Select your country to see content specific to your location.

Our people

Creating the roadmap for new model concepts, designs, testing and engineering

Sina Eisenbarth

Sina Eisenbarth arrived at Bentley in 2014 on a five-month project for her master’s thesis. Twelve years later she’s still here – as Bentley’s Head of Programme Governance and Planning.

Sina sat at a desk with a computer and headphones in front of her.

Career path

Full circle

A new beginning

Immersed in the process

Rising to the challenge

Sina Eisenbarth’s career at Bentley has come full circle. She arrived in Crewe in October 2014 to complete her master’s thesis on the Product Emergence Process, or PEP. That’s the roadmap for the concept, design, testing and engineering of a new model before it’s finally released for production.

Now, as Head of Programme Governance and Planning, she and her team of eight are helping to rewrite the PEP and tailor it to Bentley’s strengths, while also reducing the overall ‘sketch to showroom’ time.

“Originally, I was here for just five months. I imagined I would then return to Germany, as I had already worked there during my studies. But from the moment I arrived everybody was incredibly welcoming. I would walk around the site, see these amazing cars and how proud everyone was to work at Bentley. I just had a feeling; I wish I could start my career here.”

Graduating in 2011 with a BSc in Business, Sina spent two years in the retail fashion industry. “It was my ‘Devil Wears Prada’ dream.” The reality proved different. “It was so dull! So, when I was offered a full-time position, I turned it down. Instead, I found a university that offered a master’s degree in international business and engineering. It’s a course aimed at giving you the ability to manage technical projects.”

During her studies she took a working student role at Porsche. “That's how I made connections at Bentley to apply for a thesis here.”

Having completed her thesis, Sina was on holiday in the US when she received an email inviting her to apply for a full-time position at Bentley. “I bit their hand off! I applied for the technical project manager position for Bentayga and ended up getting it.”

Sina found her German language skills helped when it came to liaising with Volkswagen Group stakeholders on projects like the Bentayga V8 and V6 plug-in hybrid. “It was such an exciting time yet also daunting because the emissions legislation ramped up. I proved myself with those vehicles, then I was given the extended wheelbase Bentayga as my next project.”

Her former experience as a working student in Germany helped. “I had worked in one department that was involved in the Volkswagen Group rules at the time, so I had a lot of key knowledge on that. When it came to negotiating – ‘how does the extended wheelbase Bentayga fit within the platform?’ ‘How can we do it in an efficient and economically beneficial way?’ - I was in a good position to do that, even though I wasn't perhaps as senior as other people in the room.”

Partway through the Bentayga EWB project, Sina was asked to deputise for her immediate manager. “It was my opportunity to step into the chief technical engineer role and lead that project to completion. And it was amazing. I thought; this is what I want to do. I love it. It gave me that glimpse into senior leadership. I've craved it ever since and worked towards it.”

After 11 years as a Technical Project Manager, Sina achieved her next step into senior management. She was appointed as Head of Programme Governance and Planning in June 2026, leading a team of eight. “We run Bentley’s decision forums, lead the change team and oversee the product emergence process. We have a unique opportunity right now; we need fundamental change to make sure that we keep up with the speed of the competition.”

Sina sat in the driver's seat of a Bentley.

Changing the culture

Navigating a male environment

BeInspired

As a woman in a male-dominated industry, Sina has seen many changes since joining Bentley.

She cites the support she’s had right up to board level. “Matthias Rabe, Member of the Board for R&D, has an open ear for any Women in Engineering topics that I bring to his attention and prioritises time out of his busy day. And Andreas Lehe, Member of the Board for Manufacturing, is the enthusiastic board patron for our BeInspired women’s network.”

“Culture starts from the top. The openness of our senior leadership to these topics shows that belonging isn’t just a box ticking exercise.”

Sina is co-chair of BeInspired, one of Bentley’s colleague-led diversity networks, focused on women. “We try to make sure that every woman at Bentley feels like they have a place that they can go to, where we can come together and network. We can help each other out and reach out to the younger generation that comes after us. We work together with the Early Careers team on outreach. We had an amazing ‘girls into Bentley’ day that one of our working team members led together with Early Careers. That was a huge success.”

BeInspired is a network that gives women within Bentley the confidence to be visible, but it’s not exclusive. “You’ve heard the phrase ‘boys’ club’? Well, this is a girls’ club, but everyone’s invited. Parenthood is one of our hottest topics, but that involves fathers as well, so we get a lot of interest from our male colleagues on that.”

GT Wellness Quilting Portrait Teasers.jpg

Work-life balance

Charity work

Looking ahead

Away from work, Sina is a Member of the Board of Trustees at My CWA, a charity providing emotional, personal and practical support to families affected by domestic abuse. “They have a unique whole family approach. Not just looking at survivors and victims, but also the perpetrators and how they can be rehabilitated.”

Bentley is both a supporter of the charity and offers volunteering leave, so Sina can give the charity her time and expertise. “I love my work at Bentley. But helping people in really dire situations, even if it's just by sitting on the board, looking at financial numbers, gives you a wider perspective.”

Sina recently made a major commitment to her adopted home by becoming a British citizen. “Previously it wasn't an option without giving up my German citizenship, which I wouldn't have done. And I could have continued to work here with my settled status. But I’ve been here so long now. It just feels right.”

Is it too soon to be looking ahead and thinking about where she might like to be in future? “It's never too early, right? You have to have goals.”

“I said to my partner the other day; for the first time in my career, I feel that if this was the last thing I do until I retire, I would still be really, really happy at what I had achieved.”

Explore careers at Bentley

Search and apply for roles at Bentley