Edward van Macklenbergh has now been working at Deloitte for nine years, but as a young twenty-something the fleet attracted him. He wanted to see the world, be independent and he liked working with technology. The Navy seemed like an ideal place for him where his desires would come together and he would be able to develop. That turned out to be a good estimation, and soon he was given managerial responsibilities. ‘I was in my early twenties and at one point, I was independently commanding a ship with 160 men on board,’ Edward says. ‘That’s a tremendous experience when you’re that young. You rapidly develop leadership skills and learn how to get things done with a team.’ After his Royal Navy Academy training, Edward worked as a Watch Officer and was later in charge of the ship’s air defense.

From the ship to the corporate world After ten years in the Navy, he made the switch to the corporate world and after a few intermediate steps, he joined Deloitte. ‘The move into the corporate world expanded my horizon that was still somewhat limited within the Navy. ‘I developed a broader view of the organization and got to work on renewal, innovation, change processes, and different ways of working. Why did I choose to join Deloitte? I wanted to work at an organization that could successfully realize complex business transformations. Deloitte is always looking for innovative solutions to help clients better and my role combines business development and execution. That is a nice variation.’

Love for the Navy Even though he left the fleet, his love for Defense and in particular the Navy, is still as strong as when he was in his twenties. Edward now puts his knowledge, broad network and skills in that area to use within Deloitte as Director SAP, where he deals with business transformations within the public domain. Since 2019, he has devoted most of his time to projects for Defense, including the Navy. ‘We think a lot with the Navy about how to approach certain issues,’ Edward says. ‘Both on developments around their business operations, such as logistics and HR policy as well as on an operational level. We bring a lot of knowledge and experience about how similar organizations work.’ About 20 years ago, the defense components and certainly the operational commands like the Navy, Army, Air Force and Military Police were very different organizations. Edward: ‘Nowadays processes are much more streamlined; from inventory management and personal management to procurement being done centrally. That was also one of the goals of those cutbacks in the last 25 years. Defense now has to make a turnaround into a growing organization. That’s very complex. ‘Consequently, many assignments Deloitte performs are Defense-wide. From setting up a Robotics Knowledge Center to strategic personal planning for the entire IT department. 'In general, within Defense, we work a lot on improving and optimizing processes and systems. During COVID, we helped departments set up a dashboard to give them more insight into the operational readiness of their troops. Currently, we are supporting Defense with the implementation of a the new SAP (SAP S/4HANA).''

Open attitude There are several departments within Deloitte that are involved in assignments for the Navy and Defense, such as Consulting, Risk Advisory and on some projects also Tax or Audit. 'We like working for Defense and there are several reasons for that. Firstly, because of the good cause: Defense stands for the security and safety of The Netherlands. But mainly it's about the way we work in partnership with them. We really work side by side to get things done. There is a tremendously open attitude within Defense to learn things, and to seek the knowledge and skills they don't have in-house from an external company like Deloitte. In short, we have a shared responsibility to make an assignment successful and that makes them a great client.' More former Officers work within Deloitte, but Edward does not think his strong drive for Defense, comes from his previous career in the Navy. 'In fact, I see that same drive among colleagues who do not have a Defense background. Defense is not just another client for any of my team members - the desire we have to move the organization forward goes beyond just writing hours and doing your assignment. That's because they appreciate who we are and what we bring to the table.

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