Damen Services Traineeship

We offer you an Ocean of Possibilities. Join our family.

Vacancy Damen Services Traineeship 2025

About us

Damen Services' mission is to support the sales organization of Damen in selling vessels by providing additional value in the form of services. The department gives substance to the concept of high quality and the generally higher cost of acquisition. After the sale of a ship, excellent services are delivered in order to increase the likelihood that a customer chooses Damen again to buy a ship for replacement or expansion.

At the operational level, the Services department maintains contact with clients and is the eyes and ears of the sales organization. Services provides a broad portfolio of services for the entire life cycle of a ship built by Damen. This includes the handling of warranty calls, providing training, providing spare parts, providing maintenance and perform modifications and repairs.

That is reflected in the behavior of its employees; they are always available, proactive, keeping their promises and always do more than is asked of them. Within the Services department the question is always: How do we make it happen?

The role

Have you (almost) completed your studies and are you looking for a challenging start of your career? The Damen Services Traineeship is your chance to kickstart your career and explore the oceans of opportunities within our dynamic company!

A traineeship at Damen Services is an excellent way to start a challenging and exciting career within the Damen Shipyards Group. During the course of this two-year journey you will explore your own potential and further identify your talents. We will support both your professional and personal development in order to get you ready for a future key position at Damen Services, while you discover Damen by performing across several disciplines. Find out what you like best, challenges you the most and creates the biggest impact for Damen!

You will be working from the head office in Gorinchem (The Netherlands), but will also get the opportunity to work abroad for about six months at one of our locations.

Every year, there are limited spots available for the Damen Services Traineeship and depending on your preference you can start in September or February.

The Damen Services Traineeship is not a "one size fits all". Each Trainee is unique and thus every traineeship is tailored to the talents and developmental challenges of each individual. It is a two-year program and consists of three parts:

• Moving in: onboarding, get to know the company
• Moving around: 3 rotations within the Damen division and departments
• Moving on: continue your career in a challenging job

During your traineeship we will focus on developing various key competencies and skills including behavioral flexibility, customer orientation, initiative, teamwork and planning and organizing.

Key accountabilities

This traineeship a good fit if you like to do the following:

• Willing to work abroad for about six months and are flexible;
• Work with a team, and commit yourself;
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders;
• Working within a diverse and international environment;
• Making plannings and organize things.

Skills & Experience

We ask our future Trainee to come prepared with the following:

• You are fluent in English. Both verbal and written. Command of the Dutch language or other languages is a plus, but not a must;
• You are a recent graduate or have up to 2-3 years of work experience;
• You completed or are about to complete a relevant bachelor (mbo; post-secondary vocational education or hbo; bachelor) in maritime and/or technical education;
• You have great communication skills, you are customer-oriented and you have the Services mentality;
• You always keep a good overview and you have an eye for quality.

What we offer

We will give you the full support needed in the course of your traineeship, and an interesting and fun experience to start you career with, by offering you:

• A challenging traineeship;
• Competitive salary;
• At least 40 days of annual leave;
• Several trainings offered by our Damen Academy;
• A mentor and manager (personal development and trusted advisor);
• A diverse program with rotations across disciplines including a rotation abroad (Service line, Commercial and Operations);
• Interesting and fun extra’s (knowledge sessions/trainee diner etc.);
• Contact with peers in Young Damen.

What does the traineeship bring you?

At the end of these two years, you will have:

• Developed insight into your talents and qualities;
• Discovered the wonderful world of shipbuilding;
• Boosted your skills;
• Gained the insights needed to initiate and implement change;
• Made an impact with who you are and what you do.

And last but not least...have you found the job that makes you happy!

About Damen

Damen has 35 shipyards on five different continents and operates in more than 100 countries. We are still growing and that gives you options. You contribute to this growth while benefitting from the diverse development and career opportunities that our company offers. We will continue to challenge you. With our extensive portfolio of products and solutions you will never get bored and never stop learning. We offer you a world of possibilities.
Working at Damen means contributing to the highest quality in shipbuilding, with an eye to the future and future generations. We want to make the world a better place by becoming the most sustainable maritime solution provider. For that, we need you. Become part of our family.

We are Damen. We’re a family company that has been building ships for almost 100 years. However, our focus is not on the past, however – we’re looking forward. Our ambition is to become the most sustainable and connected maritime solutions provider there is. To achieve this, we combine digital technology with our philosophy of standardised shipbuilding to offer a portfolio of services that takes care of vessels throughout the entire lifecycle. Working at Damen offers the best of several worlds. Active in more than 100 countries, with over 30 shipyards, we are internationally renowned for quality. And we are still growing, still innovating. Which means we will continue to challenge you. You will never stop learning, and you will never get bored – we promise you that. We offer you an ocean of possibilities. Join our family.