Born and raised in the Lüneburger Heide, Jannike Bartkowiak first joined the multi-disciplinary Theater Aachen in 2009/10 through a Voluntary Social Year in Culture (FSJ). Her experiences in press and public relations, assistant directing, and prompting solidified her passion for the stage—a commitment she maintained throughout her studies in English Literature and History at the University of Bonn. Alongside her degree, she worked for the sports editorial department at Deutsche Welle and within the artistic administration offices (KBB) of both Schauspiel Bonn and Theater Aachen.
In the 2013/14 season, she served as the interim organizational head of the JuTa stage at the FFT (Forum Freies Theater) in Düsseldorf under Kathrin Tiedemann. She then moved to the artistic administration office of Schauspielhaus Zürich for the 2014/15 season. Equipped with extensive experience in managing guest performances, festivals, and special events, as well as scheduling and coordination, she returned to Theater Aachen. There, she managed the KBB under Renate Helle until the summer of 2017, overseeing organization for both the drama and opera departments.
In February 2019, she returned to Schauspielhaus Zürich as a member of the artistic administration under Barbara Frey, later taking over scheduling and resource planning (Disposition) under the artistic directorship of Benjamin von Blomberg and Nicolas Stemann. For the 2023/24 season, Jannike Bartkowiak was appointed Artistic Operations Director (Künstlerische Betriebsdirektorin) and a member of the Senior Management Team during the interim directorship of Uli Khuon. Since the 2025/26 season, she has continued her work under the artistic leadership of Pınar Karabulut and Rafael Sanchez.
