To strengthen our team in Cologne, we are looking for a: (to start as soon as possible, ideally full-time and initially on a 12-month fixed-term contract):
(Junior) Program Manager: Formats & Facilitation (m/f/d)
At InsurLab Germany, the leading initiative for transformation and innovation in the insurance industry, you’ll work at the heart of a unique ecosystem comprising insurance companies, startups, technology and consulting partners, and universities. For this network to generate real momentum, it takes more than just bringing people together: After all, simply bringing people together doesn’t make for a good workshop—only strong facilitation creates clarity, sustainable results, and concrete next steps. This is exactly where you come in: You’ll be responsible for designing, facilitating, and further developing the content of our formats, such as workshops, circles, and our “Future Format.”.
Your Responsibilities
- Concept & Moderation: You will design, organize, and facilitate workshops, circles, and innovation and future-focused formats.
- Objective & Method Design: Together with internal and external stakeholders, you define the goals, target audience, process, and expected outcomes; to this end, you develop appropriate workshop structures and select the most effective facilitation methods.
- Group Leadership & Visualization: You confidently guide diverse groups of experts, executives, startups, and tech partners through the process, bring together different perspectives, and make results, decisions, and next steps clear.
- Preparation & Follow-up: You will prepare formats in terms of both content and organization and ensure clear documentation and tracking.
- Further Development of the Format: You will further develop existing facilitation formats and incorporate new methodological approaches from facilitation, future thinking, and strategic foresight.
The focus is explicitly on actively facilitating workshops and group sessions, not on a traditional HR, personnel development, or Scrum Master role.
Here's what you should bring
- Academic Foundation: Relevant training, certification, or academic studies related to facilitation, moderation, design thinking, strategic foresight, future studies, design futuring, or innovation management.
- Practical experience: Demonstrable practical experience in designing and facilitating workshops or group sessions (e.g., from professional projects, university projects, or networks).
- Group Dynamics & Empathy: Confidence in dealing with group dynamics: You can listen actively, reconcile differing interests, engage dominant participants, and facilitate difficult situations constructively.
- Work Style & Mindset: A structured, committed, and pragmatic approach to work, as well as the ability to quickly familiarize yourself with new topics and take charge of projects independently and efficiently.
- AI Competence: Advanced experience using AI tools, e.g., for AI-supported workshop preparation and follow-up, visualization, etc.
- Language skills: Excellent command of German and good written and spoken English.
- Presence & Mobility: Willingness to work on-site in Cologne on a regular basis and to undertake a certain amount of business travel.
Graduates, early-career candidates, those returning to the workforce, and individuals with non-linear career paths are expressly welcome, provided they have solid qualifications and practical facilitation experience.
We find the following particularly interesting:
- Foresight & Future-Oriented Methods: Experience with methods such as scenario planning, future workshops, futures literacy, trend and signal analysis, or Liberating Structures.
- Certifications: A degree from a relevant institution (such as the Hasso Plattner Institute, the Institut Futur at Freie Universität Berlin, INeKO, or a comparable institution).
- A Nose for Technology: Experience with generative AI and a good understanding of where AI can effectively support workshop processes.
- Industry Experience & Prior Knowledge: Experience in an applied foresight or innovation setting, as well as knowledge of the insurance or financial industry (helpful, but not required).
What We Offer
- A position of responsibility that involves a great deal of hands-on facilitation, genuine creative freedom, and direct contact with key industry stakeholders.
- A wide range of topics at the intersection of innovation, the future, technology, and the insurance industry.
- Flat hierarchies, quick decision-making processes, and an open, trusting work environment.
- A 12-month fixed-term position in a dynamic and motivated team. A long-term opportunity may arise, but cannot be guaranteed at this time.
- Flexible working conditions in a hybrid model with a location in Cologne - in the heart of the city center, close to the cathedral and with excellent public transport connections. You can expect modern, bright offices with plenty of space for exchange, creativity and teamwork.
Your Application
Instead of a long cover letter, in addition to your resume, we are primarily interested in the following questions:
- What workshops or group processes have you designed and facilitated yourself? What was the goal, what methods did you use, and what results were achieved?
- When could you start working with us, and how many hours per week?
German 
English