Deventer, Overijssel, Netherlands
Over 30 years working at the intersection of IT, procurement and people. Mostly in large multinationals — Cargill, Teva, JDE, now Pon — managing sourcing strategies, vendor relationships and the occasional complex negotiation. What I've found: the contracts are rarely the hard part. Understanding what's actually needed, who's involved, and where the real friction sits — that's where the work is. I tend to work best in roles with autonomy and genuine complexity. Not the loudest voice in the room, but usually the one still asking questions when others have moved on to the next agenda item. After a sabbatical year travelling through South America, I deliberately chose a smaller, more focused role. Less hierarchy, more substance. Currently Senior IT Procurement Manager at Pon's CIO Office.
Responsible for sourcing and contract management of IT infrastructure, software, services and telecom at Pon's CIO Office. Total spend exceeding €100mm. Working directly with the CIO, focused on strategic vendor relationships, sourcing strategy and contract governance. No large team, no hierarchy — just good thinking, clear communication, and making complexity workable.
Led global procurement category teams for Logistics and IT with 7 direct reports. Responsible for strategic sourcing of more than €500mm in annual spend. Main focus: building team cohesion, improving alignment between procurement, Supply Chain and IT, and creating processes that worked consistently. The savings — including a 15% reduction on a €4mm Accenture contract without going through RFP — came from that foundation.
Head of a global team of 8 across Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and New Jersey. Responsible for IT strategic sourcing and vendor management of more than $600mm in external spend. Led the restructuring of the team from reactive to strategic. Personally led a $40mm Watson AI platform negotiation with IBM — new territory for both parties — and managed the IT contracts due diligence and optimization work related to the Actavis Generics acquisition, delivering annual synergy savings exceeding $15mm.