Meet Frederik Vandermaesen: IT Infra Project Manager and Team Lead

Frederik Vandermaesen recently joined Prosource as IT Infra Project Manager at Johnson & Johnson. We had an insightful conversation about this experience and his journey so far.

Can you tell a bit about your background and why you started a career in Project Management?

I started as a developer in Visual Basic and over the years my role changed several times. New opportunities arose due to the growth of the organisation and my personal development. For the last +10 years, I was IT Infrastructure manager. IT Infra and project management was always a big part of my job, so when I started looking for a new challenge, it was clear that I wanted to put my years of knowledge into practice and further develop my skills. 

What are your responsibilities as IT Infra Project Manager?

I am mainly acting as a single point of contact where I represent a group of about 18 project managers. In this way, I operate between Prosource and the client and ensure that we can collectively offer the highest possible quality.

The emphasis here is on Project Management as a "service" and we want to work as autonomously as possible to relieve the client of as many worries as possible. Think for instance about onboardings, knowledge transfers, or sharing best practices.

On top of that, I also dedicate 50% of my time on personal projects.

How did you come across Prosource?

I got in touch with Bruno Francolini through LinkedIn. Because there was soon a match, things went fast from then on. Bruno’s professionalism and guidance stood out from the other companies I reached out to. Bruno always made sure I was comfortable with the process and continuously asked for feedback.

Thanks to modern technologies, we can remain in contact whenever necessary.  This is really convenient because I have several administrative tasks every month, for which assistance from Prosource is valuable. 

How was your onboarding experience at the client?

The real onboarding process can take months for a major company.  One of my colleagues and Prosource consultant Yves Pintens took me under his wing during the first weeks.  I was also able to discover the strength of the team, even in the early stages, and every question was picked up in the group.

What are your professional goals within Prosource and at the client?

My main goal is to get to know both Prosource and the client better.

The evolution in the coming months will mainly lie in answering the client’s questions even better with Prosource's offering and its team of project managers.  In addition, I want to further expand my knowledge of project management to get relevant certificates and expand my network. 

There’s much more to explore! Discover the inspiring stories of the people of Prosource.

Read about the experience of Gert Leroy, Business Change Management Consultant at Colruyt Group via Prosource and how he introduced Agile in a non-agile context, or the experience of Eline Horemans, Project Management Lead at Horta. 

Or check out Ruben Coomans, Junior Consultant at BEA Sensors or Famke Vancoillie: Junior Project Consultant & learn more about what drives them and their passion for Project Management.