Uniklinik Köln Careers, Salaries & Jobs

Uniklinik Köln is the university hospital of the University of Cologne.

It describes itself as a maximum-care hospital with around 1,500 beds and around 12,000 staff from more than 100 nations, treating more than 490,000 patients a year, over 62,000 of them as inpatients.

Its nursing directorate has a staff unit for international nursing personnel management, responsible for recruiting, integrating and supporting international nurses: application management, support through hiring and planning of adaptation courses for nurses without German recognition.

Uniklinik Köln's careers site tells international nurses that they can start work as a nursing assistant while recognition is under way, with the chance of a permanent contract as a nurse once it is complete. It asks for B2 German and supports staff working towards C1 by adjusting schedules for language courses.

All recognition for foreign-trained health professionals in North Rhine-Westphalia is handled centrally by the Bezirksregierung Münster. Pay follows the TV-L, with the TV-L nursing table for nurses and the TV-Ärzte for doctors.

Run by

Public-law institution (Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts), the university hospital of the University of Cologne

Leadership

• Univ.-Prof. Dr. Edgar Schömig, Vorstandsvorsitzender und Ärztlicher Direktor
• Damian Grüttner, Stellvertretender Vorstandsvorsitzender und Kaufmännischer Direktor
• Marina Filipović, Pflegedirektorin

Awards and rankings

• Newsweek World's Best Hospitals 2026: 65th in the world, 8th in Germany and 1st in North Rhine-Westphalia, as reported by Uniklinik Köln on 9 March 2026

Switchboard

+49 221 478-0

• Center for Integrated Oncology (CIO)

  Uniklinik Köln's cancer centre.

• Transplant centre

  Kidney, pancreas, liver, heart and cornea transplantation.

• ECMO centre

  Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for severe heart and lung failure.

• Center for Infectious Diseases (CIM)

  The hospital's centre for infection medicine.

• Central emergency department

  The adult emergency department of a maximum-care hospital.

• Thyroid and pelvic floor centres

  Specialised centres for thyroid disease and continence and pelvic floor problems.

• Uniklinik Köln has a staff unit for international nursing personnel management, which it says is responsible for all matters of recruiting, integrating and supporting international nursing staff, from application management and hiring to planning adaptation courses for nurses without German professional recognition.
• Its careers page for international nurses asks for a CV in table form, a current telc or Goethe certificate at B2 or above, and the equivalence decision from the Bezirksregierung Münster. While recognition is under way you can start work as a nursing assistant, with the chance of a permanent contract once it is complete.
• The hospital says it supports staff who need an adaptation course and helps those working towards C1 German by adjusting their working hours for language courses. It aims to give feedback within three days of an interview.
• The hospital does not name overseas recruitment countries or agencies; international nurses apply directly through its job adverts. There is no dedicated programme for doctors.

• Doctors trained outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland apply to the Bezirksregierung Münster, which handles all Approbation applications for NRW from people who trained outside the EU. The medical language test is run by the state's medical chambers; the Ärztekammer Nordrhein, for example, holds it in Düsseldorf. The Kenntnisprüfung is required where training is not equivalent.

• Nurses apply to the Bezirksregierung Münster for an equivalence assessment of their nursing qualification. Uniklinik Köln asks for at least B2 German (telc or Goethe).

• Documents in a foreign language, even English, generally need a qualified German translation, according to the Bezirksregierung Münster.

• If you still have to complete recognition, section 16d of the Residence Act covers a residence permit for qualification measures and exams such as the Kenntnisprüfung, for up to 24 months and extendable by up to 12 months, and a recognition partnership (section 16d(3)) that lets you work for a named employer while you complete recognition. Both require at least 'sufficient' German, which section 2 of the Act defines as level A2.

• Once you hold the Approbation, a Berufserlaubnis or full nursing recognition, the usual routes are the skilled worker residence permit or the EU Blue Card (section 18g). Employers can also use the fast-track procedure for skilled workers (section 81a) with the local foreigners authority. None of this is legal advice: check your own case with the German mission and the foreigners authority.

1. 1

   Start recognition in Münster

   Apply to the Bezirksregierung Münster for the equivalence decision (nurses) or the Approbation (doctors).
2. 2

   Get a B2 certificate

   Uniklinik Köln asks nurses for a current telc or Goethe certificate at B2 or above. Doctors also need the medical language test.
3. 3

   Apply to an advert

   Apply through karriere.uk-koeln.de with a CV in table form, the language certificate and the Münster decision.
4. 4

   Interview

   After screening and interview, Uniklinik Köln aims to give feedback within three days.
5. 5

   Start as a nursing assistant

   Nurses can work as nursing assistants while completing recognition, then move to a permanent nursing contract.
6. 6

   Visa

   Apply for the visa that matches your stage of recognition at the German mission.

Monthly amounts

• Doctor in training (Ä1), TV-Ärzte (TdL)

  €5,792.90 to €7,436.05

  Years 1 to 6, gross, 40-hour week, from 1 April 2026 to 31 August 2027 (provisional table).

• Specialist (Ä2), TV-Ärzte (TdL)

  €7,645.72 to €9,576.69

  Rises at years 4, 7, 9, 11 and 13 as a specialist.

• Senior physician (Ä3), TV-Ärzte (TdL)

  €9,576.69 to €11,265.33

  Steps from year 1, 4, 7 and 10.

• Registered nurse (KR 7), TV-L

  €3,475.61 to €4,285.00

  Steps 2 to 6, gross, from 1 April 2026 to 28 February 2027. KR 7 covers nurses with at least three years' training in the matching role.

• Nurse with specialist further training (KR 9), TV-L

  €3,968.65 to €4,641.37

  For example intensive care or anaesthesia nursing after a completed Fachweiterbildung.