… gained a degree in “Applied Linguistics, Translation and Interpreting” from the University of Saarland in Saarbrücken (first language French, second language Italian) in 1989. She started her career as a translator and project manager at Siemens in-house translation department in the same year. In 1990, she was seconded to the Siemens UK language services department in Chertsey/England, where she was able to intensify her knowledge of English and to add English-German to her repertoire of language directions. After returning to the Siemens department in Munich, Germany, Heike Leinhäuser worked as deputy head of the Public Networks group and was later responsible for special projects as assistant to the head of language services. In all of these roles, Heike Leinhäuser was deeply involved with change management, process optimization and the transformation of Siemens translation department from a budget-driven entity to a profit center. In 1995, after seven years at the company, Heike Leinhäuser resigned from her position as deputy head of Siemens translation department. After a year of working as a freelance translator, she teamed up with her brother to found Leinhäuser und Partner, Fachübersetzungen (which later became Leinhäuser Language Services GmbH). Due to the company’s underlying structure and organic growth, its co-founder continued to work as a translator, reviewer and account manager alongside her managerial role. She is currently managing director and co-partner of Leinhäuser Language Services GmbH.

In addition to her company role, Heike Leinhäuser has been active in QSD e. V. (Qualitätssprachendienste Deutschlands e. V.) [German professional association of translation services] since 1998. In 2003, she was invited to join the DIN mirror committee working on the European EN 15038 standard. She also represented this committee at meetings with colleagues from other European countries. She was President of QSD e. V. between 2007 and 2020 and represented the association at national and international level. Since 2020, she has been President of the EUATC, the European Union Association of Translation Companies.The EUATC is an umbrella body for national associations of translation companies throughout Europe, without being limited to the EU.