Bernhard Trautner currently works at the German Development Institute (DIE). With a background in Islamic studies and political science and holding a PhD in political science from Bremen University (1997), he worked as a consultant to GIZ (German technical aid), as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Development Research (ZEFF), Bonn, as Professor of International Policy Management at the Hochschule Bremen (pro termpore), before joining the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development in 2005 (Good Governance section, EITI). From 2008 to 2012 he served as Head of Bilateral Development Policy at the German embassy in Addis Abeba (Ethiopia) before returning to BMZ.
In May 2014, Bernha