In Germany Hefele made his debut for
SpVgg Unterhaching in 2010. He went on to play for
SpVgg Greuther Fürth and was on loan at
Wacker Burghausen. He played two seasons for
Dynamo Dresden scoring ten times in 72 appearances in all competitions and became the club captain.
In England Huddersfield Town In July 2016, Hefele joined
English Championship side
Huddersfield Town On 28 January 2017, in a game against
Rochdale, Hefele was substituted on as a
striker in the 46th minute, coming on for
Elias Kachunga. He then scored two goals as striker. Eight days later, on 5 February 2017, Hefele scored the winning goal in the 89th minute in a 2–1 victory against
Leeds United.
Nottingham Forest On 9 August 2018, Hefele joined English Championship side
Nottingham Forest for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for Forest on 14 August 2018 in the first round of the
2018–19 EFL Cup against
Bury. The game finished 1–1 after 90 minutes with Forest going through to the second round 10–9 on penalties, one of which Hefele scored for Forest. Hefele was frozen out of the Forest first team squad, making his last appearance for the club on 1 January 2019. He saw out his contract and was officially released at the end of the 2020–21 season. On 25 July 2021, Hefele announced his retirement from playing professional football due to "medical reasons". ==Post-retirement==