Martin Kern was the Interim Director and Chief Operating Officer at the EIT from 1 August 2014 until his appointment as Director by the EIT Governing Board on 23 August 2019. Prior to joining the EIT, he worked at the European Commission for 15 years in a variety of posts, mainly in the area of enlargement policy and with financial assistance to support economic and social development programmes.

Working for the EU, he held a variety of positions, the latest being Head of Operations at the EU Delegation to Serbia where he coordinated the programming and implementation of EU funds to bring Serbia closer to EU accession and among many issues, he led the EU’s rapid response following the disastrous floods in Serbia in May 2014.