
After receiving his doctorate in chemistry, Bertram began his professional career in 1987 when he joined Bayer AG in Leverkusen. He moved to Holzminden in 1990 to work for Haarmann & Reimer GmbH, which was later absorbed into the newly formed Symrise Group in 2003.
Bertram held a number of managerial positions in the research and development area before taking over for the Group’s global manufacturing operations in 2005. He has been a member of the Executive Board of Symrise AG since October of 2006, when he was appointed to head up the Flavor & Nutrition Division, which contributed €648 million to total Group sales of €1.320 billion in 2008.