Overview
Niek Jan van Damme is an accomplished executive and board member with more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. Having led through mergers and acquisitions as an operator and as an executive director, Van Damme is well-versed in transformation and driving culture. Van Damme has lived and worked in Europe, Australia, and the U.S., and speaks fluent Dutch, German, and English.
Career History
At present, Van Damme serves as NED on the Board of Telstra in Australia. He is also Chairman of the Supervisory Board for NGN Networks Germany, a subsidiary of Euronet (Fiber), and Chairman of the Supervisory Board for Infrafibre, an InfraCapital Company with two Fiber Companies in the South of Germany. Amongst others, he serves as Board Advisor for LotusFlare and Glow Financial Services, and as Management Advisor to ZTE Germany.
Most recently, Van Damme served as Board Member for Deutsche Telekom in Bonn, where he oversaw the merger of Germany Fixed and Mobile. In this role, Van Damme led the major turnaround of the 95,000-employee organization, resulting in growth in both revenues (€20B) and EBITDA margin (40%) by the end of his tenure.
Van Damme began his career in the telecommunications industry with Ben Netherlands
(later acquired by Deutsche Telekom) and was responsible for the rebranding to T-Mobile. Under Van Damme’s leadership as Managing Director for T-Mobile Nederland, the organization experienced double-digit growth and jumped from the number five to the number three mobile operator in the market. As part of this journey, he led through the successful merger of T-Mobile and Orange Netherlands with an annual turnover of €1.8B and serving over 5.3M customers.
Before transitioning to the telecommunications industry, he began his career in marketing, branding, and advertising. Van Damme served as Commercial Manager for Ahold Delhaize, and prior to that as Brand Manager for Procter & Gamble, where he was responsible for marketing of brands such as Fairy Liquid, Lenor, and Pampers for the Dutch market.
Personal
Van Damme has a Master’s in Business Administration and Management from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He is married, enjoys going on holidays abroad, particularly to Africa, and devotes his free time to horse-back riding, architecture, art, and cooking. He currently resides in Siegburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.