Employee stories: Felix, Partner Manager for the JTL-Fulfillment Network

The first time I heard about JTL was through a friend from vocational school. He works as a team leader in IT administration at JTL. When I was looking for a company during my studies where I could complete my internship semester, he told me that they were looking for someone in partner management and sales. I then sent an unsolicited application and quickly realized that it was a great fit.

I was already told during the job interview: if you like it here, we would like to take you on long-term. The induction process was based on this premise. From day one, I was treated as a fully-fledged employee and involved in all projects. I knew that differently from previous student jobs.

After my internship semester, I had to write my bachelor’s thesis. Since I had gained so much good input as a working student at JTL, I had the idea of writing my thesis at the company – about the JTL-Fulfillment Network (JTL-FFN), for which I am also responsible today. Roughly speaking, the thesis was about the development of an auditing process for the intralogistics of logistics service providers. This was an ideal start for me because I was able to test my findings from the bachelor thesis directly in practice. During this time, I always had a contact person at JTL who supported me.

After I had finally handed in my thesis and finished my studies, I had another interview. That’s how I finally got my position in partner management.

I knew the field before, but I only really got into it at JTL. The mix of logistics, IT and consulting that I have in my job is simply exciting. I have regular onboarding meetings with logistics experts, where technical know-how and sales skills are required. I also enjoy coordinating with our developers because I learn a lot about the technical background of our solutions. I’m just as interested in the IT side as the business aspects.

What I love most is working and interacting with people – whether they are customers, colleagues or partners. I am a very communicative person. Before my studies, I trained as an IT systems administrator in a small specialist retailer for mobile IT. That’s why I have a lot of experience when it comes to consulting.

I would say that I manage to establish a good interaction between myself and the partners. We are also a bit of an intermediary between the fulfillment service provider and the retailer. It’s important to me to always go above and beyond the call of duty as a provider and to exceed expectations by going the extra mile.

I once had a dealer from Canada who wanted to import her data into FFN via CSV, but couldn’t quite manage it. I explained and showed her everything in detail in English. She was very grateful and really pleased.

It’s also great to see how our partners and customers grow through our solutions. The other day, for example, I looked at a retailer’s data. When I first spoke to him, he was still at the very beginning and now he has taken his first 2,000 orders. When I can help people and companies with my work, that’s a real sense of achievement for me!

Sure, especially in project management you quickly realize that things never work the way they do in theory (laughs). You coordinate with different teams from IT, marketing, documentation or design and work together to ensure that everything becomes a successful whole.

The cooperation is constructive, but also relaxed and friendly. In contrast to large corporations, where there are usually very fixed structures, at JTL you can help shape a lot. Right from the start, I had the feeling that they had confidence in my abilities. This gives me room to grow and learn. Last but not least, the work-life balance is right for me – an aspect that is very important to me when choosing an employer.

I would like to start a part-time Master’s degree course called “Digital Transformation Management”. JTL is also supporting me financially. When I said in the personnel interviews that I definitely wanted to study again, my supervisor kindly offered me the opportunity on his own initiative – a sign to me that JTL has long-term plans for its people. In the long term, I’m also working step by step to qualify for a management position.

I also want to travel. If the coronavirus pandemic hadn’t broken out, I would have been able to spend a semester abroad in Taiwan at the University of Taipei. It’s a real shame that this fell through, but fortunately JTL offers a so-called workation the opportunity to go abroad for longer.

Exercise is the most important balance for me. My favorite sport is bouldering. During the corona lockdowns, however, I temporarily switched to traditional weight training and now do both at the same time. To stay fit, JTL also has great listings such as the EGYM Wellpass or the job bike, which I also use.

It exhausts you in every respect. On the one hand, it’s a matter of the head when you have to overcome yourself, for example when jumping at height. In addition to nerves of steel, strength, flexibility and coordination also play a role. No other sport clears my head so quickly.

I’m also a passionate gamer. We sometimes organize CS Go tournaments at JTL – it’s just fun! Music is also part of it for me – I can’t do anything without it. I love discovering new genres, going out partying and going to concerts.