Naiyara van der Veen     Recruitment and HR Manager

“We have so many skilled people: a lot of the time, we are learning from one another.”

Meet Recruitment and HR Manager Naiyara

When Naiyara van der Veen moved to the western part of the Netherlands, she was searching for a new challenge. So, in November of 2017, she became part of our Data & A.I. team! “During my interview, I immediately noticed the innovative and diverse culture, which was really appealing to me,” Naiyara says. Before working at Eraneos, Naiyara used to be a job coach. “I always found the IT sector a fascinating one, and wanted to learn more about it,” Naiyara explained, “So when I saw the vacancy, it felt like two birds with one stone: I could work in my field of expertise at a highly skilled IT company”.

Naiyara started at Eraneos as a tech recruiter, and later became the head of the recruitment department. “I was in charge of professionalizing the entire recruitment department”. A lot of processes went from being done manually to being automated. At the moment, Naiyara is the HR manager of the Data & A.I. team. “In addition to this role,” Naiyara says, “I am also the Recruitment Manager for Eraneos”.

Naiyara gets to work with all sorts of people. “I find it fascinating what our own data engineers and data scientists do,” Naiyara smiles, “To be able to work with such intelligent people is really nice. I am constantly looking for ways to support our professionals with the tools they need to be able to continue developing themselves”. Everyone has the same mindset and motivation to develop themselves and try to stay innovative. “The data and AI sector is one that is constantly changing”, Naiyara mentions, “All the more reason to facilitate the means to learn new things”. Development is also important for Naiyara personally. “Right now, I have a job with such a diversity in tasks and projects that I am learning new things every day”!

“We trust people to take initiative when they want to make a change. We listen to our people when they come up with new ideas.”

Innovative environment

The level among our data engineers and scientists is really high. “We have so many skilled people,” Naiyara says, “that a lot of the time, we are learning from one another”. A splendid example of an internal event is the Innovation Day that we host. The Innovation Day is a full day of research and development, where our team investigates cutting-edge tools and new methods together. We end the day with drinks and presentations, so we can learn from each other.

Eraneos is officially a Great Place to Work® and can call itself a ‘Best Workplace’. “We are really proud of this title,” Naiyara smiles, “You can count on people when you need them”! As soon as people start to work here, they truly become part of the team. “We know that the most amazing things are created in teamwork,” Naiyara says. There is a lot of freedom and trust at Eraneos. “We trust people to take initiative when they want to make a change,” Naiyara explains, “We listen to our people when they come up with new ideas”.

One of the things that makes our Data & A.I. team stand out is its international culture. “We do not only have Dutch employees,” Naiyara explains, “But we have a wide variety of different nationalities: American, Italian, Iranian, Mexican, to name a few. There are so many different stories within our team from diverse cultures and backgrounds.” To unite different cultures, we also value the importance of doing fun activities to get to know each other on a more personal level.

And outside Eraneos?

Naiyara lives in Huizen together with her husband. She likes to work out and has been doing CrossFit for five years now. “CrossFit is such a diverse sport, which makes it a lot of fun”! On the weekends, she loves to go to the forest and mountain bike on single tracks and trails. “The nice spots in the Netherlands are the Utrechtse Heuvelrug or in Limburg”, Naiyara says, “The forest is such a relaxing place to be”. Next to the forest, she still loves to go to Friesland, where she grew up. “I still have friends and family living there, and it is always a pleasure going back”.