About Me
I am Chris: a driven tech professional who combines in depth IT knowledge with inclusive leadership. My enthusiasm for innovation is broad, whether it involves running AI models locally for my own home automation or effectively managing complex, business critical IT environments.
I currently take great pleasure in leading a team of engineers. My philosophy in doing so is simple: people perform best in a safe environment where they feel heard and valued. I prefer an Agile way of working and attach great value to celebrating milestones together as a team.
Outside of work, I love spending time with my family as a proud father, and I regularly hop on my road bike, go for a run, or go for a swim.
Are you looking for a versatile enthusiastic professional who not only understands the technology but also brings calm and direction to complex change initiatives? If so, I would love to connect and explore how I can contribute to your organization.
Contact
Work Experience
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Team Lead & Software Engineer - ICT Group | 2019 - Present
Within the Managed Services department, I combine leading a team with hands-on engineering for business-critical IT/OT environments. I act as the link to international clients in logistics, industry, and the (semi-)public sector. What I'm proud of? The joint development of environment specific automation tooling, where I guided the team through the transition to an iterative agile way of working on top of the ITIL foundation. This reduced deployment downtime (from 6 hours to 10 minutes), incident resolution times (from 4 days to 1 day), and operational risks. -
Member of the Technology Advisory Council (TAC) - ICT Group | 2021 - 2022
In the role of Analyst & Secretary, I translated operational and technical insights into concrete board-level advice. This gave me a solid foundation in business analysis and strategic decision-making at MT level. -
Java IT Traineeship - YoungCapital NEXT | 2019
Completed a Java IT traineeship with a focus on improving programming skills.
Gained hands-on experience in Java development and related technologies. -
Sales Support - YachtCloud | 2018 - 2019
Responsible for sales support, relationship management, and customer service for YachtCloud's products. This strengthened my commercial skills and gave me a solid understanding of the high-end AV/IT maritime industry. -
Founder & IT Consultant - Cyberspace.Marketing | 2018
Founder and owner of an IT and digital consultancy. Within this venture, I helped various clients with custom solutions, ranging from website development and graphic design to process automation. -
Marketing Specialist - mProvement | 2017 - 2018
Developed and executed marketing strategies and campaigns. Successfully applied branding techniques and data-driven marketing approaches to improve market positioning. -
Online Marketing Specialist - Brandfirm.nl | 2017
Designed and implemented digital marketing strategies, utilizing SEO/SEA and online tactics to significantly enhance the digital footprint and online presence of clients. -
Sales Support - Lengers Yachts | 2014 - 2017
Facilitated the sale of luxury yachts and managed high-end customer relations, with a focus on delivering premium client experiences. -
Sales Representative - Staples | 2009 - 2013
Provided customer support, advice, and sales assistance for B2B and retail clients.
Skills
- Leadership, Governance & Methodologies
- Technical Team Leadership & Mentoring: Direct leadership, talent development, and coaching of multidisciplinary engineering teams.
- Tactical & Strategic Management: Capacity and resource planning, stakeholder management, and board-level advisory.
- Service & IT Governance: SLA contract management, Functional Management with ITIL management.
- Agile Transformation & Coaching: guiding teams in the transition to agile ways of working (Scrum, Kanban), facilitating retrospectives and improvement cycles, making change measurable through KPIs and flow metrics.
- Applied AI & Generative Models
- Local LLMs & RAG: Implementation and management of local language models for secure, internal data processing.
- System Integration (MCP): Setting up Model Context Protocol servers to connect AI models to existing systems.
- AI-Assisted Engineering: Use of AI development tools for a more efficient development process.
- Data Analysis & Automation: Using generative models for data extraction and log analysis.
- Prompt Engineering: Designing system prompts and context frames for accurate output.
- Security & Validation: Securing data and automating quality checks for reliable AI applications.
- Software Engineering & APIs
- Languages & Frameworks: Java, Python, C# / .NET, PowerShell, Visual Basic.
- Web Technologies: JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3.
- Integration & Connectivity: Designing and connecting RESTful and SOAP APIs.
- Version Control: Git.
- DevOps, CI/CD & Infrastructure
- Containerization & Orchestration: Docker, Portainer, Kubernetes.
- Pipelines & Build Tools: Azure DevOps, Jenkins, Maven.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Terraform.
- Data, Middleware & Observability
- Relational Databases: Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Database, MySQL.
- NoSQL & Time-Series: MongoDB, Cassandra, Couchbase, InfluxDB.
- Middleware & Messaging: Apache Tomcat, Apache ActiveMQ, Hazelcast.
- Monitoring & Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, Telegraf.
- Networking & Security
- Network Infrastructure: TCP/IP, Routing & Switching, DNS, DHCP.
- Security: Firewall configuration, VPN, PKI/SSL certificate management.
- Identity & Analysis: Active Directory, network analysis via Wireshark.
Licenses & Certifications
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Professional Agile Leadership I (PAL I) - Scrum.org | 2026
Demonstrated knowledge of Agile leadership, focused on coaching teams, supporting organizational change, and steering on value. -
General AI Literacy (2026 Edition) - MinnaLearn | 2026
Certified in the safe and compliant use of generative AI systems in the workplace, in line with current EU AI Act guidelines (Article 4). -
Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204) - Microsoft | 2026
Certified in designing, building, testing, and maintaining cloud applications and services on Microsoft Azure. -
Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) - Microsoft | 2026
Certified in core cloud concepts and foundational knowledge of Microsoft Azure services. -
AspenTech Certified User - AspenTech | 2025
Demonstrated knowledge and skill in using AspenTech software for industrial automation and process optimization. -
Professional Scrum Master - Scrum.org | 2019
Demonstrated proficiency in Scrum practices. -
Oracle Certified Associate Java SE 8 1Z0-808 | 2019
Java SE 8 OCA certification.
Education
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HBO Nautisch Business Management - IVA Driebergen | 2013 - 2017
A broad, practice-oriented management program where I built my business and analytical foundation. Although the content was strongly focused on the maritime sector, the real emphasis was on management, logistics, and international business. It's where I developed my characteristically solution-oriented, commercial mindset. -
Propedeuse, Bioinformatics - Hanzehogeschool Groningen / Hanze University of
Applied Sciences Groningen | 2011 - 2013
Gained knowledge at the crossroads of genetics and cell biology with computer science. -
HAVO, Nature and Health - CS Vincent van Gogh Assen | 2005 - 2011
Completed Higher General Secondary Education with a focus on natural sciences and health. Specialized in Biology and Chemistry.