Career biography:

In my current role at STX Group, I have the privilege of leading a team of passionate in-house lawyers, overseeing our global corporate, finance, and M&A activities. This role is the perfect blend of team management and strategic advisory to senior leadership and the board of directors, enabling me to utilise my expertise while fostering growth and innovation by challenging stakeholders and the industry on innovative and sensitive topics (e.g. AI, ESG, DEI), all in the pursuit of progress.

Reflecting on my career journey, intuition has always guided my key decisions, while rational implementation has ensured their success. The war in Ukraine was a pivotal moment that led me to transition from private practice to the corporate world. When choosing my new path, I was drawn to STX Group’s visionary approach and its exceptional team. Environmental sustainability is a cause that resonates deeply with me, and my role at STX Group has provided a platform to channel this passion into tangible actions. Looking back over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of working on several impactful projects at STX Group.

The project that stands out is the acquisition of Marine Olie, a leading trader of waste-based advanced feedstocks. This project is monumental for the biofuels market, which is crucial in decarbonising various sectors such as shipping, road transport, industry, and heating. The availability of reliable waste-based ‘advanced’ feedstocks is essential for a sustainable biofuels market, and being involved in this acquisition was an incredible experience.

Another pivotal project focused on further enhancing the company’s corporate governance, ensuring compliance in increasingly complex and demanding markets.

Additionally, although not considered a project per se, I was actively engaged with peers in the public and private sectors across Europe in conversations aimed at fostering a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance. In my view, senior in-house lawyers play a crucial role in ensuring that a company’s leadership prioritises these values and integrates them into the strategic agenda. It is essential to demonstrate to key stakeholders the opportunities that ESG principles unlock for business development, as well as the (cost) inefficiencies that arise from neglecting them. Through discussions with key players in the industry, a common theme emerged: digitalisation is a key enabler for ESG. Transparency in the supply chain fosters trust, paving the way for progress.

The final point worth mentioning is that mentoring and empowering others has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my career. Watching my team members grow, take ownership of their responsibilities, and contribute significantly to the broader synergies within STX Group has been immensely rewarding. This is why I continue teaching corporate law to Dutch trainee lawyers as part of their legal qualification at the Dutch Bar Association, alongside my role at STX Group. Knowing that my guidance and expertise have helped someone flourish in their career is truly priceless. A recent standout moment was seeing a former mentee, now a lawyer, working on the Marine Olie acquisition on the opposite side. It filled me with pride to see how far he had come.