Meet our Leadership Team

Geert Van Den Goor, Group Managing Partner
Geert is an experienced partner and consultant, with over 30 years in the consulting industry, having specialised primarily in working with public and semi-public organisations.
After studying computer science at university, Geert joined Andersen Consulting (currently Accenture) and after a 20-year stint, he joined First Consulting, which grew into the current Valcon.
The values that define Geert’s approach are passion for the client, professionalism, being results orientated and working as a team.
Geert lives in The Hague with his girlfriend and two children and has a passion for cars and mountain sports – he’s a keen climber, skier and enjoys mountain biking.

Bianca den Elsen, Managing Partner, Netherlands
Bianca is the Managing Partner of Valcon in the Netherlands and has over 23 years’ experience in consultancy and managerial roles. Bianca worked for Accenture for over 16 years, becoming Managing Partner for BPO in the Netherlands and the Philippines. In 2015, Bianca joined Deloitte Consulting as partner before becoming part of the executive committee of Deloitte Netherlands in 2019, responsible for clients and industries.
Bianca has two young children with her husband Patrick. She lives in Hilversum, loves to travel and can be found on the Frisian lakes during the summer. In her free time, she is busy studying for an additional Bachelor’s in Psychology.

Thomas Fischer, M&A, Partner
Thomas has over 25 years’ experience as a consultant and partner. He focuses on the strategic transformation of companies, the development of operating models and the optimisation of organisations’ systems to support company strategy. He has worked extensively with public organisations that have transferred to PLC status and supported several Nordic private equity firms with M&A and the development of their portfolio companies.
Thomas has an MSC in business economics and computer science and worked with PA Consulting Group, before moving to Valcon in 2001.
Thomas lives in Copenhagen with his wife Louise, and they have three children. Thomas is a passionate amateur cook and a keen angler whenever and wherever possible.

Paul ten Haaf, Technology Synergy Partner
Paul has worked for more than 20 years in consulting. In the last 10 years he focused mainly on helping both enterprise clients and (semi) public organisations with their digitalisation journeys and innovation. Smart automation with modern cloud software platforms is his main area of expertise. Before this, Paul lead various operational excellence programmes and projects for utility companies. He started his career at Accenture in the SAP ERP practice.
Paul lives near Amsterdam in the Netherlands with his wife and three children, and he is passionate about cooking and running.

Michael Hjortlund, Managing Partner, Nordics
An experienced consultant, Michael has over 20 years’ experience working at board and CEO level. Before joining Valcon in 2019, Michael worked as a partner at Monitor Deloitte. In his career, he has twice started new consultancies in Scandinavia.
Michael has experience of working with organisations from multiple sectors and has expertise in building and embedding purpose driven strategies. He specialises in helping organisations solve problems that require collaboration between different organisations in the public and private sector.
Michael and his wife, Tina, are the proud parents of two sets of twins. Outside of Valcon, Michael enjoys cooking, biking and golfing.

Maarten Icking, Group COO
Maarten has over 20 years’ experience in consulting and entrepreneurship. He holds an MSc in Industrial Engineering & Management at Groningen University. After his studies, he joined Andersen Consulting and in 2006, he was one of the founders of First Consulting, which has grown over the last 17 years into the current Valcon.
Maarten feels energised when he’s working with people who are passionate about what they do and give their all. A razor sharp focus, an eye on quality and a good sense of humour are the qualities he values most.
He lives in Zwolle in the Netherlands and has three children. He is passionate about skiing, investing in the Alps and real estate developments

Stig Jessen, Business Consulting Synergy Partner
Stig has over 15 years’ consultancy experience, supporting major industrial clients with transformation programs such as operations, supply chain management and digital.
Before joining Valcon in 2007, Stig worked in industrial roles within supply chain and procurement. Stig has an engineering degree, specialising in production technology and an MSC in business administration. Within Valcon Stig is responsible for running Business Consulting across the group.
Stig is Danish, but currently lives in Amsterdam with his wife, Pernille and their three children. Outside of his focus on building Valcon, developing clients and spending time with his family, Stig enjoys a little tennis and running when time allows.

Sander de Jongh, Data Synergy Partner
Sander has worked in data and consulting for over 22 years, helping customers with their data challenges and leading data organisations.
He has experienced the revolution of data while carrying out different roles and responsibilities throughout his career. In 2014 he joined Jibes which is now part of Valcon.
Sander studied Business Administration at university and lives in Berkel-Enschot, the Netherlands, with his wife and two daughters.

Sonja Meijerink, Managing Partner, Southeast Europe
Sonja has worked in the technology industry for over 25 years. After holding various consultancy positions, Sonja became HR director for Ordina, a large Dutch IT services company. She then switched to sales and account management at Levi9, one of the first nearshore IT service providers.
In 2017, she became CEO of Typeqast, a fast-growing tech company delivering IT services to clients across western Europe, overseeing a rapid period of expansion, before steering the company through its merger with Valcon in 2022.
Sonja counts customer satisfaction and the timely delivery of quality software as her top priorities. Hierarchy averse, Sonja loves rolling her sleeves up and being part of daily operations.
Sonja lives in Nootdorp, with partner John and son Jasper. She likes mountain biking and cycling, as well as boot-camping with friends.

Phil Rolfe, Managing Partner, UK
Phil has worked in financial services for over 30 years. At the start of his career, Phil qualified as an accountant with Eagle Start before moving to KPMG. After five years working in the Middle East and Europe, Phil moved to NatWest where he eventually became Global Head of Anti Money Laundering.
In 2015, Phil set up his own financial crime consultancy, FS101, which was sold to P2 Consulting in 2015. In November 2019 he became CEO of P2 and led the team through a significant growth cycle – during the COVID-19 pandemic – culminating in P2 being merged with Valcon in December 2021.
Phil is Valcon’s Managing Partner for the UK and lives on the south coast of England with his wife and occasional visits from his three sons who are at university in the UK.

Jochem Theunissen, Group CFO
Jochem Theunissen has over 17 years’ international experience across investment banking, private equity investing and CFO roles. He served as CFO for software and IT services companies like RAET, Conclusion and Vodeno.
Jochem has a masters in Quantitative Finance & Econometrics from the Erasmus University Rotterdam and lives in Amsterdam with his wife and three daughters. He is a huge enthusiast on Sabermetrics, as described in the book ‘Moneyball’ (by Michael Lewis) as a perfect crossroad example where one passion (baseball) gets lifted by another passion (mathematical optimisation).

Fieke Schopenhouer, Group CHRO
An experienced HR professional, Fieke has worked in talent and organisational structure for more than 16 years. She has deep experience in working on large scale organisational programmes where she managed different types of complex organisational change and cultural initiatives on a global basis. Prior to her CHRO role at Valcon, Fieke had set up the firm’s change practice in the Netherlands.
Fieke has an MsC in Economics, gained after finishing her studies at Maastricht University and Assumption University in Bangkok. Following university, she joined Accenture where she worked for 10 years.
Fieke lives in Bilthoven, with her partner Timo and his two children. In her spare time, she is a bit of a food and wine connoisseur, which she combines with going to the gym and yoga.