Team | Nelex

At home in the digital world.

With our agile, team-oriented approach, we are able to quickly find the right line-up for highly specific positions – always with your industry-specific needs in mind. Let's talk!

Digitality

For us, digitality does not mean that we neglect personal contact. The opposite is the case. In recruitment consulting, we digitise the processes and procedures that can be meaningfully digitised, which creates freedom for the important thing in our business: the personal interview.

INTERNATIONALITY

The world is growing together faster and faster. Distances are no longer obstacles. And most of our customers are international companies with a large presence in the DACH region and the BeNeLux countries or their headquarters or a large branch office in Germany.

This is the reason why we have positioned ourselves internationally from the beginning - with locations in Shanghai and Cape Town.

AGILITY

Agility is for us the highest form of adaptability of a company. This means that we as a company strive to anticipate things as early as possible. We do not just react to framework conditions, we also want to learn constantly. We are innovative and share our knowledge with you so you can benefit. Agility is an essential factor in all of this for maintaining competitiveness. Both yours and ours!

THE NELEX TEAM

The NELEX founding team consists of three experienced HR consultants
who have acquired their tools in various HR consulting firms.

Karsten Berge, Executive Board

Born 1963

Karsten Berge is a business graduate who studied business administration with a focus on strategic planning and marketing as well as business informatics at the University of Cologne, in London and in St. Etienne.
With about 30 years of experience in the IT and telecommunications industry, Berge has excellent contacts at the executive levels of major software and IT companies, consulting companies and many large and medium-sized companies in various industries.
He began his career as a consultant at the IT consulting firm Ploenzke, and later as an account manager at General Electric IS, before continuing his career as key account manager and sales manager in the large customer segment at o.tel.o. He then built up the German office of the US start-up company StorageNetworks – one of the first players in the SaaS area. Prior to founding SearchConsult in 2006, Berge was managing director of VIA net.works GmbH.
In 2006, Karsten Berge founded the recruitment consulting firm SearchConsult GmbH with a focus on the IT and digitalisation industry. With the firm’s clear focus on their own Ident and Research, SearchConsult quickly grew to 50 employees, making it one of the largest recruitment consulting firms. In 2015, Karsten Berge sold his shares as the majority shareholder to the listed Allgeier Group.
With NELEX AG, Berge and his team have already been awarded 5 stars several times by WirtschaftsWoche as the best HR consultancy in the categories "Digitalisation" and "IT" as well as "Consulting/Professional Services". In addition, NELEX has also been ranked several times as the top personnel service provider in the "Executive Search" category by FOCUS magazine.

Dr. Wolfgang Rothe, Associate Partner

Dr. Wolfgang Rothe looks back on several years of experience in the telecommunications, manufacturing and utilities industries, including at Mannesmann, Vodafone, AtosOrigin and Ista.
As CIO, he gained profound professional know-how and has since then built up a resilient network of international industry decision-makers.
Since 2008 Dr. Rothe has been active in executive search for specialists and executives and fills key positions in the IT, technology and digitalization environment.
Wolfgang Rothe completed his physics studies in Bonn and received his doctorate as Dr. rer. nat. at the RWTH in Aachen. During a doctoral period, he worked as a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Iron Research in Düsseldorf.
His clients include medium-sized companies, ICT service providers and consulting firms.

Christian Hecker, Director

Christian Hecker has more than 15 years of experience in executive search, digitalisation, technology and consulting. After studying business administration with a focus on human resources and marketing at Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, he began his career in HR management and recruiting for specialists and executives in the fields of IT, finance and sales.
In the following years, he consistently expanded his expertise in HR consulting and took on increasingly responsible roles in renowned consulting firms. At SearchConsult, dfind.com, Pawlik Recruiters and most recently as a partner at Ward Howell International, he managed numerous search mandates in the digital environment and supported well-known companies from industry, trade and management consulting in filling strategic key positions.
As Director at NELEX AG, his focus is on executive search for companies undergoing digital transformation. With his in-depth market knowledge, his keen understanding of technology-driven business models and his strong network, Christian Hecker is the ideal contact for filling leadership roles in IT and digital strategy.

Tarek Saifi, Director

Tarek Saifi has many years of experience in HR consulting with a particular focus on technology-oriented industries and digital transformation.
After studying international business at Maastricht University, he began his career at the HR consulting firm SearchConsult before taking on leading positions at international executive search companies such as Pawlik Recruiters and Ward Howell International.
Tarek Saifi has been a director at NELEX AG since October 2025. In this role, he supports companies in the strategic recruitment of executives and key roles, particularly in the areas of professional services, manufacturing and digital transformation.
His clients value him for his analytical depth, structured approach and ability to combine sustainable solutions with entrepreneurial vision.
With his expertise in digitalisation, IT and Industry 4.0, he supports organisations in exploiting the opportunities offered by technological change and positioning themselves for long-term future success. In doing so, he attaches particular importance to close, trusting cooperation with his clients.

Focus areas:

Executive search in the areas of professional services and industry
Focus topics: Digitalisation, IT and Industry 4.0
Strategic consulting on organisational and management structures
Establishment and development of high-performing management teams
Many years of experience in international consulting environments

Viktoria Schwan, Executive Assistant | Head of Operations & HR

With many years of experience in international corporate structures and a strong passion for efficient processes, Viktoria Schwan has been supporting the management of NELEX AG in all organisational and administrative matters since September 2025. She is the central contact person for the Executive Board, cooperation partners, customers and the team.
After successfully completing her B.Sc. in Applied Geography with a focus on Spatial Planning and Development at the University of Trier, she worked for KPMG for several years – first as an Executive Assistant in Luxembourg and later as a Consultant in CIO Advisory in Germany. There, she supported complex projects related to software asset management and gained extensive expertise in software licence management and strategic process design.
As part of her part-time distance learning Master's degree in Business Consulting at the University of Applied Sciences in Wismar, she deepened her professional skills in areas such as mergers and acquisitions consulting, turnaround management, marketing and sales consulting, digitalisation and digital business models.
What she particularly appreciates about her role is the opportunity to combine strategic thinking with operational implementation – and to have real creative freedom in a strong team.

Julius Bilski, Senior Consultant

Julius Bilski successfully completed his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration at the University of Siegen, followed by a Master's degree in HR Management at Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Cologne.
In addition to his studies, Julius Bilski gained initial experience in Headhunting as well as People & Culture Management at a digital agency.
At NELEX, Julius Bilski is focusing on filling senior specialist and management positions, particularly in the fields of Cleantech, E-Commerce and medium-sized System Houses since 2023.

Jonas Knippel, Consultant

Jonas Knippel completed his training as a wholesale and foreign trade merchant in Bremen, specialising in business development. He then spent a year in Hong Kong as an assistant to the management of a subsidiary.
Back in Germany, he successfully completed a bachelor's degree in international business at CBS International Business School in Cologne and a master's degree in business management at TH Cologne.
Jonas Knippel has been part of NELEX for over three years: having progressed from working student to consultant, he now fills C-level positions as well as sales and management roles in the IT system house and software environment.

Lukas von der Heide, Senior Consultant

Lukas von der Heide successfully completed his degree in Social Sciences with a focus on Change Management and Social Psychology at the University of Cologne.
During his studies, he gained initial experience in identity and research in the field of executive search.
Since 2023, Lukas von der Heide has been focusing on the international placement of senior and executive positions at NELEX, particularly in the areas of Cleantech, Mechanical Engineering, Tech and Software.

Clemens Winkler, Consultant

Clemens Winkler successfully completed his studies in business administration with a focus on investment and finance as well as marketing at the Technical University of Cologne.
During his studies, Clemens Winkler gained experience in the areas of identification and research in personnel consulting.
At NELEX, Clemens Winkler has been supporting projects since October 2025, focusing on filling management positions, particularly in the areas of finance, cloud and IT.

Anna Paffendorf, Trainee Executive Search

After successfully completing her apprenticeship in wholesale and foreign trade management, Anna Paffendorf began her dual Bachelor's degree in General Management at the Cologne Business School (CBS) in 2023 - with NELEX as her practice partner.
She is currently involved in supporting the project teams in filling senior specialist and management positions, particularly in the areas of IT, retail and e-commerce.

OUR TEAM WORKS FOR YOU: