Walraven Group
Niels Schoon has a diverse work experience spanning over multiple industries and roles. Niels currently serves as the Group Director of IT & Digitalisation at the Walraven Group. Prior to this, they worked as the Business Process and Information Lead at the same company.
Before joining the Walraven Group, Schoon held the position of Group CIO at MASCO UK Window Group Ltd, where they were responsible for the Business Technology and Transformation functions of the organization.
Schoon also has experience working in the pharmaceutical industry, serving as the Head of IT at AstraZeneca. Niels was responsible for the ICT of the UK Marketing Company and later became the Head of IT for the Sales and Marketing Company.
Additionally, Schoon has served as the Managing Director/Managing Partner at N2N Management/BeAligned, where they provided strategic advice and oversaw business and ICT transformations for clients. Niels also worked as the ICT Manager at Chefaro Nederland BV, where they led the transformation of the ICT department and its integration within the organization.
Earlier in their career, Schoon held managerial positions at NRG Benelux (Ricoh), FCI France, HJ Heinz, and Keystone Manufacturing Plant Breda, where they gained experience in project management, application delivery, and logistics support engineering.
Overall, Schoon's work experience demonstrates their expertise in IT leadership, business transformations, and strategic consulting.
Niels Schoon has a diverse educational background, with qualifications in various fields. Niels obtained a Diploma's M.B.A from Derby University in the years 1996-1998, focusing on Business Administration. During this time, they also pursued a Master's degree in Business Administration from Hogeschool Brabant - Business School Derby.
In 1994-1995, Niels completed a C.P.I.M (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) program at MRPII Opleiding, Oliver Wight. Following this, they pursued further knowledge in Production and Inventory Management by completing a CPIM program at APICS in 1992-1994.
Niels Schoon also holds a Bachelor's degree in Operationele Techniek (Operational Engineering) from HTS Operationele Techniek, which they earned from 1988 to 1992. Niels further expanded their knowledge in this field by completing an Ing degree at HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (Hogeschool Utrecht) from 1987 to 1992, specializing in Algemene Operationele Techniek (General Operational Engineering).
In terms of specialized certifications, Niels has acquired project management skills by obtaining a Prince 2 Practitioner certification from Exin in 2012, and a Prince2 certification from Lagant in 2008. Additionally, they completed an Agile Practitioner course at ADF Agile in 2015. To strengthen their expertise in process improvement, Niels earned a Black Belt Six Sigma certification from The Lean Six Sigma Company in 2016.
Overall, Niels Schoon's education history reflects a commitment to continuous learning and professional development in various fields such as business administration, production and inventory management, project management, and process improvement.
Walraven Group
Walraven is a fast-growing company with over a thousand employees worldwide. Since 1942 we have grown from a small family company to an international enterprise. Today, we have production and sales facilities all over Europe, North America, the Middle, and the Far East. As a family-owned company keeping the long-term interest of our employees, customers, and suppliers in mind comes naturally to us. We are a multinational with a heart. We genuinely look after all our internal and external stakeholders and invest time and effort into building personal, meaningful relationships. We are close to our customers, our suppliers, and even closer to our people. We offer an international and diverse environment in terms of age, culture, and ethnicity. We are a great promoter of cross-generational value creation, which means that we encourage the managerial and leadership development of young talents and offer learning and development opportunities as well as specific personalised coaching and development programs. Walraven-products are being used by thousands of installation companies in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.