‘I feel completely at home here’

Martijn Rouwenhorst, Senior Manager Operations at KH Engineering

At KH Engineering, Martijn Rouwenhorst is responsible for matching the right people with the right projects and achieving the required quality, including all related supporting processes. ‘The KH company culture is really nice,’ he says. ‘We have a flat structure, everyone appreciates each other for their technical knowledge. Moreover, we have a very social company culture. The colleagues have broad interests and it is also really sociable here.’

After studying Mechanical Engineering in Amsterdam, Martijn Rouwenhorst started as a piping draftsman at a predecessor of KH Engineering. ‘Later, I became a PED calculator and worked a lot on offshore projects in the oil and gas industry. After a few years, I noticed that working on projects suited me very well and started working as a project leader and account manager. Meanwhile, through my work for the works council, I became familiar with the organisational side of a company, which I also find very interesting. I then was promoted to manager of the multidisciplinary engineering team in Zaandam and after the acquisition by KH Engineering, I became operations manager of our Amsterdam office.’

‘The acquisition by KH Engineering felt like coming home to me. The people were a good fit, the type of projects and the work fitted perfectly. And I still feel completely at home here. KH Engineering is really focused on engineering and exactly in the industries where I feel at home: from oil and gas to heavy industry.’

‘Besides my work as Senior Manager Operations, I am responsible for a number of key accounts, for example Tata Steel, with whom we recently signed a long-term contract that I am very proud of. I also find that one of the great things about working at KH Engineering. Some people disdain the polluting heavy industry, but we actually help the industry to become cleaner and more energy-efficient! For example, by reducing the energy consumption and drastically reducing the emissions of dust, nitrogen and CO2. I also like to emphasise that aspect of my work when I explain my job to an outsider: I work at an engineering company that ensures you will have energy and products in the future, and in doing so, we ensure that the energy supply and the base industry will be cleaner.’

‘The flat and social company culture at KH Engineering almost automatically leads to a result-oriented way of working, without having to set hard targets. We really collaborate and sit down together to come up with the best solution for our customers. This work culture ensures that I start my day full of energy, every day’.