Wiebe Draijer (born 27 August 1965) is a Dutch engineer, civil servant and management consultant who served as Chairman of the

Social and Economic Council The Social and Economic Council (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a Publiekrechtelijke Bedrijfsorganisatie, system of sector-based ...

from 2012 to 2014. Since 1 October 2014, he has been CEO of the

Rabobank Rabobank (; full name: ''Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.'') is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands. The group comprises 89 local Dutch Rabobanks (2019), a central organisation (Raboban ...

Youth and education

Born and growing up in

Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...

, Draijer wanted to be a

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, but an uncle advised him to complete a professional study before trying his hand at

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

. Following this advice Draijer studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

at the

Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

from 1983 to 1989. During his time as a student he also worked as a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

reporter for ''

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on 1 ...

''. From 1987 to 1989 he completed a traineeship and a year as a researcher at

Philips Research Laboratories Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...

Career

McKinsey & Company

Having completed his university education, he joined

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

as a fellow. Augmenting his earlier education with an MBA at

INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe ( Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...

in Fontainebleau, he was promoted to country managing partner for the Netherlands in 2004 and for the Benelux in 2006. During his career at McKinsey, Draijer held several highly visible positions in Dutch society. Among others he was Chairman of the Stichting Toekomstbeeld der Techniek (of which he is still a member of the board), member of the supervisory board of the

Kröller-Müller Museum The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of her ...

, member of the advisory board for ''Champs on Stage'' (an organisation focusing on reducing high school dropout), member of the advisory board for

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization is known for holding an annual press photography contest. Since 2011, World Press Photo has organized a ...

, member of the Innovatieplatform (a government advisory board to stimulate the Dutch

knowledge economy The knowledge economy (or the knowledge-based economy) is an economic system in which the production of goods and services is based principally on knowledge-intensive activities that contribute to advancement in technical and scientific inno ...

) and member of the Education Innovation Network. He was also a founding member of 21minuten.nl (now De Nationale Dialoog), a website focused on generating public debate on political issues as well as more active citizenship.

Social Economic Council

On 19 June 2012

Henk Kamp Henricus Gregorius Jozeph "Henk" Kamp (; born 23 July 1952) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) who served as List of Ministers of Defence of the Netherlands, Minister of Defence in the Third Rutte cabinet ...

, Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, nominated Draijer to succeed

Alexander Rinnooy Kan Alexander Hendrik George Rinnooy Kan (born 5 October 1949) is a Dutch politician, businessman and mathematician who served as Chairman of the Social and Economic Council from 2006 to 2012. A member of the Democrats 66 (D66) party, he was a memb ...

as Chairman of the

(SER) per 1 September 2012. The SER endorsed the nomination on 21 June 2012; his appointment was validated by Queen

Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband ...

in July. On 1 July 2014 Draijer left the SER and started to work for the

. On 10 September 2014 he was succeeded by

Mariëtte Hamer Mariëtte Iris Hamer (born 7 June 1958) is a Dutch politician and trade union leader serving as commissioner for combating inappropriate behavior and sexual violence since 2022. A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), she was its leader in the Hous ...

Rabobank

He was appointed Chairman of the Managing Board of Rabobank on 1 October 2014. He is also a member of the Board of the Dutch Banking Association and a member of the Board of the European Association of Cooperative Banks (EACB).

References

External links

Wiebe Draijer
at ser.nl (in Dutch)

at Rabobank.nl
CV in Pdf format
{{DEFAULTSORT:Draijer, Wiebe 1965 births Living people Chairmen of the Social and Economic Council Dutch chief executives in the finance industry Dutch corporate directors Delft University of Technology alumni INSEAD alumni People from Enschede Academic staff of the Delft University of Technology 21st-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch engineers 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 21st-century Dutch businesspeople