Innovation Director of Europe

Geoconsultancy firm Fugro creates a safe and livable world by supporting its clients in designing, building, and operating assets safely, reliably, and sustainably. The Innovation Director Europe develops and delivers a technology-driven vision on innovation, allowing Fugro to provide cutting-edge solutions that positively impact the planet. This is a chance to contribute to society’s greatest challenges on a global scale, all while directly leading a team of 250 stellar engineers and inspiring many thousands more as a role model.  

About Fugro

Advising on the development of energy transition and climate adaptation infrastructure; assessing its maintenance needs; or helping the marine industry reach their net-zero ambitions: Fugro is the global leader in geo-consulting. Geo-data lies at the heart of Fugro’s work and is defined as: information related to the earth’s surface, subsurface, and everything built on it.

Fugro acquires geo-data from planes, trains, cars, boats, submarines, and robots, anywhere on the planet – including the harshest and most remote areas. Fugro’s (geo-)engineers and geologists then analyze this data, build 3D simulation models and use these to advise clients in the water, energy, and infrastructure sectors. No other organization is able to collect and analyse data at this scale and level of complexity. , the company is highly purpose-driven and wants to lead the way for global industries toward the energy transition, safe infrastructure, urban and coastal resilience, and protection of the natural environment.

“We support our clients to, for instance, achieve net zero carbon emissions and strengthen climate resilience. For our own operations, we want to be carbon neutral by 2035, e.g., by investing in the decarbonization of our vessels and equipment.” – Mark Heine, CEO

At Fugro, around ten thousand people across 59 countries support a broad range of clients. The publicly traded company, headquartered in Leidschendam (the Netherlands), is committed to maintaining its position as the most innovative data firm. It does so by focusing heavily on its people and technology. continuously work to optimize Fugro’s portfolio and explore new markets, innovations, and business models.

Job description: Innovation Director of Europe

Fugro is realizing its ambition to create a safe and livable world by focusing its strategy on the most important global trends: energy transitions, climate change adaptation, and resilient infrastructure. For each pillar, the Innovation Director Europe will develop thought leadership and actively communicate, both internally and externally, a compelling vision on how new trends in technology and in the market play into opportunities for Fugro’s product portfolio and for clients’ operations.

With the Innovations Directors for Asia Pacific and the Americas as peers, the Innovation Director Europe reports to the Global Innovation Director, who in turn reports to the Executive Board. The Innovation Director Europe is responsible product design and delivery – including relevant components like setting and guarding roadmaps and aligning stakeholders. They lead a department of around 250 engineers, scientists, product owners, and innovation managers (as well as other roles) across Europe, who deliver products in domains of geospatial mapping, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, computer vision, robotics, space automation, and real-time data acquisition platforms. They work alongside experts in business, product management, marketing, and technology.

“How is the energy transition unfolding, which groundbreaking technologies are emerging, what problems need to be solved to allow our clients to significantly reduce their environmental impact? And how should this influence the direction of our product portfolio? It is these and other questions that the Innovation Director Europe will develop a a strategy, and deliver the outcomes on.” – Pawel Michalak, Global Innovation Director

In the sectors Fugro is active in, sustainability efforts are not only demand-driven, but often also supply-driven. In other words: it is up to Fugro to develop impactful innovative solutions, to then inspire and advise clients. This, too, is the responsibility of the Innovation Director Europe. They will drive a culture of innovation across the European organization, and coach and mentor colleagues to be impactful and effective in the domain of innovation. They will also reach out to clients, partners, universities, and other external stakeholders, to start a dialogue, collaborate, and gather input. As such, this role is both internally and externally oriented, and often client-facing.

The Innovation Director Europe has ample experience and a proven track record in leading large innovative organizations and projects in relevant sectors. They are knowledgeable on at least one large sustainability-related topic, such as the energy transition. As an experienced people leader, they support the team in implementing engineering best practices and building a culture of creative thinking, knowledge sharing, and predictable delivery.

A key responsibility in this role is building a creative, inspired, effective organization that enables Fugro to deliver innovative products. The Innovation Director knows how to lead a department of 250 experts, navigate within a multinational company, communicate compellingly across all levels of the organization, and build an effective leadership team.

This is a unique opportunity for a strategic leader with an academic background in technology (for instance engineering or industrial design), and the drive to develop and implement ambitious innovations that serve clients and ensure a safe and livable planet.

Interested?

Fugro is working with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
To express your interest, please contact Stephanie Stuit at stephanie.stuit@topofminds.com.