Born and raised in the Lüneburg Heath, Jannike Bartkowiak discovered her passion for theater during a voluntary cultural year (2009/10) at the multi-genre Theater Aachen. Her experiences in press and public relations, assistant directing, and prompting solidified her enthusiasm for theater throughout her English and History studies at the University of Bonn. While studying, she worked for Deutsche Welle’s sports editorial team and in the administrative departments (KBB) of Schauspiel Bonn and Theater Aachen.
In the 2013/14 season, she temporarily took on the organizational leadership of the JuTa stage at the Forum Freies Theater (FFT) in Düsseldorf, under Kathrin Tiedemann’s direction. She joined the administrative team of Schauspielhaus Zürich in the 2014/15 season, where she gained extensive experience coordinating guest performances, festivals, special events, and creating and maintaining schedules. She later returned to Theater Aachen, organizing both the drama and opera departments in the administrative office until summer 2017 under Renate Helle’s leadership.
In February 2019, Jannike Bartkowiak rejoined Schauspielhaus Zürich, initially under Barbara Frey, as a member of the administrative team and took over scheduling with the leadership of Benjamin von Blomberg and Nicolas Stemann. Since the 2023/24 season, she has served as Managing Director under the interim leadership of Uli Khuon. She is currently preparing for the 2025/26 season under the new artistic directors Pınar Karabulut and Rafael Sanchez.