How to Apply to Schaeffler

8 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 411 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • Schaeffler is a family-controlled German motion technology company combining bearings, drivetrain, electrification, and aftermarket under one roof after the October 2024 Vitesco merger.
  • The company runs SAP SuccessFactors at careers.schaeffler.com — submit a clean PDF, mirror posting terminology, and complete every profile field.
  • Interviews are deeply technical and direct. Bring numbers, name specific tools and standards, and be ready to defend decisions in detail.
  • German B2 or higher significantly widens your options for Herzogenaurach, Schweinfurt, Höchstadt, Nürnberg, and Homburg roles.
  • Co-determination via the Betriebsrat is real for in-scope German positions and may include a works council meeting in the final round.
  • Be honest about the operating context: Vitesco integration complexity, EU auto downturn, plant restructuring, and Chinese price competition are all real and discussed openly internally.
  • Family ownership means long-term thinking and conservative capital allocation — the company optimizes for decades, not quarters.
  • Total hiring timeline runs four to ten weeks for most roles, longer for senior cross-border positions involving works council consultation.

About Schaeffler

Schaeffler AG (FRA: SHA) is a German motion technology company headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, founded in 1946 by brothers Wilhelm and Georg Schaeffler. The company built its reputation on the cage-guided needle roller bearing and remains one of the world's largest bearings manufacturers, alongside Sweden's SKF and Japan's NSK, NTN, and JTEKT. Schaeffler is family controlled — IHO Holding, owned by the Schaeffler family, holds roughly 80% of shares. The same family also controls approximately 46% of Continental AG, the tire and automotive supplier, making this one of Germany's most consequential industrial dynasties. Georg F.W. Schaeffler serves as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, with Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann as vice chair. Klaus Rosenfeld has been CEO since 2014 and steered the company through its 2015 IPO and the recent Vitesco transformation. The defining recent event is the October 2024 merger with Vitesco Technologies, which had itself been spun out of Continental in 2021 as a pure-play electric drivetrain business. The combined Schaeffler now integrates traditional bearings, transmission components, e-motors, power electronics, 48V systems, battery management, and hydrogen fuel cells under one roof. Post-merger headcount sits at roughly 120,000 across 200+ locations in more than 50 countries, with major sites in Herzogenaurach, Schweinfurt, Höchstadt, Nürnberg, and Homburg in Germany; Suzhou and Shanghai in China; Detroit, Charlotte, Fort Mill (South Carolina), and Danville (Virginia) in the United States; Pune in India; and São Paulo in Brazil. The business is organized into four segments: Automotive Technologies (e-motors, power electronics, 48V, battery management, fuel cells, and legacy ICE components), Vehicle Lifetime Solutions (the aftermarket business including the LuK, INA, and FAG brands), Bearings & Industrial Solutions (industrial bearings, rail, wind, aerospace, robotics), and Industrial Automation. Competitors span SKF, NSK, NTN, JTEKT, Timken on the bearings side and ZF Friedrichshafen, BorgWarner, Valeo, Aptiv, Denso, and Bosch on the mobility side, with Infineon, STMicroelectronics, and onsemi competing in power electronics. Candidates should go in clear-eyed about the operating environment. The 2024-2025 European auto downturn — Volkswagen's restructuring, Mercedes margin compression, Stellantis volume cuts — has hit Schaeffler hard, accelerating plant closures and German footprint consolidation including announced restructuring at Schweinfurt. The China business (roughly 20%+ of revenue) faces fierce price competition from BYD, CATL, and domestic suppliers, plus tariff and trade-policy risk. The Vitesco integration is multi-year and culturally complex.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Apply through careers

    Apply through careers.schaeffler.com, which runs on SAP SuccessFactors. Create a profile early so you can save searches and reuse your resume across multiple openings.

  2. 2
    Tailor the resume to the specific Stellenausschreibung (job posting)

    Tailor the resume to the specific Stellenausschreibung (job posting). German hiring managers expect tight alignment between job requirements and the skills you list, not generalist boilerplate.

  3. 3
    For German-based roles, submit a German-language CV plus Anschreiben (cover lett

    For German-based roles, submit a German-language CV plus Anschreiben (cover letter) unless the posting is explicitly English-only. For corporate or global roles, English is acceptable.

  4. 4
    Include Zeugnisse (work references and academic transcripts) as PDF attachments

    Include Zeugnisse (work references and academic transcripts) as PDF attachments. German employers weight these heavily and their absence is read as a signal.

  5. 5
    Recruiter screen typically runs 30 minutes by phone or Teams, covering motivatio

    Recruiter screen typically runs 30 minutes by phone or Teams, covering motivation, current role, salary expectations (be ready to name a number in EUR or local currency), and notice period.

  6. 6
    Technical or functional interview follows with the hiring manager and one or two

    Technical or functional interview follows with the hiring manager and one or two team members. Expect deep, specific questions on your domain — bearings tribology, power electronics topology, software architecture, supply chain — not generic behavioral fluff.

  7. 7
    For senior or specialist roles, expect a case study, presentation, or technical

    For senior or specialist roles, expect a case study, presentation, or technical assignment. Schaeffler often asks candidates to present a prior project end-to-end, including failure modes and lessons learned.

  8. 8
    Final round usually involves the Betriebsrat (works council) for in-scope German

    Final round usually involves the Betriebsrat (works council) for in-scope German positions and a meeting with the broader leadership team. Co-determination is real — the works council has formal input on hiring for many roles.

  9. 9
    Offer arrives with detailed compensation breakdown including 13th month or bonus

    Offer arrives with detailed compensation breakdown including 13th month or bonus, vacation (typically 30 days in Germany), pension contribution, and any relocation support. Negotiation is expected but should be evidence-based.

  10. 10
    Total timeline runs four to ten weeks for most roles

    Total timeline runs four to ten weeks for most roles. Senior or cross-border positions can stretch to three months due to scheduling across sites and works council involvement.

Resume Tips for Schaeffler

recommended

Lead with concrete engineering, manufacturing, or commercial outcomes — yield im

Lead with concrete engineering, manufacturing, or commercial outcomes — yield improvement percentages, cost-down figures in EUR, cycle time reductions, ppm defect rates. Schaeffler is a metrics-driven industrial company.

recommended

Name the specific technologies and standards you have worked with: IATF 16949, V

Name the specific technologies and standards you have worked with: IATF 16949, VDA 6.3, APQP, PPAP, ISO 9001, ASPICE, ISO 26262 for automotive software, AS9100 for aerospace.

recommended

For e-mobility and Vitesco-overlap roles, call out e-motor design (PMSM, IM, axi

For e-mobility and Vitesco-overlap roles, call out e-motor design (PMSM, IM, axial flux), inverter topologies, SiC/GaN power semiconductors, battery management, 48V mild hybrid, and fuel cell stack experience by name.

recommended

For bearings and mechanical roles, specify tribology, FEA tools (Abaqus, Ansys),

For bearings and mechanical roles, specify tribology, FEA tools (Abaqus, Ansys), MBD (Adams, Simpack), GD&T per ISO 1101, and any CMM or optical metrology experience.

recommended

List language proficiency honestly using CEFR levels (A1 through C2)

List language proficiency honestly using CEFR levels (A1 through C2). German B2 or higher meaningfully widens your options for Herzogenaurach, Schweinfurt, and Homburg roles.

recommended

Highlight cross-cultural and cross-site experience

Highlight cross-cultural and cross-site experience. Schaeffler runs global programs across Germany, China, the US, and India, and managers value people who have actually shipped across time zones.

recommended

If you have OEM-side experience at VW Group, BMW, Mercedes, Stellantis, Ford, GM

If you have OEM-side experience at VW Group, BMW, Mercedes, Stellantis, Ford, GM, BYD, or major Tier 1s like Bosch, Continental, ZF, or Denso, name the customer programs explicitly.

recommended

Keep length to two pages for most roles, three for principal or director level

Keep length to two pages for most roles, three for principal or director level. German conventions accept dense, fact-rich resumes — do not over-design.

recommended

For aftermarket roles, mention the LuK, INA, and FAG product families and any di

For aftermarket roles, mention the LuK, INA, and FAG product families and any distribution or workshop channel experience. The Vehicle Lifetime Solutions business is its own world.

recommended

Save the file as PDF named clearly: Lastname_Firstname_CV_RoleTitle

Save the file as PDF named clearly: Lastname_Firstname_CV_RoleTitle.pdf. SuccessFactors parses PDF reliably; avoid Word, scanned images, or design-heavy InDesign exports.

ATS System: SAP SuccessFactors

Schaeffler runs SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting at careers.schaeffler.com. SuccessFactors is the dominant ATS in DAX 40 and broader European industrials, with strong parsing of structured PDF resumes and full multi-language support including German, English, Mandarin, Spanish, and Portuguese.

  • Submit a clean text-based PDF. SuccessFactors parsers stumble on multi-column layouts, text inside images, and heavy graphical elements.
  • Mirror the exact terminology from the job posting in your skills and experience sections — SuccessFactors keyword matching is literal and recruiters filter on it.
  • Complete every profile field, not just the resume upload. Education, certifications, languages with CEFR levels, and work authorization fields all feed downstream filters.
  • Set job alerts on careers.schaeffler.com by location, segment, and function. Schaeffler posts roles in batches and alerts surface them faster than periodic browsing.
  • Use one consistent profile across applications. Duplicate profiles confuse recruiters and can cause your applications to get deprioritized or merged incorrectly.
  • For internal mobility, the same SuccessFactors instance powers internal job boards, so a complete external profile transfers cleanly if you are hired.

Interview Culture

Schaeffler interviews are direct, technical, and substance-first.

German engineering culture rewards depth over polish — interviewers will probe specific decisions you made, why you made them, what failed, and what you would do differently. Vague claims and storytelling without numbers get pushed on quickly. Come prepared to whiteboard a tribology calculation, sketch an inverter topology, walk through a PFMEA, or defend a supply chain choice in detail. Expect formality in initial interactions. Use Herr or Frau plus surname until invited to switch to first names, especially with senior leaders and in German-language interviews. Punctuality is non-negotiable — being five minutes late to a Teams call is read as carelessness. Dress business formal for on-site rounds in Germany; business casual is acceptable in the US and parts of Asia depending on site norms. The Betriebsrat (works council) plays a real role for in-scope German positions. Co-determination under the German Mitbestimmungsgesetz means the works council has formal consultation rights on hiring, and you may meet a Betriebsrat representative as part of the final round. This is not a formality — they assess fit with site culture and labor agreements. Be prepared to discuss the Vitesco integration honestly. Interviewers know it is complex and ongoing. Showing you understand both the strategic logic (combining bearings, drivetrain, and electrification under one roof) and the execution challenges (cultural integration, overlapping product lines, plant rationalization) signals maturity. The same applies to the 2024-2025 European auto downturn — acknowledge the headwinds rather than pretending they do not exist.

What Schaeffler Looks For

  • Deep technical depth in your specific domain rather than generalist breadth — Schaeffler builds physical products with tight tolerances and rewards genuine expertise.
  • Evidence-based decision making with documented PFMEAs, DOEs, root-cause analyses, or financial models. Opinions without data carry little weight.
  • Comfort with co-determination, works councils, and German labor frameworks. Candidates who view these as obstacles rather than features struggle.
  • Multilingual capability, especially German for Bavaria-based roles and Mandarin for China-facing roles. English-only is workable in many corporate functions but limits your ceiling.
  • Cross-functional collaboration across R&D, manufacturing, quality, and commercial — Schaeffler ships through tightly coupled global programs.
  • Customer orientation toward OEM and aftermarket channels. Tier 1 supplier life means living inside the customer's program timeline and quality expectations.
  • Adaptability through transformation. The Vitesco merger, EV transition, and EU auto downturn mean roles and org structures are shifting — rigidity is a liability.
  • Long-term mindset. Schaeffler is family controlled with multi-generational time horizons; quarterly-thinking job-hoppers do not fit the cultural pattern.
  • Hands-on willingness for engineers and operations leaders. Time on the shop floor in Schweinfurt, Höchstadt, Suzhou, or Fort Mill is expected, not optional.
  • Quiet competence over self-promotion. German industrial culture is allergic to over-selling — let the work and references speak.

Frequently Asked Questions

What ATS does Schaeffler use and where do I apply?
Schaeffler uses SAP SuccessFactors at careers.schaeffler.com. Create a profile, complete all structured fields, and apply directly there rather than through aggregators when possible.
Do I need to speak German to work at Schaeffler?
It depends on the role and location. Corporate, R&D, and global program roles often function in English. Site-based manufacturing, quality, HR, and supply chain roles in Germany typically require German B2 or higher. China-facing roles benefit from Mandarin.
How is the Vitesco merger affecting hiring?
The October 2024 merger added e-motor, power electronics, and fuel cell capability and roughly increased headcount toward 120,000. Hiring is uneven — strong in electrification and software, constrained in legacy ICE and overlapping functions where integration is rationalizing footprint.
Is Schaeffler conducting layoffs or plant closures?
Yes. The 2024-2025 European auto downturn has driven announced restructuring including plant consolidation in Germany, with Schweinfurt among affected sites. Be honest in interviews about understanding the context. Hiring continues in growth areas like e-mobility, software, and aftermarket.
What is the salary range like at Schaeffler?
Compensation is competitive within the German industrial sector but not Silicon Valley-style. German engineering roles typically include 13th month, 30 days vacation, pension contribution, and bonus tied to company and individual performance. US sites pay closer to local Tier 1 supplier benchmarks. Get specifics during the recruiter screen.
How does the Betriebsrat affect the hiring process?
For in-scope German positions, the works council has formal consultation rights on hiring under the Mitbestimmungsgesetz. You may meet a Betriebsrat representative in the final round. They assess cultural fit and adherence to site labor agreements — treat the conversation seriously.
What is the dress code for interviews?
Business formal for on-site rounds in Germany, particularly with senior leaders. Business casual is acceptable for video calls and in many US and Asia sites depending on local norms. When in doubt, ask the recruiter.
Does Schaeffler offer remote or hybrid work?
Hybrid arrangements exist for office-based roles, typically two to three days on-site. Manufacturing, lab, quality, and most engineering roles are predominantly on-site by necessity. Fully remote is rare and usually limited to specific corporate functions.
How does Schaeffler differ from SKF, NSK, or Timken on the bearings side?
Schaeffler is broader — bearings are one of four segments alongside automotive technologies, vehicle lifetime solutions, and industrial automation. SKF and Timken are more bearings-focused, while NSK and NTN have similar industrial breadth. The Vitesco merger pushes Schaeffler further toward integrated mobility solutions.
What should I know about the Schaeffler-Continental relationship?
The Schaeffler family, through IHO Holding, controls roughly 80% of Schaeffler AG and approximately 46% of Continental AG. The companies are operationally independent but share family ownership and some strategic alignment. Vitesco was spun out of Continental in 2021 before merging into Schaeffler in 2024.
How important is China experience for Schaeffler roles?
Very, depending on function. China is roughly 20%+ of revenue with major sites in Suzhou and Shanghai. Roles in product development, sales, supply chain, and operations often interface with the China business. Mandarin and on-the-ground China time are real differentiators.
What kind of background does Schaeffler look for in software and electronics roles?
Embedded software per ASPICE and ISO 26262, motor control and inverter firmware, model-based development with MATLAB and Simulink, AUTOSAR, CAN and FlexRay, and increasingly cloud and data engineering for connected products. Power electronics experience with SiC and GaN is highly valued post-Vitesco.

Open Positions

Schaeffler currently has 411 open positions.

Check Your Resume Before Applying → View 411 open positions at Schaeffler

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Sources

  1. Schaeffler AG Careers Portal —
  2. Schaeffler Investor Relations and Annual Report —
  3. Schaeffler-Vitesco Merger Announcement and Completion —
  4. Schaeffler Company Profile and History —
  5. Schaeffler Locations Worldwide —
  6. SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting Documentation —
  7. German Co-Determination Act (Mitbestimmungsgesetz) Overview —
  8. IG Metall Trade Union —
  9. Continental AG Investor Relations (Schaeffler family ownership context) —
  10. Vitesco Technologies Legacy Site (pre-merger reference) —
  11. VDA Quality Management Standards (VDA 6.3, IATF 16949) —
  12. European Automotive Industry 2024-2025 Outlook (ACEA) —