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Building the Future of Energy
Daniël Horn, Director of Product
What does it take to lead technology in one of the most dynamic industries today? For Daniel Horn, it started with a dream of becoming a chef. Fast forward to now, and he’s helping to shape the future of energy at Eneco.
From Kitchens to Code: A Career Pivot
“Honestly? I thought I'd become a chef and run my own restaurant. That was the dream,” Daniel says. During his studies, he worked as a chef several nights a week and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. But somewhere along the way, he realized a career in technology would let him still cook comfortably at home, without the massive debt of opening a restaurant, while keeping him mentally challenged.
After hotel management school, Daniel completed a master’s in Strategic Management and, like many people who haven’t quite figured out their next move, he ended up in consultancy. Back then, energy companies weren’t exactly exciting places to work - they were seen as slow and sluggish. “How different that is now,” he adds. The energy transition has turned this industry into one of the most dynamic spaces to be in: companies literally can't grow without energy infrastructure keeping pace, competition for customers is fierce, markets are more volatile, and flexibility is everything.
What Does a Product Director Do?
“I oversee several product groups, product is accountable to ensure tech delivers value to our customers and business lines and help us win in the market” Daniel explains.
The asset domain builds and maintains the platform that links Eneco's entire portfolio of energy assets: large-scale solar plants and wind parks, business customers' rooftop installations, and consumer devices like electric vehicles and home batteries. Their work is what makes Eneco a true energy distributor - the smarter and more reliably assets are connected and steered, the greater the impact on the grid.
The VPP Myriad teams operates Eneco's virtual power plant: a real-time system that coordinates thousands of distributed energy resources simultaneously, deciding when to store energy, when to release it, and how to keep supply and demand in balance. Myriad steers more than 25,000 devices today - a number that keeps growing - and the team behind it works at the cutting edge of energy flexibility and control systems.
The energy trading technology teams build the tools and data platforms that power Eneco's trading operations: forecasting systems, deal capture infrastructure, and the financial and operational pipelines that keep everything reconciled and running. It's precise, high-stakes work that demands both strong engineering and deep market knowledge.
And underpinning it all, the enterprise and support team maintains the core operational and financial systems that keep Eneco functioning day-to-day — the reliable foundation that gives every other team the stability to move fast and innovate.
“You’re essentially rebuilding parts of the plane while it’s still flying - migrating applications and connected assets without disrupting what’s already working. It’s challenging, but that’s what makes it exciting.”
Scaling Beyond Borders
Daniel and his team are scaling Eneco’s connectivity platform and virtual power plant beyond the Netherlands, which means upgrading systems to handle country and market-specific requirements. “It’s a significant step for us - Myriad has been hugely successful in the Netherlands, and we want to bring that same approach to other regions.”
These are complex, long-running projects. “You’re essentially rebuilding parts of the plane while it’s still flying - migrating applications and connected assets without disrupting what’s already working. It’s challenging, but that’s what makes it exciting.”
Why Tech Professionals Love This Work
“The beauty of product management is that you get to operate across the full spectrum,” Daniel says. On one side, you need a strategic view of where the business is heading. But then you actually get to shape and execute the initiatives that make that future happen. And when it’s built, you become responsible for keeping it running.
“Product and development teams get handed the toughest technology problems from the business. We have to figure out how to solve them, build the solution, and then own it for the long haul. It’s a perfect circle - you know you’ll own the solution in the end, so you’re motivated to build it right from the start. Our work results from a partnership with business experts, software developers, and data specialists.”
Why Choose Eneco?
“Eneco is a big fish in a small pond. You can make real impact here. Communication lines are short. There’s tremendous brainpower across our value chains - Flex, Renewable Power, B2B, B2C, trading, finance - and we amplify that with great technology.”
Rotterdam is an innovation hub, and Eneco has a rich history of building technology in-house from thermostats, IoT platforms, asset steering, forecasting platforms and trading systems. “Sometimes it feels like a supermarket of expertise you can tap into. And everyone is united by the same ambition: making the biggest possible impact on the energy transition. That shared purpose really binds people together.”
Ready to shape the future of energy with cutting-edge technology? Join Eneco and make an impact that matters. Explore our tech opportunities today.
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