Victor Van Der Chijs

Victor van der Chijs (Ede, Netherlands, 1960) is a Dutch businessman and Managing Director of OMA, a leading international creative firm offering services in the field of architecture, design and creative advisory. Inspired by its roots in architecture, OMA and its research counterpart AMO offer services in the field of design in its broadest form resulting in buildings, masterplans, cultural advisory, identity studies, branding, exhibitions, sceneography and publications. The firm, founded by Rem Koolhaas, sustains offices in Rotterdam, New York, Beijing, Hong Kong and Doha with projects in over 35 countries worldwide.

Van der Chijs’ particular specialty is turning creativity into commercially viable propositions. Van der Chijs joined OMA in 2005 as Managing Partner. Next to the day-to-day responsibility for OMA's operations, he is responsible for business development and expanding and diversifying OMA's activities. Since 2005, OMA and its think-tank AMO tripled in size while maintaining strict creative standards. On 19 March 2013, Van der Chijs announced his forthcoming departure as Managing Director in the course of 2013.

Before joining OMA, Van der Chijs held various management positions at Schiphol Group (international airport management company). Among others he was Director of Communications and Public Affairs lobbying for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol's aircraft noise mitigation programmes, and Director of Strategic Projects preparing for Schiphol's IPO (which was later derailed by the Dutch Labour Party) and setting up a strategic alliance between Schiphol and Frankfurt International Airport. He was also responsible for Schiphol's USD 1.2 billion terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, a position he happened to start on September 11, 2001 forcing a major financial restructuring of the project. Before joining Schiphol, Van der Chijs worked for financial services group, ING for over 10 years, of which the last three years based in Hong Kong in the field of project finance in China.

Van der Chijs holds a master degree in Law from the University of Amsterdam, and has followed post-graduate education at the Amsterdam School of International Relations and at INSEAD, France.

Van der Chijs holds several other positions in Dutch society:

• Member of the Dutch Trade Board, advisory committee to the Netherlands’ Government in the field of international trade and cross-border investments (since 2007);
• Member of the Economic Development Board Rotterdam(since 2009);
• Member of Board of Trustees of Kennisland(Knowledgeland), an independent think tank based in the Netherlands, that aims to strengthen the Dutch cultural, intellectual and economic spheres (since 2010);
• Member of the Board of Trustees and Audit Committee of the Netherlands National Historical Museum(2008 – 2011);
• Member of the Supervisory Board of RET, the main public transport operator in the Rotterdam metropolitan area (since 2011); and
• Member of the Program Committee of the Berlage Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture and Urban Design, Delft University of Technology (since 2013).