Jens Hanefeld

Jens Hanefeld is a German diplomat.
Hanefeld studied modern history and English at the Free University of Berlin and graduated with a Master of Arts degree in 1990.
In 1991, he joined the Foreign Service as an attaché. After posts in Sofia and Washington, D.C., he became a desk officer in the Political Department of the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin in 2000.
From 2001 onwards, he was personal advisor to various state secretaries at the Federal Foreign Office.
From 2005 to 2009, during the First Merkel cabinet, he headed the Office of the State Secretaries at the Foreign Office.
In 2009, he became envoy and permanent representative of the ambassador in Washington.
From 2014 to 2024, Hanefeld took a leave of absence to work as a lobbyist for Volkswagen.
From September 2024 to August 2025, he was head of the German Embassy in Addis Ababa and Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ethiopia.
Since August 2025, he has been head of the Embassy of Germany in Washington, D.C.