Donckerwolke began his design career in 1990 with
Peugeot in France. In 1992 he moved to
Ingolstadt for a two-year stint at
Audi Design. He spent 1994 to 1996 working at the
Škoda Design Center in Mlada Boleslav, in the Czech Republic, where he contributed to the 1996
Škoda Octavia and 1999
Škoda Fabia. After Škoda he returned to Audi responsible for concept development, operating out of Ingolstadt for one year and
Munich for another. It was during this time he worked on the
Audi A4 Avant and the
Audi R8 Le Mans Racer. During his time at Audi, Donckerwolke was also responsible for the design of the
Audi A2 concept and production car, which was known at the time for being innovative and ahead of its time, like many of his designs. He was head of design at
Lamborghini from 1998, where he was responsible for the 2001
Lamborghini Diablo VT 6.0, 2002
Lamborghini Murciélago and 2004
Lamborghini Gallardo, winning the 'Red Dot Award' in 2003 in recognition for his work on them. He also worked with
Walter de'Silva to produce the 2006
Lamborghini Miura concept. In September 2005, Donckerwolke was appointed
SEAT Design Director overseeing the design of future SEAT models, replacing Walter de'Silva who was promoted to oversee design for the entire Audi Brand Group. He was tasked with progressing SEAT design from Walter de'Silva's directorship to a look that would bring increased brand awareness and sales to the marque. His first visible contribution to SEAT was the
SEAT Tribu concept, unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show; he later penned the 2008
SEAT Ibiza. In September 2012, Donckerwolke was appointed
Bentley Director of Design, overseeing the design of future Bentley models, replacing
Dirk van Braeckel who moved to
Volkswagen Group Design. In June 2015 Bentley announced
Stefan Sielaff as his successor: "Mr Sielaff replaces Mr Donckerwolke who has decided to leave the business and
Volkswagen AG". In November 2015, he was tapped to lead
Hyundai Motor Group's
Genesis luxury brand from 2016 and work together with
Hyundai-
Kia's chief designer
Peter Schreyer. Donckerwolke replaced
Peter Schreyer as
Chief Design Officer of
Hyundai Motor Group in 2017, a position from which he resigned in April 2020. In November 2020, Donckerwolke rejoined Hyundai Motor Group as
Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of the Group and the Genesis brand. He was named President of the Hyundai Motor Group in November 2022, retaining the position of CCO. ==Designs==