John van Daalen

Interim Executive | Operational Transformation & Performance Improvement | Supporting Executive Teams, Advisory Firms & Investors | Lean • Six Sigma • ToC • Agile

Greater Avignon Area

About

Interim executive and transformation leader with 30+ years’ experience supporting executive teams, investors and advisory firms in delivering operational improvement and sustained bottom-line impact across asset-intensive and service-led businesses. Typically engaged to work alongside leadership teams to clarify priorities, reshape operating models and deliver disciplined execution — particularly in complex, multi-site or performance-critical environments where delivery discipline and operational performance need strengthening. My work focuses on translating strategy into execution: ensuring that transformation initiatives result in measurable operational and financial outcomes, not just plans. I operate as a trusted extension of leadership teams, combining structured transformation approaches with hands-on delivery to accelerate progress while maintaining alignment across stakeholders and external partners. Experience spans shipping, rail, automotive, FMCG, biotech, hospitality and industrial sectors, across both advisory and hands-on operating roles. Increasingly focused on enabling organisations and consulting teams to deliver transformation themselves — strengthening internal capability while improving consistency and sustainability of results. Selected outcomes include: - Contributing to scaling a consulting business to ~£70m revenue while delivering >£200m annual client savings - Delivering ~22% investor IRR across a 10-year investment period - Reducing complex development cycles by ~50% within existing resources - Improving delivery reliability and operational performance across multi-site environments

Experience

  • Founder & Director — Terra Vestra at TERRA VESTRA PROJETS - Multi-sector consulting
    2007 - Present · 19 yrs 7 mos

    Transformation advisory across maritime, biotech, environmental, food, industrial manufacturing and property sectors. Led development and operational improvement of multiple projects, combining strategic direction with hands-on execution.

  • Senior Advisor & Managing Director NL — Pathways at Pathways - Shipping & Energy | Netherlands / International
    May 2022 - Dec 2025 · 3 yrs 8 mos

    Led the Netherlands expansion of a shipping and oil & gas advisory business and supported the evolution towards coaching-led transformation delivery. Worked with executive teams to build internal capability to design and execute transformation, improving delivery discipline, asset utilisation and operational performance.

  • Project Consultant — HR & Supply Chain at Shipping & Rail Manufacturing
    2019 - 2021 · 2 yrs

    Supported rail supply chain leadership across the full value chain from product design through to customer delivery, maintaining programme integrity and coordination across functions. Led HR transformation in shipping operations to improve scalability, strengthen process discipline and reduce operational risk in regulated environments.

  • Founder & Director at Phoenix Managed Ventures - Venture Advisory | Automotive, Consumer Products, Hospitality
    1997 - 2007 · 10 yrs

    Venture investment and transformation leadership across multiple sectors. Delivered strong investor returns through disciplined investment selection, restructuring and operational improvement.

  • Senior Operations Leader at Peter Chadwick Ltd -Transformation Consulting
    1987 - 1997 · 10 yrs

    Senior leadership roles in a high-growth consulting business, contributing to scale from 6 to 450 employees. Delivered large-scale operational transformation programmes across multiple industries.