Johann Saathoff was born on December 9, 1967, in Emden. He is married and the father of five children. He completed his secondary education in the summer of 1987 with a high school diploma from the Johannes-Althusius-Gymnasium in Emden and subsequently earned a degree in public administration (FH) while working at the Lüneburg District Government.

He began his professional career in 1990 as a group leader in civil service payroll at the Weser-Ems District Government in Aurich. After another ten years at the East Frisia University of Applied Sciences, where he most recently served as a senior administrative officer, he entered active local politics in 2003: He was elected as the first full-time mayor of the municipality of Krummhörn and was re-elected in 2011.

Since September 2013, he has represented the Aurich-Emden constituency as a directly elected member of the German Bundestag, successfully defending his seat in the 2017, 2021, and most recently in February 2025 elections.

In addition to his role as chairman of the SPD’s Lower Saxony-Bremen regional group, he has held key government positions: After initially serving as Russia Coordinator and later as Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland (and, at times, additionally at the Ministry of Justice), he has been Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development since May 2025.