Willem-Jan Wieland is 40 years old, married to Janneke and father of two children (Annabelle and Floris-Jan). Willem-Jan started his professional career as a lawyer in the Projects & Real Estate department at Clifford Chance in Amsterdam. After about 7.5 years he chose to move to an in-house role. And after working for three different companies, he started at Strukton more than two years ago. He is now Chief Legal Officer, member of the Executive Board and secretary of the Supervisory Board.
Within Strukton, Willem-Jan is responsible for a number of areas, including Legal & Compliance, Tax, Insurance, Purchasing, Cyber-Security, CSRD and, together with a colleague, he is also director of the largest project, the new construction of the RIVM.
About Strukton
Strukton is a construction company, specialized in the field of sustainable infrastructure, with a focus on green transport and electrification. With passion and energy, Strukton’s 4,000 employees work on expertise with technology and innovations. Safety, quality and sustainability are paramount. In our more than 100 years of existence, we have built a strong foundation in our home countries Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium.
Het Legal Team
There are 15 lawyers in the Netherlands, 1 in Italy and 1 in Sweden. Most lawyers work for the various companies. Because we are a construction company and get most of our work from public tenders, construction and tender law is an important pillar of our services. In addition, we also handle all other relevant topics, with or without the support of specialized lawyers. This is from the tender to the execution and the warranty period. However, the most important thing we as a department need to focus on is having and keeping knowledge of the business, connecting with colleagues and taking Strukton further in an accessible way. Diversity is still a challenge within the construction world, it is a typical “man’s world”. 88% of our people are men. Within the legal department, diversity in that area is better, now that half of the department is women. Diversity in other areas can still be improved.
What challenges do you face as a GC? And your team?
Strukton has entered a turbulent period in the past two years, from which it has now climbed out thanks to the hard work of all colleagues. It is my job to make the right strategic choices together with the Board and the Supervisory Board and management and to implement these choices. For the lawyers it is especially important that we properly involve our colleagues in the formation of contracts, the consequences of the contracts and ensure that our interests are well served. We come from a world in which colleagues help our clients further with their professional enthusiasm, in the confidence that at the end of the work we would be rewarded for our work. Even if things were not properly recorded. It has become clear in recent years that this no longer applies. Our clients force us to become better ourselves in the field of contract management. Our lawyers help with that.
Risk Management & Controls
We work with a Governance, Risk and Compliance framework. In doing so, we determine and formulate Strukton’s organizational or process objectives; we identify our risks and design control measures. The main points of attention from a risk perspective are: (i) cooperation with competitors, (ii) privacy, (iii) cyber security, (iv) undesirable behavior / confidential counselors and (v) CSRD. In all these areas, we as the construction sector and therefore also Strukton still have a lot of work to do.
Can you also tell us something about your activities outside of work?
This is one of those questions where you would like to give a very challenging and exciting answer. But yes, I do not have that answer. I am a family person and I also like sports (fitness, running and tennis) and the Burgundian life in Den Bosch.
