Executive Board 
The Executive Board is responsible for managing the company. Among other things, this means the Executive Board is in charge of determining and realising the Group’s objectives, strategy, financing and policy, and its results. The Executive Board bears collective responsibility for managing the company. The specific roles and responsibilities of the members of the Executive Board are laid down in the Executive Board Regulations which can be found on the right hand side under Downloads.

Group Executive Committee
The day-to-day operations of the Group and the execution of its strategy are managed by the Group Executive Committee. As per 1 January 2011 it covers all 4 business lines, regions/countries and key functions such as strategy and innovation, the Professional and Management Development Committee and the Operational Performance Program. The Group Executive Committee is chaired by the CEO of Grontmij N.V. The division of the tasks and responsibilities in the Group Executive Committee is as follows:


Sylvo Thijsen
CEO Grontmij N.V.; Chairman Group Executive Committee; responsible for group corporate communication, HR and internal audit.

Year born 1959 Nationality Dutch Appointed 2001 (member), 2003 (Chief Executive Officer), joined Grontmij in 1984. He worked in several positions at different divisions in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. He was appointed in 1995 as director of ‘Advies & Techniek’ and in 2001 as a member of the Executive Board. Since October 2003 he is chairman of the Executive Board (CEO) of Grontmij N.V. Most important previous position Managing Director of Grontmij Advies & Techniek Other positions Member VROM council (Ministry of housing, planning and environmental management), Chairman VNO-NCW – commission Public Tendering (COAB), Board Member PHN, platform of Dutch wood / paper industry, Member Supervisory Board CURNET, Member Supervisory Board Utrechts Landschap, Member of the Advisory Board Environmental Sciences Group (Wageningen University).


Gert Dral
Member of the Executive Board; Group Director Planning & Design; responsible for the Nordic region, Turkey, China and Vietnam; Chairman Professional and Management Development Committee.

Year born 1955 Nationality Dutch
Gert joined Grontmij in 1976 and has since held various management positions; the most recent of which as Managing Director of Grontmij’s Netherlands operations and also as Chief Operating Officer covering the Netherlands and Belgium. In addition to his degrees in civil engineering and urban planning Gert has been undertaking studies in law, finance and management and holds a diploma from the Breakthrough Program for Senior Executives at IMD Business School.


Annemieke Nijhof
Member of the Executive Board; Group Director Water & Energy; responsible for Germany, Hungary, Poland and the UK.

Year born 1966 Nationality Dutch Appointed 2011 Most important previous functions Head of Water sector at Tauw B.V. (Engineering Consultancy), Deputy Director external safety of the Department of Public Health, Spatial Planning and Environment, Advisor to the Prime Minister on sustainable development, Director General Water at the Department of Infrastructure and Environment Current (other) functions Member of the Advisory Board of Nationaal Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis (Leiden), Member Advisory Board Faculteit Technologie, Bestuur en Management, Technical University Delft, Member Advisory Board Institute for Hydraulic Engineering (Delft).


Jean-Luc Schnoebelen
COO Grontmij N.V.;  Vice-chairman Group Executive Committee; Group Director Monitoring & Testing; responsible for France and the Benelux. Chairman Committee Strategy, Innovation and Special Projects; Supervision of Trett Consultancy (international programme management & dispute resolution).

Year born 1956 Nationality French
Jean-Luc Schnoebelen is the founder of Ginger group (3,100 employees), whom he built from the purchase of CEBTP (Monitoring and testing) in 1997. Ginger is one of France's leading engineering groups which joined Grontmij in June 2010.

As engineer, land surveyor by training, Jean-Luc Schnoebelen spent most of his career managing Bouygues Group subsidiaries including HDR in the United States (from 1990 to 1993) and Rinaldi Structal (from 1993 to 1996). In 1996, he spearheaded the recovery of 28 healthcare units for the Clininvest Group, a Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux subsidiary. In June 1997, he laid the foundations of what would become the Ginger Group, acquiring CEBTP (a research centre for construction and public works) and its 70 years' body of knowledge, international recognition, and one-of-a-kind testing laboratories. Under his leadership, it established a business culture and became the Group's Construction Division. The Group's successful listing on Euronext Paris' Secondary Market in November 2001, only five years after its foundation, was a key event in this ambitious and assertive strategy. Since 2000, implementation of external growth strategies led to the acquisition of about 16 companies in France and abroad, broadening the Group's know-how to include environmental and telecommunications expertise. Ginger also acquired 2 of the main agencies of extra financial ratings and became leading in this domain.


Mel Zuydam (until 31 December 2011)
CFO Grontmij N.V.; responsible for group Investor relations, Finance, Treasury and IT.

Year born 1961 Nationality British/Dutch Appointed 2009 Most important previous positions Chief Financial Officer and Commercial Director VT Nuclear Services, Group Finance Director Highways Agency, Divisional CFO Balfour Beatty PLC Other positions Non-executive member of the Audit Committee of the Department for International Development (UK Government).

Frits Vervoort (as of 1 December 2011)
CFO Grontmij N.V.; responsible for group Investor relations, Finance, Treasury and IT.

Year born 1962 Nationality Dutch Appointed for nomination as member of the Executive Board at the first upcoming AGM Most important previous position Chief Financial Officer at Vedior N.V. Other positions Corporate Controller at Vedior N.V., Finance Analyst at Vendex Food Groep B.V., Head of Business Economics Department at Vendex International N.V.

Suzan van Nieuwkuyk 
Company Secretary Grontmij N.V.; corporate governance; corporate legal affairs; compliance and investor relations.

Year born 1964 Nationality Dutch Position Company secretary