and develop contact networks.

How did you get where you are today?

I started at umlaut as a mechanical engineer in 2012. I took on responsibility for various tasks that combined alignment, planning and leadership very quickly. Later, I was involved in project recovery for Airbus– that means that we turn a project that is not currently working 100% into a success by leading, optimising and steering it. Through all these projects, I acquired a lot of technical know-how and soft skills to step into a leadership position. I was supported in this by my mentors and placed on several projects that required both my technical and leadership skills. Eventually, after being sure that I could handle a project from end to end, I was tasked with supervising multiple projects at once, all in our clients’ various departments such as offer management (aircraft catalogues), program management (planning, maintaining product standards and new developments) and aircraft production.

Why umlaut?

There is a sense of belonging with umlaut. We solve problems together and our flat hierarchy makes it easy to collaborate with inspiring colleagues all over the world. Plus, anyone can propose any idea in the company, which is a real enabler for growth.

What is your ultimate advice for applicants?

Nothing beats being yourself. It’s no use being the best professional that scores an A+ in all social interaction if it’s just not you. We love diversity and it’s ok to be human. Just be good, bring something on top and we will make a better, safer, greener world together.