Our Management Team

CEO

Manfred Schmitz, born in Grafschaft in 1961, graduated as an engineer (FH) in supply engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne and has held management positions in the ENGIE Group in Germany since 2002. As CEO, he is currently operationally responsible for the German activities of the Energy Solutions Global Business Unit. In his second function as Country Manager Germany, he is the main contact person for all ENGIE stakeholders on the ground.

Head of Technology, Quality & Systems

Christian Fraedrich, born in Unna in 1961, is a supply engineering technician who joined the ENGIE Group in 2007 after holding positions at Krantz TKT and DB Services. As a member of the management, he is responsible for the management systems and the technical know-how transfer within the company.

Head of Strategy & Energy Policy

Frank Höpner, born in Pforzheim in 1966, holds a doctorate in chemistry and has many years of management responsibility in energy contracting and other fields of the energy industry. As an expert on environmental and energy policy, he has advised various European governments and organizations and has served on international committees and associations worldwide. He also teaches at universities in Kufstein and Reutlingen.

Managing Director ENGIE Refrigeration

Jochen Hornung, born in Kusterdingen in 1966, studied industrial engineering in Mannheim and has been Managing Director of ENGIE Refrigeration since 2012. Since then, he has consistently developed the product and service portfolio of ENGIE Refrigeration in the direction of energy-efficient cooling and heat generation.

Head of Business Unit Building Technologies

Mathias Jessen, born in Seelow Mark in 1969, technical building equipment at the Technical University of Dresden and has been working with ENGIE in Germany with a short interruption since 1995. Today, he is responsible for the further expansion of the Building Technologies business unit in a dual leadership role with Roland Maag and is an expert for the planning and execution of complex building projects in technical building equipment.

Chief Legal Officer and Ethics & Compliance Officer

Annette Kofler, born in Bad Homburg in 1967, studied law at the Rhenish Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and completed the second state examination in Brandenburg. She has been working in the ENGIE Group since 2006 and is now head of the ENGIE Legal Team in Germany. Previously, she provided legal advice to various Group companies (e.g. Storengy Deutschland GmbH and Energie Saarlorlux AG). She already focused on the energy industry as a lawyer in a large law firm before joining ENGIE.

Chief Financial Officer

Ralph Lohmeyer, born in 1963, graduated from the University of Hamburg and has more than 25 years of professional experience in commercial management positions in Germany and France. Prior to joining ENGIE, he was Managing Director and CFO for a global group in the railway infrastructure sector.

Head of Business Unit Building Technologies

Roland Maag was born in 1967 in Wanne-Eickel (now Herne) and completed a degree in Business Administration (VWA) at the Bochum College for Administration and Economics. He held various management positions in the construction and building technology sector before joining ENGIE in 2012 and since then has been driving the expansion of the Building Technologies business unit. Since 2020, he has led the division in a dual leadership role with his colleague Mathias Jessen.

Chief Communication Officer

Astrid Schatz was born in Essen in 1967 and completed a master's degree in American Studies and Business Administration at the University of Tübingen. She worked in mechanical engineering, automation technology, the building materials trade and in the real estate sector as a marketing specialist before joining ENGIE in 2005. Today she is responsible for the communication activities of the German ENGIE companies.

Renewables Head of Business Unit

Ralf Schürkamp was born in Ibbenbüren in 1972 and holds a degree in environmental engineering from Bremen University of Applied Sciences and held numerous executive positions in the field of onshore wind before moving to ENGIE. He is responsible for all ENGIE's renewable energy activities in Germany. These include the development and implementation of onshore wind farms and open space PV plants, the operation of ENGIE's German wind farms and the Pfreimd power plant group, a combined running and pumped storage hydropower plant.

Head of Business Unit Energy & Facility Solutions

Stefan Schwan, born in 1964, studied supply engineering at FH Cologne. He specializes in the connection of FM and energy management and was already responsible for the development of innovative contracting and building management solutions as Managing Director of LGM Energie before his move to ENGIE in 2003. Together with his colleague Norbert Speckmann, he is responsible for the interlocking of the energy and service areas of ENGIE Germany.

Head of Department Strategic Cooperation

Marcus Sohns, born in 1972, studied law at the Philipps University in Marburg at Lahn and completed his Second State Exam in Potsdam. After seven years in the Linklaters international law firm, he joined ENGIE in 2007 and is an expert in in cooperations and their contractual and commercial implementation. Marcus Sohns is also a systemic organizational consultant and lawyer.

Head of Business Unit Energy & Facility Solutions

Norbert Speckmann, born in 1962, studied electrical engineering at the Märkische Fachhochschule Iserlohn/Hagen. After that, he worked for many years in senior positions in the E.ON Group. Since 1995 he has been responsible for the construction of the contracting company Proenergy. Following the acquisition of Proenergy by ENGIE in 2010, he took over the expansion of the Energy Solutions activities within ENGIE Germany and today heads the EFS business unit together with Stefan Schwan.

Chief HR Officer

Michael Wöhler, born in 1966, is a graduate in economics and has many years of management and leadership experience in the human resources area in a number of international companies, including the pharmaceutical sector as well as in mechanical and plant engineering. At ENGIE, he manages the HR and Health & Safety activities of the German subsidiaries.