Civil & Structural Asset Management Engineer (Freelance possible)

📋 Tasks and responsibilities

As an Asset Management Engineer focused on civil and structural assets, you will strengthen the asset team at an industrial production site in Hoboken. Your main objective is to help shape, implement and continuously enhance the asset management approach for buildings, structures and related civil assets. Asset management is the central discipline in this position, with civil and structural engineering as the technical domain.

You will work on tactical asset planning, maintenance strategy and lifecycle management. You will also collect and structure operational remarks, technical findings and improvement opportunities, and convert them into actionable proposals and follow-up measures.

Engineering environment

You operate in an engineering setting that supports production throughout the complete lifecycle of technical projects, from feasibility and design to realization and start-up. As the asset management maturity is still evolving, this role calls for a pragmatic mindset: you will not only apply existing practices, but also help define and anchor the working method in daily operations.

Key responsibilities

Asset management system development and rollout

• Support the design, implementation and deployment of the asset management system for civil and building assets.
• Help organize processes, asset registers, asset hierarchies, criticality models, maintenance logic, KPIs and documentation workflows.
• Translate asset management principles such as ISO 55000, lifecycle thinking and risk-based decision-making into workable methods for an industrial environment.
• Assist in embedding this approach together with stakeholders from production, maintenance and engineering.

Asset planning and lifecycle follow-up

• Develop tactical plans to improve the reliability, safety and service life of buildings and structural assets.
• Create, maintain and refine multi-year maintenance plans.
• Define and monitor relevant performance indicators for civil and structural asset management.
• Convert risks, degradation insights and operational improvement opportunities into maintenance strategies, improvement actions and project proposals.

Risk analysis and continuous improvement

• Investigate degradation, deficiencies and incidents in order to control and reduce structural risks.
• Perform root cause analyses for recurring technical problems and structural shortcomings.
• Interpret inspection data and risk-based inspection information, including trends, degradation curves and remaining-life evaluations.
• Apply criticality and risk analysis methods to prioritize interventions and lifecycle actions.
• Define preventive and mitigating measures and translate them into practical maintenance strategies.

Work preparation and execution support

• Prepare interventions to an execution-ready level, including scope, technical descriptions, required documents, permits, safety conditions, materials, contractor input and planning constraints.
• Transfer complete work packages to the work coordinator and use feedback from execution to improve future maintenance plans and strategies.
• Maintain a balanced focus between engineering responsibilities and work preparation tasks in close cooperation with the asset team.

Small improvement projects

• Translate identified measures into practical civil and structural improvement actions.
• Define scope, risks, planning and budget for smaller interventions on buildings and structures.
• Coordinate contractors and condition-monitoring partners during both engineering and execution phases.
• Provide technical direction, quality follow-up and documentation support for assigned interventions.
• Prepare project scope documents and CAPEX/OPEX proposals when required.

Design and compliance support

• Help ensure assets are designed to be inspectable, maintainable and reliable from the design phase onward.
• Advise engineering and design stakeholders on parameters that influence the lifecycle performance of structural assets.
• Review designs and as-built documentation against structural, reliability and maintainability criteria.
• Support technical acceptance criteria, validation checklists and handover requirements.
• Safeguard compliance with applicable standards and regulations, including ISO 55000, SEVESO and Eurocode where relevant.
• Ensure accurate and high-quality asset data management in EAM and DMS systems.

📝 Your profile

• You have hands-on experience in industrial asset management, with a clear focus on tactical asset planning, maintenance strategy, criticality-based decision-making and lifecycle management.
• You have experience with the implementation of an asset management system in an industrial environment.
• You hold a master's degree in engineering. A background in civil or construction engineering is an advantage, but engineers from other disciplines are also considered if they have grown into asset management and can demonstrate a strong civil/structural affinity.
• You bring solid civil / structural knowledge & experience. This is an essential requirement for the role.
• You can demonstrate a strong affinity with construction and civil engineering.
• You have working knowledge of ISO 55000, SEVESO and Eurocode.
• You are capable of analysing technical and inspection data and translating conclusions into practical maintenance strategies and improvement proposals.
• You have experience with or exposure to methodologies such as RBI data interpretation, RCA, criticality analysis, risk analysis, degradation analysis and remaining-life assessment, and you are motivated to further deepen your expertise.
• You have experience coordinating projects and collaborating with contractors, inspectors or other external partners.
• Experience in a mature industrial asset management environment is a plus.
• Experience with EAM systems, DMS platforms, inspection databases, spreadsheets used for degradation models or predictive analysis tools is an asset.
• Experience with industrial structures, corrosion issues, cracking, renovation works or smaller civil interventions is a plus.
• Experience with work preparation in an industrial maintenance or turnaround environment is an advantage.
• You take ownership, communicate clearly and work effectively with a broad range of stakeholders.
• You combine problem-solving skills, learning agility and the motivation to further specialize in asset management.
• You are fluent in English and Dutch, both spoken and written. Other languages are a plus.

Location

This position is based in Hoboken, Belgium and requires full-time onsite presence. Occasional homeworking may be possible with prior alignment and approval.

💼 Offer

You will be part of a growing Belgian SME where initiative and personal development are encouraged. We will provide you with an enjoyable work environment with fun colleagues. We will work out a career plan with you, with attention and a budget for extra education/certification. You can count on an attractive salary, supplemented with extra-legal benefits, including a company car.
(Freelance is also possible)