Freelancer profile translated to English.

Description

Arjan Ester – Interim Director | Trusted Advisor

I help medium-sized and family businesses in the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors to achieve their strategic goals faster and more effectively. With over 15 years of ultimate responsibility in management experience, I bring a unique combination of strategic leadership, operational execution, and people-oriented change capability.

Clients engage me for:

Business Transitions – from product supplier to service provider (servitization, asset management).
Restructuring & Growth – integration of business units, process optimization, and profit improvement.
Board Renewal – from family business to professional governance.
Innovation & Sustainability – implementation of circular business models and market introductions.

My approach is down-to-earth and results-oriented: I connect strategy and execution, build strong teams, and create buy-in from employees and stakeholders. I am accustomed to operating in complex environments with multiple interests and know how to accelerate decision-making without losing sight of the human factor.

Added Value for Clients:

Clear direction setting and immediately noticeable results.
Quick adaptation in challenging situations with urgent board or commercial needs.
Strong network in industry, government, and knowledge institutions.

Available for interim management, strategic advice, and transition management.

Industry field of expertise

Languages

Dutch
Native or bilingual
German
Conversational
English
Fluent
French
Basic

Workplace preferences

Can work on-site

Zwolle (up to 50km)

Oost NL
Speaker/Moderator
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
February 2017 - Today (9 years and 4 months)
Apeldoorn, Netherlands
In this role, I have led various events such as Captains Dinners for BOOST/OostNL, and fulfilled multiple roles as a keynote speaker at the annual event of BOOST Smart Industry.
Speaker
Saxion
Guest Lecturer
EDUCATION AND E-LEARNING
March 2016 - Today (10 years and 3 months)
Saxion, Enschede, OV, Netherlands
In this capacity, I have also conducted various case studies with students at Nyenrode, HAN, VU Amsterdam, RUG Groningen, and Saxion.
Aebi Schmidt Nederland BV,
Non-executive Director
August 2021 - July 2022 (11 months)
Execution of supervision on the mission of solution provider at Aebi Schmidt Nederland BV. Statutory role (Chair of the Board) within the NL entity in a one-tier board. SPEARTEQ innovative start-up with a servitization platform for SMEs. Development of the platform started at the end of 2021 in Odessa, Ukraine; development had to stop in February 2022.