Manfred Seitz started his professional career in traffic & transport engineering and then moved to the Austrian Ministry for Science & Transport being in charge for the development and implementation of transport technology programmes.
In 1999, he was a managing director of via donau, a subsidiary of the ministry serving as innovation centre for Danube transportation and transport telematics. In 2005, via donau became the Austrian national waterway organisation by merging infrastructure operation and all development activities.
In 2011 he led the foundation of Pro Danube International (PDI) which is a network of private businesses promoting a more competitive Danube logistics and the improvement of the Danube fairway. Since 1st of July 2019, Manfred Seitz holds the function of the General Director of the Secretariat of the Danube Commission which is an international organisation overlooking the regulations and rules for the navigation on the river Danube waterway and its navigable tributaries.