Management
The Executive Board of ZF LIFETEC comprises three Board members, CEO, CFO and COO, that manage the company and are supported by a skilled international team of three divisional heads and various functional heads. Together, they form a strong management team dedicated to sustainable growth.
Executive Board
Rudolf Stark
CEO ZF LIFETEC
Rudolf Stark joined ZF Group in 2018. Since then, he has successfully applied his extensive experience to drive the successful development and growth of the group’s Passive Safety Systems business. From August 2019 on, he served as Head of the Passive Safety Systems Division. In the course of the rebranding and transformation in March 2024 he took over the position of Chief Executive Officer of ZF LIFETEC. A graduate in business administration and mechanical engineering, Rudolf's journey at various companies, from DaimlerChrysler Rail Systems to Continental AG, has been marked by diverse managerial roles in sales, development, and general management with a total of almost 20 years in the automotive industry.
Claudia Holtkemper
CFO ZF LIFETEC
Claudia Holtkemper has been Chief Financial Officer at ZF LIFETEC since September 2026. She is responsible for Finance and IT. Previously, Claudia worked at Continental AG for seven years in various leadership and management positions. Between 2018 and 2023, she headed the Power Transmission business unit within the former ContiTech division, before being responsible for Finance, Controlling, and IT in the Automotive Group Sector of the DAX-listed company. From 2015 to 2018, Claudia served as CFO/Managing Director at the agricultural machinery manufacturer CLAAS. The business administration graduate brings over 20 years of experience and expertise in various leadership positions in international markets, including roles in the USA, Mexico, Hungary, the United Kingdom, and Romania.
Dr. Michael Eisenbarth
COO ZF LIFETEC
Dr. Michael Eisenbarth is ZF LIFETEC’s Chief Operations Officer. He is responsible for all production plants, domain operations functions, supply chain management and since 2025 also for purchasing. Michael joined ZF Group in October 2020 as senior vice president operations. Before ZF, he worked at Continental AG where he served as vice president in various global leading positions in different business areas. In this context, Michael was leading the operations workstream to execute the operational carve-out of Powertrain to Vitesco. Prior to this, he worked at Delphi Automotive following a tenure leading the Electronics Production department at the Institute for Factory Automation and Production Systems at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg where he had graduated and earned a doctorate degree in Production Engineering. Overall, Michael has been active in the automotive industry for more than 20 years.