From Technician to Regional Operations Manager

Careers can take the direction you want at RWE—and Bill Kristensen’s is a shining example of that. He’s our Regional Operations Manager for the Nordic regions, managing a team of 34 service managers and technicians and coordinating onshore delivery in Malmo, Sweden. We spoke to Bill to learn more about how he found his way to a role he so enjoys. 

Bill describes his career in onshore energy as a “big journey”—and it’s easy to see why. Starting out 21 years ago as a technician building wind turbines in Portugal before moving into training and service manager roles in Denmark and Sweden, he’s come a long way both geographically and professionally. He started with RWE Renewables in 2018.

Though a lifelong devotee of wind power (he has his own personal collection of turbines, purchased with a colleague), Bill is happy about taking a step back from working on turbines directly. “I was a technician for over ten years, working with turbines and equipment. Now, over the last couple of years, I’ve been lucky enough to work with people. Having experience of both the technical side and people management is valuable.”

As he sees it, there are two routes to becoming a Regional Operations Manager. One via asset and site management and the more service-focused route that he took. Both involve substantial experience working on turbines. “For me, you need to have people in the leadership team who have hands-on experience of the role. You can’t rely on pure academic knowledge.”

Though he isn’t out in the field as he was in previous roles, Bill’s experience helps him take a more empathetic approach in his current role. “I won’t micromanage because my strength is that I have been there and done what the technicians now do. I know how they feel—it can be cold and really hot in the summer. It’s hard manual work.”

Nowadays, instead of battling the elements, Bill spends his time “fighting every day to get more projects”. But there’s nothing to suggest his journey is complete. Sitting below the Head of Onshore in Northern Europe, there’s still a clear path ahead and, with Bill’s passion, it probably won’t stop there.

To find out more about a career in Engineering, Operations or Development at RWE, check out our careers website at rwe.com/career.