New Engineering Manager at Head Energy DanGrid

As part of its continued growth, Head Energy DanGrid welcomed Katrine Birkedal Heilmann as Engineering Manager in January. The role is newly established to support the company’s further development.

– Establishing the Engineering Manager role is a natural step in strengthening our organisation and ensuring the right leadership to support our engineers and projects. With Katrine on board, we are better equipped to build a strong engineering environment and deliver consistent, high-quality work to our clients, says Mads Vinter Hansen, Managing Director at Head Energy DanGrid.

Strong Technical Expertise and Leadership Experience

Katrine holds a degree in Energy Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark, specialising in power systems and high voltage. She brings more than 15 years of experience from Ørsted, where she has worked across technology development, operations and maintenance, and engineering of high-voltage equipment for offshore substations on major international wind projects.  

– Being close to the assets and seeing how design decisions work in real life was extremely valuable for my technical understanding, she says.

Since 2017, she has held leadership roles, managing specialist teams and other leaders in complex renewable energy projects.  

– Over time, I realised that what motivates me the most is developing people, facilitating good team spirit, and setting a direction together. For me, the best results are always achieved through collaboration, trust, and a common purpose.

She now brings this experience and leadership mindset into her role at Head Energy DanGrid.

Building on Previous Collaboration

Katrine was already familiar with Head Energy DanGrid through previous collaboration.

– Every time, I experienced a high level of professionalism combined with a very open and supportive way of working. That left me with a good impression of both the technical competence and the culture.

She was drawn to the opportunity to join a growing organisation where there is room to shape both ways of working and team development.

– I was motivated by the strong focus on engineering and the possibility to make a real impact – especially on people and collaboration, she says.

Leading the Engineering Team

As Engineering Manager, her main responsibility is people leadership and creating the right framework for engineers to succeed in their daily work.

– A big part of my time is spent on growing the team and finding new colleagues, while ensuring a healthy balance between workload and well-being. It is important to me that people feel motivated and have the time and support they need to deliver high-quality work.

Another key priority is strengthening ways of working across the organisation, including processes, templates and structures that create clarity across projects and locations. She is also focused on onboarding to ensure new colleagues quickly feel welcome and become part of the team.

For Katrine, it is important to build a professional environment where there is room to be yourself, and where mutual respect is fundamental.

– I would like us to continue developing our team spirit and become even better at reaching out to each other and making use of the strengths we have across the organisation. The best results come when we collaborate and share knowledge.

Looking Ahead

As Head Energy DanGrid continues to grow, Katrine sees clear opportunities for further development.

– The company has a strong foundation and a clear position in the market. In addition to providing highly skilled consultants to our clients, we should continue strengthening our engineering services and take on more responsibility in the projects we are part of. That allows us to bring our technical competencies into play in a different way and create even more value for our customers.

She also highlights collaboration with other consultancies and partners as an important driver for future growth.

– By working together with companies that complement our core competences, we can offer broader and more complete solutions while still staying true to what we are best at.

– I look forward to continuing to develop the team and contributing to the next phase of growth at Head Energy DanGrid, she concludes.

‍