Unternavigation

Petra Zimmermann, Vice Director

Petra Zimmermann is Vice Director of the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). She is responsible for the International Affairs division, the Legal divison, and the sections Environmental Monitoring, Human Resources; Finances and Controlling; IT and Services; and Language Service.

Petra Zimmermann studied physics with minors in computer science, mathematics and mechanical engineering in Karlsruhe (D) and completed her doctorate in data analytics, artificial intelligence, visualisation and smart cities at ETH Zurich in 2005.

From 2006 to 2010, Petra Zimmermann headed the Internet Coordination Office of the Aargau Cantonal Administration. In this function, she built up the canton's digital platform and was responsible for system integration for the entire web presence and intranet. Parallel to further management training at the University of St. Gallen, she then worked in the energy industry. In 2013-2017, she was a member of the Executive Board Information Technology Post at Swiss Post and redesigned the IT architecture. In this role, she also addressed issues related to the workplace of the future, cloud technologies and security management. In 2018 and 2019, Petra Zimmermann headed the digital unit of the global Vorwerk Group. In 2020 and 2021, she was a member of the Transformation & Technology management team at Zurich Insurance. In this role, she was responsible for enterprise architecture in the areas of business, IT and data.

Petra Zimmermann, 50, has broad leadership experience in different corporate cultures and has also worked on sustainability issues in various areas. She has been Vice Director of the FOEN since 1 July 2021.