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NELEX ::: NEXT LEVEL EXECUTIVE SEARCH

OUR TEAM WORKS FOR YOU:

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.

Janina Höck, Executive Assistant | Head of Operations & HR

  • Since completing her studies at TH Köln in 2009, Janina Höck's career path has been characterized by valuable experiences in various industries. Prior to joining NELEX, she worked as an Executive Assistant for an international group of companies in the mechanical engineering sector and supported the establishment of the new company location in Cologne.

  • Since 2020 Janina Höck is the main contact for NELEX’ board, management as well as cooperation partners. She is responsible for topics in administration, operations, and HR.

  • In 2023, she completed the certificate course as HR Specialist (IHK Cologne) with a focus on HR Management, HR Development as well as Recruiting.

Katja Kursawe, Principal

  • Katja Kursawe brings more than 25 years of experience in the areas of IT, digitization, technology and consulting. 

  • After her studies, she gained valuable experience as an internal sales manager for an IT service provider and then spent more than ten years as the managing director of a management consultancy with an IT and digitization focus for medium-sized industrial companies. 

  • In 2011, she moved to a respected international executive search recruitment consultancy with a focus on IT, logistics and telecommunications and joined the NELEX team in 2019.

  • With her extensive expertise and broad network, Katja Kursawe is the ideal contact at NELEX for filling key positions in IT, technology and digitalization, across all disciplines. Her expertise spans a wide range of industries in the industrial, commercial and service sectors.

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.

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.

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.