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Portrait Constantin Siemons - Career Opportunities for Experienced Professionals at KHS

“Time and again I realize just how important personal contact is for the results of our work.”

Constantin Siemons

Head of Global Engineering and Production | Department: Global Engineering and Production | Dortmund

What did you train as and what did you do next?

I first did a bachelor in industrial engineering, majoring in mechanical engineering. While studying I worked as a student helper in order to get a feel for the practical side of things right from the word go. As my bachelor’s degree was very theoretical, I then decided to go to China for a year to do my master’s. During my time in Beijing I was able to gain plenty of practical and cultural experience.

After finishing my master’s I found out about the KHS trainee program and have worked here since 2014. I’ve now been in Global Engineering and Production since May 2019 where one of my jobs is to look after the production network In my current position I have more to do with internal rather than external clients and try to network the German and non-German sites even better – as regards engineering but also within the production network. My previous insights into the world of KHS on the trainee program were extremely useful here.

Why did you choose this particular job?

Before I went to university I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to do something technical or study medicine. An internship in both fields then prompted me to opt for technology. I’m still very pleased I made this choice. The nature of my degree course made it clear that I’d be no technical specialist; at KHS I instead always work at the interface between Design Engineering, other user departments and our customers. In this capacity you often act as a kind of translator for the technical content, also interpreting different interests and requirements.

What do you like about your work in particular?

You never know what’s going to happen next. We work very independently in Global Engineering and face new issues and challenges every day. A very small part of our work is thus taken up by daily routine. A lot of the queries from our user departments are firsts and one-offs. They’re extremely varied and from one moment to the next can go from process optimization for procurement processes to finding out where an Indian engineer on a training course in Germany can hire a bicycle for the weekend. It’s therefore never boring and this is what I really like.

What makes your job so interesting, so special?

In my job you often work across the production sites and on an international scale. There are masses of interfaces with other departments in my job; I have to be able to put myself in other people’s shoes while questioning my own actions. Time and again I also realize just how important personal contact still is in our networked world. Besides the personal benefits this brings, knowing one another and thus being able to adapt to one another also optimizes our work results. In order to be able to improve cooperation between a great number of different departments – also internationally – best practices have to be defined together with our colleagues to promote a change for the better among everyone. This is one of the things that makes my job so diverse.

“A lot of small steps have to be taken by the various individuals involved to achieve a successful overall result.”

What are the challenges of the job?

You’re also involved in major strategic topics. These need a certain amount of time until you start to see any success. You thus definitely have to be patient! You shouldn’t put failures (or successes) down to yourself alone when you’re working on the big picture. A lot of small steps often have to be taken by the various individuals involved to achieve a successful overall result.

What else do you do?

I like traveling or visiting friends who live outside Germany. This is a bit less frequent at the moment as I’ve just become a father for the second time. This of course first alters your focus. However, as soon as the chance again arises, I want to carry on exploring the world with my family.

Site Dortmund in brief

Employees

1,300

Trainees

85

Average years of service with the company

18 years

Company premises

113,304 m2

Founded

1868

Product portfolio

Bottle washers, Pasteurizers, Labelers and inspection technology, Conveyor technology

KHS GmbH Juchostr. 20 | 44143 Dortmund | Germany