Jens Hofschröer takes up his new post as a city councilor with the City of Wolfsburg today. As Department Head for Digital and Economic Affairs, he is responsible for the Central Organizational Management, Digitalization and Economic Affairs departments as well as the Information Technology division. To this end, Hofschröer brings a wealth of experience - including as Managing Director of Wolfsburg Wirtschaft und Marketing GmbH (WMG) - to City Hall. The portal editorial team met the new board member for a brief interview.
Mr. Hofschröer, welcome to the City of Wolfsburg. You are now "the new guy", how would you describe the person "Jens Hofschröer"? What can your fellow board members and the entire city administration look forward to?
Jens Hofschröer: I really enjoy working with people and see myself as an agile team sportsman. Getting people excited about a joint commitment and goal, leading the team and being successful as a team - that is my inner drive. It is particularly important to me to treat everyone as equals and to cultivate constructive and respectful cooperation.
I already know my colleagues on the Executive Board and many of my colleagues in the city administration from my previous work at WMG. I see this as a great advantage for our joint tasks. I look forward to continuing to work together as partners in my new role and function.
In December, the Council elected you as the new City Councilor for Digital and Economic Affairs. What were your feelings like in the last two months?
Jens Hofschröer: In the last few days and weeks, I've often been asked the question, "Why are you doing this to yourself?" Almost everyone I spoke with wanted to understand my motivations and vision for this additional professional task. For many, it was initially elusive as to how I would bring together and do justice to the two jobs, their scopes and responsibilities. Of course, this results in a particular complexity, which I will tackle with a strong team at my side.
In my new dual role as Head of the Department for Digital and Economic Affairs and WMG Managing Director, I see a great opportunity to leverage decisive synergies for the sustainable strengthening of our business and living location. I am convinced that we will further expand the cooperation between the city administration and WMG for the benefit of the location and that we will also be able to assign more responsibility to individual areas. Within my family, too, my professional development has naturally been a recurring topic of discussion in recent times and has been associated with many questions. As a family man, it is particularly important to me that I do not neglect my family in this dual role that now lies ahead. I am very grateful that my family always has my back and is an important place of retreat.
For the position of city councilor, you have to be nominated by the mayor and elected by the council, no small hurdles. Did you expect that you would be elected?
Jens Hofschröer: After my application, I naturally wished and hoped that it would succeed. I always had the advantages of combining the tasks in mind. After all, with responsibility for the Digital and Economic Affairs department and for WMG as an independent, agile subsidiary, we can bring together strengths that ultimately benefit the location as a whole and move it forward. Today, I am grateful and at the same time also honored to have been appointed and that the trust has been placed in me.
As a native of Lingen, you studied economic geography. Would you have thought back then that your path would one day lead you to the Executive Board of the City of Wolfsburg?
Jens Hofschröer: Of course I didn't foresee that my career would one day take me to Wolfsburg. Even though my parents and grandparents always drove Volkswagen cars and I grew up in a Volkswagen family, if you will, the common path to the Wolfsburg region came more through my wife's professional career. As a family, we felt very much at home here right from the start, so it quickly became clear that we would establish our center of life here.
I didn't pursue any kind of career planning after my studies in economic geography, but rather had the good fortune to take on activities that I personally enjoyed very much and that offered not only creative but also development opportunities. This is where the new role as City Councillor for Digital and Business ties in seamlessly.
Enough about the past, let's look to the future: Your task will be to continue the transformation processes of the city and administration in the areas of business and digital development with primary responsibility. Where do you start? What challenges do you see?
Jens Hofschröer: Both within the administration and in the context of "smart city development," a good foundation has already been created in recent years, and we will continue to build on this together. Nevertheless, in the area of digitization in particular, it is important to keep up the pace, also taking into account the current budget situation, and to develop a common understanding in the transformation of the administration. In addition to digital issues, however, the development of our city center in particular remains an important topic on our agenda in order to remain an attractive, strong business and living location.
What makes the city administration and Wolfsburg as a location special for you? What are your goals for the next eight years?
Jens Hofschröer: Wolfsburg has become an attractive place to live, work, do business and feel good. It is important to me that we develop a common understanding of the fact that the city administration with its services and sovereign tasks represents a significant location factor - for all citizens who already live here or would like to live here in the future, skilled workers, companies and investors. With this in mind, it is important to me to further strengthen our services, to break down barriers and thus to position the city administration as a location factor in the best possible way.
Thank you and a good start!
Business areas and units
The following divisions and departments of the City of Wolfsburg are part of my board area as department head:
City of Wolfsburg
Department VI
Mr. Hofschröer
City Councillor
Porschestrasse 49
38440 Wolfsburg
Telephone: 05361 28-2049
E-mail: sekretariat.hofschroeer@stadt.wolfsburg.de