Nico De Graef

Senior Director Program Management (Ad Interim) | Global Network Management

Bonheiden, Flemish Region, Belgium

About

Leader, motivator, problem solver, enthusiast and optimist! 33 years of experience in a professional environment. +24 years of experience in managing various operations, teams, optimization and improvement projects on a regional and global scale. High level of experience in advanced Logistics, Aviation, Planning, Optimization, and Scheduling applications.

Experience

  • DHL Express (5 yrs 3 mos)
    • Senior Director Program Management (Ad Interim) | Global Network Management
      Apr 2026 - Present · 3 mos

    • Senior Program Manager Global Aviation Programs
      Oct 2024 - Apr 2026 · 1 yr 7 mos

      Manage programs and IT products that enable the Air and International Truck Networks of DHL Express to achieve safe, service excellence at lowest operating cost in alignment with standardized processes. This by constantly reviewing and enhancing the processes and toolkit of the Network Control, Airside, Commercial Air, ACS, and Airline functions.

    • Senior Manager IT Services BRU-Hub
      Mar 2023 - Sep 2024 · 1 yr 7 mos

      Full ownership of the IT Service Management and the IT Infrastructure landscape. Maintain and improve the IT set-up and ensure BRU-Hub takes advantage of technological improvements. Responsible for various contingency and resilience tests of IT hardware and Infrastructure at BRU-Hub. Coordinate IT Asset Management (HW/SW lifecycle management). Responsible for recommendation of system upgrades in order to meet business needs of BRU-Hub, enabling high performance and 100% reliability. Strive towards continuous improvement of different IT processes, services and procedures. Act as Local IT Security representative and ensure IT Security is maintained, required standards are adhered to, procedures and policies are implemented, drive information Security awareness at the Hub. Lead, motivate, manage and develop team members. Implement change and various projects within the IT Program using Brussels Hub project standards. Responsible for the day to day service management, scorecard reporting and reviews of the performance to the IT Director and SMT. Lead Service Level Management practises of 3rd Party service providers and collaborate with Business IT Regional/Global to influence strategy in relation to Locally consumed services.

  • ORTEC - Optimize Your World (Boortmeerbeek)
    • Senior Operations Manager
      Oct 2016 - Mar 2021 · 4 yrs 6 mos

      Team Leader for all ORTEC Products in Belgium. Team Leader ORTEC Belgium Customer Service Desk. Daily operational management, driving continuous improvement to gain operational excellence. P&L Resource & Capacity management for entire ORTEC Belgium Products consultants & PM team. Manage the team of consultants and program/project managers. Coach and mentor team members and help them grow. Review scope and plans on projects in order to identify technical, logistics or capability gaps and risk mitigation. Execute projects within budget, on time and without quality loss. Build and maintain relationships with the Board, MT, Customers and other partners. Ensure best practice in service delivery, both on new projects, upgrades and ongoing programs & projects. Ensure team members follow same/similar processes for service delivery towards our customers. Monthly budget forecasting & reporting. Cross border continuous improvement lead, in close cooperation with our Head Office in Zoetermeer (NL). Account Management.

    • Senior Operations & Project Manager
      Aug 2010 - Sep 2016 · 6 yrs 2 mos

      Daily operational management for all ORTEC Workforce Scheduling projects, ensure the right consultant is allocated on the right project at the right time. Discuss project timings & resource options with vendors, customers, internal stakeholders, Optimize existing process flows (budget reporting, resource allocation, monthly reporting), cross border process optimization in close cooperation with our Head Office in Holland.

  • Senior Project Manager ORTEC (secondment) at Brussels Airport Company
    Nov 2017 - May 2018 · 7 mos

    AOP (Airport Operations Plan) project: initiate & coordinate startup between IT and business stakeholders. De-icing project in APOC (Airport Operations Centre BRU). Support and improve existing winter OPS processes.

  • DHL Aviation (17 yrs 4 mos)
    • Global Aviation BPA System Program Manager
      Jun 2008 - Sep 2009 · 1 yr 4 mos

      Responsible for the daily operational management of various consultants, the Support team and project managers. Lead the application enhancement process in various regions. Monitor budget allocation on various sub-projects.

    • Network Europe Project Manager
      Feb 2007 - May 2008 · 1 yr 4 mos

      RMS (Ramp Management System) Project Manager for DHL Leipzig. Vendor selection process, responsible for the implementation of the RMS solution at the new Leipzig Hub. Daily operational management of consultants team and supplier teams. Implement new logistic processes in the new Hub & Ramp area.

    • BPA System Program Manager
      Nov 2003 - Jan 2007 · 3 yrs 3 mos

      Further roll-out of existing applications worldwide (EMEA, US, LATAM). Daily operational management during the global implementation.