Bettina Cadenbach has been Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy since September 2019. She was previously the Director for Security Policy / Deputy Political Director of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany. From 2016 to 2018 she has been the Director for Security Policy at the Federal Foreign Office in Germany. From 2015 to 2016 she was Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Georgia and, from 2012 to 2015, Head of Common Security and Defence Policy Division at Federal Foreign Office. From 2009 to 2012 she served as Deputy Head of Mission at German Embassy in Tehran, and from 2006 to 2009 as Head of Office, Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office. As a diplomat, she had previously served as Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy in Tallinn, Estonia and at the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations, New York.