Regulated clients, tighter rules and a thin local talent market: why German IT suppliers to banks and public institutions are sourcing infrastructure and security specialists from Poland, which roles fit best and how to set up the collaboration.
German IT companies that supply banks, insurers and public institutions are hiring specialists from Poland because they are caught between two pressures. Their clients now operate under DORA and NIS2 and expect proven resilience, while the German market cannot supply experienced infrastructure and security engineers fast enough. Poland is the nearest EU market that solves the second problem without creating new ones.
By “IT providers” we mean the companies behind the scenes: IT service providers and data-centre operators for banking groups, consultancies, managed service providers and IT staffing firms. They rarely appear in headlines, but they run much of the infrastructure that German finance and the public sector depend on.
We see this trend in our own work. Optiveum currently supplies remote specialists from Poland to German IT partners, including four network engineering roles for an end client in the German banking sector.
We work through selected German partners, as otherwise we would not be able to start cooperating with German end clients. This set-up also has a number of advantages: our German partners have local relationships with client representatives and know the language and the business culture.
This article explains why these companies look to Poland, which roles work best, and how to set up the collaboration so that it satisfies a regulated end client.
💡 The takeaway: German IT providers serving regulated clients cannot slow down their delivery while waiting for local hires. Sourcing senior specialists from Poland lets them keep their commitments without leaving the EU’s legal and data-protection framework.
What pressure are German IT providers for banks and institutions under?
They carry their clients’ regulatory burden as well as their own, and they have to staff it from a tight labour market. In practice, regulation raises the bar for the work they deliver, and the shortage limits how quickly they can deliver it.
How does DORA affect IT suppliers to banks?
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2554) has applied since 17 January 2025. It obliges banks and other financial entities to manage the risk of their ICT third-party providers, and it sets out key provisions that contracts with those providers must contain, such as service levels, security requirements, audit rights and exit plans. It also creates an EU oversight framework for ICT providers designated as critical.
For a German IT supplier, this means its clients now ask for more: documented processes, tested recovery, clear accountability for each person working on the client’s systems, and evidence that subcontractors meet the same standard.
Does NIS2 apply to the IT providers themselves?
In many cases, yes. NIS2 lists managed service providers and managed security service providers among the sectors in scope. Germany’s NIS2 implementation act has applied since 6 December 2025, with no general transition period, and is estimated to cover around 29,500 companies, compared with about 4,500 under the previous rules.
So, an IT provider serving a bank may face supervision twice: indirectly through its client’s DORA obligations, and directly as an NIS2 entity.
How hard is it to staff this work in Germany?
Still hard. Bitkom’s August 2025 study of 855 companies estimated that German businesses were short of around 109,000 IT specialists, and 85% of companies reported a shortage. In Bitkom’s 2023 study, IT positions stayed open for 7.7 months on average. For an IT supplier with contractual service levels, a vacancy of that length is not an HR problem; it is a delivery risk.
Note: this section summarises public regulatory timelines for context. It is not legal advice; whether an organisation is in scope should be confirmed with qualified counsel.
Why do German IT providers choose Poland rather than other markets?
Because Poland adds capacity without adding regulatory complexity. For a supplier whose clients scrutinise every subcontractor, a specialist in Warsaw or Wrocław is far easier to justify than one outside the EU.
What makes Poland the practical choice?
- Same legal space. Poland is in the EU, so there are no work permits, and personal data stays under GDPR. When a bank’s procurement or audit team reviews the supply chain, there is no third-country data transfer to explain.
- Same time zone. Poland runs on CET, like Germany. Change windows, on-call rotas and incident calls happen at the same hours for everyone.
- Short distance. On-site days for a migration, an audit or a team workshop are a short flight or a few hours by road or rail away.
- Enterprise experience. Kraków, Wrocław, Łódź and the Tricity have hosted infrastructure, security and shared-services centres of international banks and IT providers for two decades. Many Polish engineers have already worked on Western European regulated estates.
- A working contractor market. Most senior Polish IT specialists already work as B2B contractors, so project-based engagement is normal rather than exceptional.
- Familiar working culture. Western European companies, including many German ones, have operated in Poland for more than 30 years, so Polish specialists are used to their working culture. In fact, Poland has by and large adopted Western working culture. This makes cooperation with candidates from Poland, a neighbouring country, much easier than with more distant markets.
Is Poland an untapped option for German companies?
Largely, yes. In Bitkom’s 2025 study, only 14% of German companies had ever recruited IT specialists abroad, and only 5% were still doing so. Most German employers have not yet tested their nearest large talent market.
Does cost play a role?
Yes, but for regulated work it is rarely the main driver. The stronger argument is speed: a supplier that can staff a client request in weeks rather than months keeps the contract. And while Polish rates are not the lowest in Europe, highly qualified Polish specialists still cost less than their German counterparts.
💡 The takeaway: For a German IT provider, Poland is not offshoring. It is a neighbouring EU market with the same rules, the same hours and a deep pool of engineers who have done this work before.
Which roles do German IT providers source from Poland first?
Infrastructure and security roles come first, because they are remote-ready, measurable in an interview and directly tied to the resilience requirements of regulated clients. Network engineering is the clearest example.
Example: four network roles for a banking-sector end client
One German IT partner asked Optiveum to fill four fully remote network roles for an end client in the German banking sector, one per layer of the infrastructure:
| Role | Platforms | What the engineer owns |
|---|---|---|
| Data Center Network | Cisco ACI, Nexus | The data-centre fabric connecting core applications and servers |
| Load Balancing | F5 BIG-IP | How traffic reaches applications, including availability and failover |
| Campus LAN | Cisco Catalyst, Lancom | Office and branch networks used by staff every day |
| WAN | Cisco ASR, ISR | The links between sites and data centres |
Splitting the work into four focused briefs attracts specialists rather than generalists. The mix of a global vendor (Cisco) and a German one (Lancom) also shows a typical challenge: German estates often include platforms that are less common elsewhere, so the search has to be targeted.
Many of these roles do require fluent German. Still, given the shortage of local talent and the number of non-German-speaking candidates already living in Germany, more and more clients, mainly larger companies, are relaxing this requirement.
Why do infrastructure and security roles suit remote hiring so well?
- The work is done remotely anyway. Data-centre fabrics, load balancers, firewalls and cloud platforms are managed through controllers, consoles and pipelines. Physical tasks are usually handled by on-site technicians or the data-centre operator.
- The skills can be verified. Vendor certifications such as Cisco CCNP or CCIE, F5 certifications or security credentials can be checked with the issuer, and platform depth can be tested with scenario questions in a technical interview.
- Regulation creates the demand. Under DORA and NIS2, segmentation, redundancy, failover, recovery testing and documented change are evidence a supervisor can ask for. Every one of them needs engineers who can build and maintain it.
Which other roles fit the same model?
Any role that is defined by a platform, delivered through secure remote access and measurable in an interview follows the same logic. For IT providers serving banks and public institutions, that covers most of the profiles they struggle to staff.
| Role | Why it fits the remote nearshore model |
|---|---|
| Firewall and network security engineers | Same tooling and change processes as network engineering; demand rises with DORA and NIS2 |
| Security risk and compliance consultants | Work centres on frameworks such as NIST CSF or ISO 27001, documentation and evidence |
| Application security and threat-modelling specialists | Embedded in development teams that are already distributed |
| Disaster recovery and infrastructure recovery leads | Plan, test and document recovery; physical work is done by operations staff |
| Cloud, platform and DevOps engineers | Infrastructure as code, managed entirely through consoles and pipelines |
| Enterprise application specialists (for example SAP or ERP) | Small, specialised pools where a wider search area makes the biggest difference |
The common thread is that these roles are scarce, senior and remote-capable. Opening them to candidates in Poland can multiply the number of qualified people in a search without changing how the delivery team works.
For a closer look at one of these roles, see our article on what a disaster recovery governance lead does.
💡 The takeaway: Start with the roles your regulated clients ask about most and your local market fills slowest. In our experience, that is infrastructure and security.
How should a German IT provider set up hiring from Poland so that a regulated client accepts it?
By making the supply chain as transparent as the client’s auditors will expect: a clear contract structure, bank-grade vetting, an agreed language standard and secure access from day one. Get these right and the specialist’s location stops being a question.
Which contract model works best?
Most senior infrastructure and security specialists in Poland work as B2B contractors, invoicing through their own business. German IT providers typically use one of three models:
- Subcontracting through a Polish partner. The partner sources, vets and contracts the specialists; the German provider stays the client’s single point of contact.
- Three-party agreement. Once a candidate is chosen, the Polish partner, the German provider and, where required, the end client sign one agreement with clear roles. This works well when the end client wants to approve each person.
- Direct recruitment. The German provider hires the specialist itself, with the partner handling search and vetting only.
With German clients, we usually work as a subcontractor: we sign a cooperation agreement with the specialist and invoice the German partner. This works well for Polish IT experts, as their contract is with an established Polish company that has been on the market for years and pays reliably.
How should candidates be vetted for a bank or public-sector client?
With the same rigour as a local hire, adapted to a remote process: a live video interview with ID verification, independently checked references, certification checks and a technical interview with an engineer who knows the platform. Many regulated clients also request a criminal record certificate, which Polish candidates can obtain from the national register. Our guide on how to vet foreign IT candidates covers this in detail.
Does the specialist need to speak German?
Often not. Technical teams at German IT providers increasingly work in English, and infrastructure documentation is largely English already. Decide early whether German is a must, a plus or irrelevant, because “must” shrinks the Polish pool sharply.
What should be ready before the first day?
- Secure remote access: managed devices or a virtual desktop, multi-factor authentication and named accounts.
- A data-processing agreement covering candidate and client data, in line with GDPR.
- The client’s change and incident processes, so the remote specialist works to the same rules as the internal team.
- An onboarding plan, ideally with a few days on site at the start.
How long does it take?
For the four network roles above, we presented the first shortlisted candidates within one day. Fewer such roles are advertised in Poland than, for example, software development roles, so candidates are keen to see what new opportunities come up.
Every candidate we present is screened, referenced and technically assessed by our founding team first, which is one reason our replacement rate stays under 1%.
📍 Are you a German IT provider looking for infrastructure or security specialists to serve banks or public institutions? Book a call with Marek Wróbel to discuss your roles and how we can work alongside your team.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Why do German IT companies hire specialists from Poland?
Because Germany still lacks around 109,000 IT specialists, according to Bitkom, while Poland offers a large pool of experienced engineers within the EU, in the same time zone and under the same data-protection rules. For IT providers serving regulated clients, that combination is hard to match.
Can a German IT provider use Polish specialists on bank or public-sector projects?
Yes, in principle. Poland is an EU member state, so no work permit is needed and personal data stays under GDPR. The provider still has to meet its client’s outsourcing and subcontracting requirements, for example under DORA, so the set-up should be agreed with the client and reviewed by legal or compliance teams.
Which roles are easiest to source from Poland?
Infrastructure and security roles that are managed remotely and can be tested objectively: network, firewall, cloud and platform engineers, security risk and compliance consultants, application security specialists and recovery leads.
Do Polish specialists need to speak German?
Not always. Many German technical teams work in English. Requiring German narrows the pool considerably, so it is worth deciding whether it is truly essential for the role.
How are Polish specialists usually contracted by German IT providers?
Most senior specialists work on B2B contracts. German providers typically engage them through a Polish recruitment or outsourcing partner, either as subcontractors or through a three-party agreement that includes the end client.
Read also
- IT outsourcing and nearshore teams from Poland
- How to Vet Foreign IT / Engineering Candidates
- How to Build a Nearshore IT Team in Poland
- What Does a Disaster Recovery Governance Lead Do?
Sources
- Optiveum client searches published on career.optiveum.com, November 2026 (own data)
- Bitkom press release on the German IT skills market (August 2025, 855 companies surveyed)
- Bitkom 2023 study as reported by b2b-cyber-security.de (vacancy duration of 7.7 months)
- Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 (DORA), applicable from 17 January 2025, Articles 28–31 on ICT third-party risk
- Directive (EU) 2022/2555 (NIS2), Annex I on managed service providers
- Scheja & Partners on Germany’s NIS2 Implementation Act (January 2026)
- nisd2.eu, NIS2 in Germany, citing BSI estimates of affected companies
