Managing Director Belgium

The organisation

Wrist is a global leader in maritime supply and logistics, providing ship supply, offshore services, marine logistics, and digital solutions to more than 750 ports worldwide. The company combines deep local expertise with global procurement scale, backed by the digital platform Source2Sea and central shared functions across finance, supply chain, and data.

The company is undergoing accelerated growth and operational strengthening following its acquisition by J.F. Lehman & Company in 2025. The strategy focuses on margin improvement, commercial discipline, digitalization, and scalable operational standards across all sites.

Van Hulle, part of the Wrist Group since 2019, combines over 50 years of maritime supply expertise with the global scale of the world’s largest ship supplier. Located near the Port of Antwerp with a 15,000 m² warehouse and in-house transport, the branch offers a full range of ship and offshore supplies, maritime catering, logistics, and container services.

Wrist Belgium consists of three divisions:

• Ship Supply
• Catering (Budget Management)
• Brabo Maritime Services(Marine Logistics)

The organization employs roughly 50 FTE and operates from a 15,000 m² warehouse with internal transport. Historically, the branch has strong customer loyalty, but recent years have shown increasing pressure on commercial performance and operational consistency.

The business is integrating deeper into Wrist’s matrix, requiring closer cooperation with group procurement, supply chain, finance, and digital teams. At the same time, Belgium maintains a strong local identity rooted in service quality and long-term customer relationships.

The position

The Managing Director Belgium will lead this transition. This is a hands-on, commercially driven leadership role requiring a decisive, structured, and people-oriented executive who can create commercial momentum, strengthen operational foundations, and align the branch with Wrist’s next phase of scalable growth.

The position offers a mandate to improve performance, elevate the customer experience, embed operational excellence, and build a more accountable and resilient organization under private equity ownership. Key purposes of the role include:

• Strategic leadership and growth:
  • Translate global and PE-driven ambitions into actionable local strategies while maintaining entrepreneurial energy on the ground.
• Customer focus and commercial acumen
  • Increase commercial capability by shifting from reactive quoting to proactive sales discipline. Anticipate market trends, competitor actions, and client requirements to shape business strategy, drive growth, and create measurable commercial impact.
• Operational excellence
  • Embed LEAN practices, strengthen process reliability, reduce manual dependencies, and ensure first-time-right execution.
• People leadership and culture:
  • Lead through visible, hands-on engagement. Maintain loyalty and stability while raising performance expectations. Strengthen accountability, develop team capabilities, and ensure knowledge transfer across critical roles.
• Matrix leadership and change management
  • Operate effectively within Wrist’s matrix organization. Align reporting, financial processes, and operational standards with group expectations while balancing the practical needs of the local business.
• Integration and scalability
  • Support the continued rollout of global systems, new sourcing models, and group-level initiatives..

The Managing Director leads the local management team, including finance, operations, sales and customer service. The Managing Director reports directly to the Managing Director Wrist-Rotterdam and the board of Van Hulle.

Tasks & responsibilities

• P&L Leadership
  • Full responsibility for the branch’s financial performance, including revenue growth, margin management, cost control, and delivering on financial targets through operational efficiencies and strong customer relationships.
• Team Leadership & Development
  • Lead and develop the leadership team at the Antwerp branch, fostering a performance-driven, engaged culture.
  • Provide training, coaching, and motivation to create an environment where employees are aligned with strategic goals and empowered tocontribute to business success.
• Customer Satisfaction
  • Strengthen customer retention and satisfaction by ensuring seamless customer journeys and exceeding service expectations through effective operations and innovative solutions.
• Operational Excellence
  • Drive continuous improvement through LEAN principles and operational excellence practices, ensuring streamlined processes, cost efficiencies, and sustainable operational improvements.
• Strategic Direction & Planning
  • Execute the strategic direction for the branch in alignment with Wrist’s global goals. Oversee the budgeting process and manage financial resources effectively to achieve business objectives.
• Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing
  • Share best practices, competitive intelligence, and business insights with other branches and the headquarters, promoting a culture of learning and continuous improvement.
• Compliance & Ethical Standards
  • Ensure all operations adhere to high ethical standards and comply with relevant regulations and laws.
• Market Intelligence & Reporting
  • Stay abreast of competing markets and industry trends, providing regular reports on market movement, competitive dynamics, and emerging business opportunities.

Candidate profile

Knowledge & Experience:

• Minimum 5+ years of leadership experience, with a proven track record of full P&L responsibility with €30-70m revenue.
• Experience leading operationally intensive environments such as retail/wholesale, global supply chains, or maritime services is highly preferred.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience in procurement, supply chain management, and B2B services, ideally within the maritime industry or other complex operational environments.
• Demonstrated ability to drive customer satisfaction and retention through effective service delivery and innovative customer experiences.
• Experience in managing, developing, and empowering teams, fostering a high-performance culture aligned with business goals.
• Experience driving operational improvements and cost efficiencies through LEAN practices and process optimization in complex, multi-site businesses.
• Effectively communicate branch performance and strategy to global leadership and internal stakeholders, ensuring alignment and driving global best practices
• Fluent in English and Dutch; French is a strong preference.
• Bachelor’s degree in commercial, supply chain, logistics, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Skills & Competencies:

• Decisive, visible, and hands-on leadership presence.
• Strong commercial mindset with understanding of margin drivers and cost-to-serve logic within a wholesale trading environment.
• Structured, analytical and able to link operational detail to strategic goals.
• Pragmatic problem solver, balancing discipline with adaptability.
• Culturally aware, able to build trust, and credible with all stakeholders from warehouse teams to group stakeholders.
• High integrity, resilience, and energy to lead transformation in a mid-sized environment.

Interested?

You are invited to apply for this position by following the link below. For more information contact Righardt Axsel at +31 (0)6 30 61 49 49.