Ken Van Rafelghem

Operations & Strategy Leader | Chief of Staff | Business Operations | Digital Transformation | Barcelona-based | IESE MBA

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

About

With 15+ years leading operations and strategy across technology, logistics, and aviation, I partner with executive teams to drive business transformation, operating-model design, and cross-functional execution. At Amazon, I helped define the EU reverse logistics standard for sort centres (projected $54M annual savings), delivered a 43% productivity boost through process redesign, and managed shift operations for up to 200 employees across high-volume facilities. At Safran and Zodiac Aerospace, I led customer support and technical operations across international teams, cutting resolution times by 50%+ and redesigning workflows that reduced escalations and repair costs significantly. Most recently at Navozyme, I ran a digital consulting division delivering 10 maritime projects across a €150k portfolio with 100% on-time MVP delivery, while also serving as Chief of Staff supporting the CEO across 5 business units. 💡 What I bring: Operating model design & large-scale process transformation Cross-functional execution in regulated and high-growth environments Technical depth across ERP, systems integration, and AI-assisted workflows Multilingual leadership across European markets (EN, ES, FR, DE, NL) IESE MBA · MSc Industrial Engineering (IT) · GMAT 750 · Merit scholarship · Fluent in 5 languages (EN, ES, FR, DE, NL)

Experience

  • Navozyme™ (Hybrid)
    • Managing Director - Nova, project & delivery division
      Nov 2024 - Nov 2025 · 1 yr 1 mo

      • Delivered 10 maritime client projects with a team of 4, achieving 100% on-time MVP delivery and early completion on 6 engagements across a €150k portfolio • Directed cross-team implementation of digital solutions, coordinating product, client, and operational stakeholders to ensure successful delivery • Designed AI-powered outreach automating vessel monitoring and commercial prospecting across 50–300 vessels/port/month, eliminating manual research from the commercial team • Standardised delivery workflows and operational processes, freeing an estimated 1–2 hours per commercial team member per week • Led ERP scoping for a maritime client, redesigning business processes and recommending suitable ERP suites, resulting in the client proceeding to full implementation

    • Chief of Staff
      Jul 2024 - May 2025 · 11 mos

      • Supported the CEO with strategic planning and coordination across 5 business units and C-suite, representing leadership in internal forums to advance decisions and alignment • Identified and led onboarding improvements after uncovering access and coordination gaps, reducing new hire settling-in time by an estimated 3–4 days • Established fortnightly cross-BU forums across 4 business units, improving leadership communication and reducing decision-making silos • Managed organisational realignment for a 25–40-person company, redesigning reporting flows to accommodate new CPO and CTO lines and consolidate previously fragmented engineering oversight

  • Operations Manager, ATS Sort Centres (BER8 & DTM9) at Amazon
    Sep 2021 - Mar 2024 · 2 yrs 7 mos

    • Helped design the EU reverse logistics standard for sort centres, projected to save $54M annually • Coordinated cross-department teams to design and implement process changes, delivering a 43% productivity boost in 1.5 years • Planned and executed the transition from 3 to 2 shifts, improving productivity while maintaining employee satisfaction • Reallocated labour and resolved bottlenecks across site flow operations, improving throughput and sustaining KPI performance for 500k+ packages/day • Led teams of 5–10 directs and oversaw shift operations for up to 200 employees across a high-volume sort centre environment • Partnered with the Learning team to launch a new onboarding plan, reducing ramp-up time and improving new hire experience

  • Customer Technical Support Manager at Safran
    Feb 2018 - Aug 2019 · 1 yr 7 mos

    (SAFRAN S.A. acquired Zodiac in 2018) • Streamlined operations between U.S. and German product support departments, reducing customer resolution times by 50%+ • Developed data analysis tool enabling processing logs in 15 minutes, down from 2 hours • Prevented product launch delay by tightening collaboration with U.S. teams, recovering a 1-month delay • Innovated customer' retrieval process of relevant documentation, dropping time needed from 8 hours to 3 minutes (average) • Mentored colleague for 4 months, positioning him to take over team management • Trained colleagues on products, minimizing errors and speeding up resolution time 2+ hours, bettering customer satisfaction

  • Customer Technical Support Manager at Zodiac Inflight Innovations
    Mar 2013 - Jan 2018 · 4 yrs 11 mos

    (Zodiac was acquired by SAFRAN S.A. in 2018) • Improved 'spare and repair' process, cutting down turn-around-time between request and unit return to customer by 60% • Executed self-developed trainings for airline maintenance crew, lessening 'No Fault Found' units sent for repair by 50% • Established coordination for problem resolution with major airlines and aircraft manufacturers, lowering escalations by 50% • Coordinated multiple international customer support teams, achieving top 10 spot on a customer's supplier awards

  • System Adminitration and R&D engineer at TriaGnoSys GmbH
    Jan 2012 - Jun 2013 · 1 yr 6 mos

    (TriaGnoSys GmbH was acquired by Zodiac in 2013) • Optimized employee job start/end procedures, cutting down time needed for onboarding by 40% • Improved company IT, allowing more scalability for future expansion and boosting data throughput 100-fold