Zwei zeb-Mitarbeitende sind zu sehen. Einer sitzt am Tisch mit seinem Handy, die andere steht mit einer zeb-Tasse im Hintergrund.
Zwei zeb-Mitarbeitende sind zu sehen. Einer sitzt am Tisch mit seinem Handy, die andere steht mit einer zeb-Tasse im Hintergrund.

Career paths in consulting

Your start in the consulting industry. zeb is a strategy, management and IT consultancy with a clear industry focus and a broad range of services. With us, you'll work on innovative solutions in various areas of consulting and thus shape the financial world of tomorrow. Take a look at our projects here and find out what activities are in store for you at our company.

Consulting at zeb

Our consultants are involved in the entire project process: from developing a strategy to applying the initial idea to effectively implementing it. They accompany our clients in various stages on their way to achieving their goals and dive deep into many exciting topics. This offers several advantages: as a consultant, you’ll experience a steep learning curve on the job and be able to find out for yourself which topics match your interests and skills. Right from the start, you’ll be entrusted with tasks that allow you to gradually expand your specialist and industry knowledge and take on responsibility at an early stage.

What’s in store for you

What will be your areas of activity as a consultant?

Complex projects require complex knowledge: our consultants contribute their individual expertise, which benefits colleagues and the company alike. This enables us, and you too, to access and explore complex subject areas:

Strategie: In strategic client projects, you’ll not only promote the development and implementation of strategies, but you’ll also link up with other specialist areas such as IT. When it comes to strategy, we also contribute to transformation and change projects.

Restructuring & Operational Excellence: In this area, you will focus on the digital transformation of our clients’ operating models, working to optimize them and increase their productivity. In addition, you will help our clients remain profitable today and in the future as well as increase their profitability by driving substantial and integrated business, finance and risk model optimization.
 
Risk: We focus on risk management in capital and business management, compliance or reporting, with typical issues relating to credit risk, non-financial risk management or RWA management for capital and business planning.

Finance: Here you’ll come into contact with accounting, regulation, controlling or treasury.

HR: In our HR projects, you will support our clients in all matters relating to their workforce – from strategic staff planning, retention and development to all relevant processes and tools and the optimization of existing structures. For specific personnel development projects, we have an experienced team of business trainers and coaches who provide training in new methodologies and transformation processes.

IT: Do you want to find out more about what we do in IT consulting? Then click here.

What clients will you be working with?

In the course of a project and owing to our active collaboration, we develop a close relationship with the client. Our client base is made up of both regional and international clients: in the financial sector, they range from medium-sized savings and cooperative banks to major international banks to specialized banks, data centers and core banking system providers. We also advise insurers on numerous issues relating to property, casualty, life or health insurance. 
On individual occasions, we have also supported projects outside the financial sector and even had the privilege of advising a soccer club.

What’s exciting about our projects?

Not all banks are the same and not all insurance companies are the same, since the financial services sector is linked to numerous economic sectors. So while you’ll be working with clients from the financial services industry, you’ll constantly explore new industries, such as real estate, aviation and automotive, and therefore need to work your way into them. This makes our focus on banking and insurance thematically complex and entails numerous areas of tension and current trends that we develop further.

What tasks will you be taking on?

Depending on your experience and project team, you’ll work on different topics. When joining us as a Consultant, you’ll first get to know client-based project work and take on initial sets of tasks such as preparing competitive analyses or benchmarking.
As a Senior Consultant you’ll already manage first sub-projects and make sure they’ll be successfully implemented. 
Managers are in charge of several projects in parallel and already assume managerial responsibility for younger colleagues. They apply their expertise to the further development of our consulting services, establish client relationships and acquire projects.
Increasing managerial responsibility, multi-project work as well as client relationship management and acquisition are part of the job descriptions of Senior Managers.

What makes our work important?

The world is changing constantly, which is also leading to turmoil and radical changes in the economy. We accompany our clients in embracing change. Digitalization, ESG or sustainability are important topics, but only a fraction of the issues that transformation raises. As a management consultancy, zeb takes on responsibility for such social and environmental aspects and thus has a macroeconomic impact on the safeguarding of the financial system, the insurance market and their clients. That’s why the work of our employees is so important.

Eine Mitarbeiterin von zeb sitzt auf dem Boden und arbeitet an einem Laptop.

Project examples from our everyday life

What have our consultants been working on so far? 
To give you an idea of what we do in our projects, we have put together a few examples:

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Digital transformation – from print to digital

In one of our transformation projects for a bank, we dealt with the transition from printed to digital presentation formats. This not only made the report more sustainable, but also less costly to produce. By incorporating interactive and visual features, the information could be digested more quickly and easily.

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Regulatory requirements and adjustments

Regulatory requirements are complex, which is why we help companies understand and implement them in their processes. Among many other projects, we developed a regulatory positioning strategy for a bank. As part of this strategy, we identified new options for the client’s business segments and we optimized accounting and core banking systems and adjusted them to the latest requirements.

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Funds: from idea to implementation

In the course of a client analysis, one of our project teams came up with the idea of setting up a fund. We put it into practice together with the client and accompanied the process from the first to the last step.

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Ensuring system availability

In an insurance project, we codeveloped a transfer organization. This ensured the continuation of operations in the event that the insurance company could no longer guarantee unrestricted system availability for a specific reason. We documented workaround processes, calculated the additional need for FTEs and made sure that administrative management was in place.

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Market analysis of insurance underwriting agencies

In a project driven by the Embedded Research team, the German underwriting agency market was analyzed as a special distribution channel for insurers. To this end, we examined the various players in terms of relevant factors, such as ownership structure, target group and product focus. In this context, the project team also provided an overview of the underwriting agencies’ business model and the typical positioning in the value chain of an insurer, which aims to explain the opportunities and risks of a strategic cooperation and to highlight market entry options for insurers.

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Digital worlds for the perfect customer experience

In one project, we developed a sales strategy that expanded existing customer and advisory processes to include an online offering. We created a virtual customer world to adapt sales to current social demands.

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Transactions of life insurance policies

An insurance company wanted to transfer life insurance policies to a life insurer. We supported this transaction and made sure that the processes ran smoothly and that the insurance customers were satisfied with the procedure. This project is the largest transaction of its kind in Germany to date.

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Climate stress tests

We conducted climate stress tests for a leasing company to investigate the economic impact of various climate scenarios and the rising temperature on the company. With these tests, we were able to specifically determine the changes the company has to implement to keep its business up and running.

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Projects in IT consulting?

The project examples listed here are only a fraction of the topics you’ll deal with as a consultant. Do you want to learn more about our IT projects? Then click here to get further insights!

Every year, we stage the “zeb.Uni”: a two-day event, where zeb colleagues present their exciting projects, report on current trends, and where external speakers talk about interesting developments in business, society, politics, and many other areas. This gives our consultants the opportunity not only to learn about important topics, but also to gain an insight into the projects their colleagues are working on every day. This year, topics such as digital assets, the development of regional banks, ESG and and agile transformation were covered. In addition, subjects such as better collaboration, IT security and corporate culture were also discussed in workshops.

Social projects are also part of everyday consulting at zeb. As part of a project, for example, Max initiated the “Karla” platform, which aims to bring relief to elderly people in their everyday lives.

Practice Groups - your thematic home

IT consulting offers a wide range of different topics and technical tasks. Aside from working on exciting and varied client projects, you can set your own priorities in one of our numerous practice groups and specialize in your favorite topic. Making use of our specific expertise, strategies and individual client solutions for special topics are developed together as a team. Advanced analytics, data management, digital financial services or IT strategy are just some of the topics we deal with at zeb within the practice groups.

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It’s your choice!

At zeb, we want you to be able to develop your potential freely according to your individual interests and knowledge. Therefore you decide in which practice group you want to work – and this choice is completely independent of your office location. 

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Your input

Diverse input leads to a specific structure: each team member plays a role in finding a project solution by contributing their personal expertise and experience. At the same time, you benefit from the knowledge of other team members. This process will not only boost your own knowledge and personal development, but also result in skilled work teams that deal with special topics. 

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Collaborating

This is all about teamwork: during the development of topics and strategies, the focus is on the exchange of ideas in order to jointly find implementation-oriented solutions. Regular communication is therefore crucial to the success of any collaboration – not only on technical subjects, but also on other topics to get to know the team and build relationships and networks.

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What is important to us

We are known for a strong team spirit and supportive mindset and strictly object to internal competition, competitive thinking and a dog-eat-dog attitude – instead, we create an environment at zeb that is characterized by cooperation and mutual support.

Your entry opportunities

If you are enthusiastic about the financial sector and want to contribute your curiosity and creativity, zeb is the right place for you. You can choose from a wide range of entry and career opportunities:

Fellow

As a Fellow, you will already gain consulting experience at zeb during your studies. You can do an internship in consulting or write your thesis together with us. Both provide you and us with a good basis for future cooperation.

  • Internship

zeb offers Master and Bachelor students a varied and exciting internship. You become part of a project team, learn from experts and work on relevant tasks, allowing you to gain deep insights into the work of a consultant at zeb.
You can find more information about your internship in consulting here.

  • Thesis

Combine theory and real-world experience in your thesis. You will have direct access to consulting experts who are well versed in your field. In addition, you can use research services and access the latest specialist articles, studies, standard works and an extensive database. Due to our high academic standards we can offer you the perfect sparring to help you successfully complete your studies.
You can find more information about your thesis in consulting here.

Analyst

With a very good Bachelor’s degree, you can join us as an Analyst—in the zeb.bachelor.welcome program. It consists of one year of working as an Analyst and a one to two-year leave of absence to complete your Master’s degree (full-time). As an Analyst, you are part of a project team from day one, taking over work packages, receiving feedback and learning a lot. During the Master’s degree you will receive financial support. And after completing your Master’s degree you will be promoted to the position of Consultant. Throughout the program you can take advantage of our further education opportunities and will be part of the zeb network. 
You can find more information about the zeb.bachelor.welcome program here.

Consultant

After completing a Master’s degree or a PhD, you can join zeb as a Consultant. You will be part of a project team from day one, taking over work packages, receiving feedback and learning a lot. You will research and analyze, develop concepts, accompany the implementation and support the project organization. Over time you will take on more and more responsibility. 
You can find more information about starting at zeb as a Consultant here.

Senior Consultant

If you have gained initial work experience in a consultancy or a financial services institution after completing your academic education, you can join zeb as a Senior Consultant. On client projects you will take on partial project responsibility. You will organize your subproject, lead the subproject team and be responsible for the results. You will constantly expand your methodical and professional know-how. This way you will support the development of innovative consulting products and solutions for our clients.

Manager

If, after completing your academic education, you have several years of project management experience in a management consultancy or financial institution, zeb offers you the opportunity to join as a Manager. In addition to your project management responsibility, you will be involved in preparing proposals and tenders. As an expert you will develop innovative consulting products and solutions for our clients. In addition, you will be a mentor (Career Development Counselor) for some colleagues, provide feedback and support in career development.  

Senior Manger

Consulting experts with deep roots in the financial industry and an excellent network, outstanding specialist expertise and experience in managing complex projects can join zeb as Senior Managers. Your responsibilities will include project management, interacting with clients and project acquisition, developing new services and the role of Career Development Counselor. 

Further information

Do you want to know more? Take a look at the following pages and get to know us even better.

 

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Your career as a professional

Here you can find out what you can expect as a professional in consulting.

Drei Studierende sitzen zusammen. Eine von ihnen lächelt in die Kamera.
Your career as a student

You can learn about the opportunities we offer you during your studies here.

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Campus Scout

If you would like to get an even more detailed impression of our company, get insights from our Campus Scouts. Our former analysts will answer your questions in a relaxed manner.

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Diversity

The best teams are diverse teams. Click here to find out how we promote diversity at zeb and which networks and initiatives we offer.

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Events

You are also welcome to come to one of our events before you apply. Take the opportunity to exchange ideas, network and learn. Follow this link to the events.

zeb career blog: Articles and testimonials at a glance
Blog

You can find more testimonials and specialist topics in our blog. Drop by sometime.

Any questions about your career opportunities?


Then contact our Talent Attraction team here. We look forward to talking to you.

Employer ratings

Glassdoor

Find a variety of evaluations at glassdoor and answers to job interviews at zeb.

Kununu

kununu gives you a good overview of zeb as an employer with numerous ratings.

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