This year marks a significant milestone for Christiaan Wilde, Design Lead at KBS Maritime, as he celebrates 10 years working at Portsmouth Naval Base. Over the past decade, Christiaan has built an impressive career, progressing from Structural Engineer to leading the Design Management team within Project Delivery, all while helping to shape the future of the base.
Driven by a lifelong passion for engineering and inspired by his grandfather’s career, Christiaan joined the Naval Base seeking a new challenge after working in the bridge and highway structures sector. Since then, he has embraced every opportunity that has come his way, taking on complex projects, developing new areas of expertise, and leading teams through various complex challenges.
Known for his enthusiasm, dedication and willingness to step outside his comfort zone, Christiaan thrives on solving problems, supporting colleagues and finding better ways of working. Whether he’s balancing the technical demands of project delivery, planning for future challenges, or sharing the fascinating history of the Naval Base with others, his commitment to both people and performance shines through.
Hear from Christiaan as he reflects on the last decade working at Portsmouth Naval Base…
What drew you to work at KBS?
Prior to joining the Naval Base, including my time with both BAE Systems and KBS Maritime, I worked as a structural engineer within the bridge and highway structures sector. This was an exciting and formative period, providing opportunities to contribute to critical national infrastructure in challenging environments. It played a significant role in strengthening my core engineering knowledge and developing a strong problem-solving mindset.
After several years, I was keen to take on a new challenge that would broaden my experience and test my application of engineering principles in a different context. I came across an opportunity within the Building Structures team at Portsmouth Naval Base, which offered the chance to apply my existing structural engineering expertise in a completely new setting.
What particularly attracted me was the opportunity to work within the unique and highly demanding environment of a Naval Base, engaging with a different type of asset and operational context. Equally important was the strong personal connection I felt to the history of the site and the Royal Navy. That combination of professional challenge and personal interest made it an opportunity I was keen to pursue.
What excites you about your role?
Every day presents a new challenge and an opportunity to learn. Working within a fantastic team of diverse engineering and construction backgrounds means I am exposed to a wide range of disciplines, allowing me to continually develop and broaden my experience.
I take great pride in supporting and enabling others to succeed, which ultimately contributes to the continued success of the Naval Base.
What does your day look like typically?
Every day is different, which I really enjoy—there is very little chance of getting bored. Typically, my day involves understanding wider business and customer needs and formulating plans to achieve them.
A key part of my role is ensuring that projects deliver the required capability in a safe and compliant manner, with appropriate technical governance to evidence this. One of the main challenges is balancing the delivery of safe and compliant outcomes while also meeting programme and financial pressures.
Alongside day-to-day problem solving, I also spend time looking ahead—understanding future drivers, identifying opportunities, and ensuring that through process improvement and developing appropriately SQEP resource, we are set up for continued success.
Finally, I try to dedicate at least one Friday each month to sharing my passion for the rich and outstanding history of the Naval Base with others by offering a historical tour of the base.
How has your role evolved since you started?
I have been in my current role, leading the Design Management team within Project Delivery, for the past three and a half years. During that time, my role has evolved alongside the wider business and the changing needs of the Naval Base.
This has required developing new ways of working to respond to an increasing volume of work, as well as a growing level of complexity in the projects we are delivering year on year.
What has your journey been within the company?
When I first joined the Naval Base 10 years ago, I started with BAE Systems as a Structural Engineer within the Buildings team. At the time, this was a newly formed team focused specifically on buildings, which had previously been managed alongside wider structural and maritime civil assets.
After just seven months, I was promoted to Engineering Manager for Buildings following the departure of the incumbent. In this role, I was responsible for leading and developing the buildings strategy, overseeing safe-to-operate reviews and mitigation measures, and defining technical requirements for project interventions.
This was a significant challenge—not only because I was relatively new to the team, but also because I initially had a team of just one. However, I thrived on the challenge. It was very much a case of being thrown in at the deep end, learning quickly, and adapting, supported by colleagues across what was then the Chief Engineer’s Department.
During my time as Engineering Manager, I was exposed to a wide range of engineering and construction challenges, which I thoroughly enjoyed. For example, I stepped into the role of Fire Safety Engineer for the Naval Base. To ensure I was suitably qualified and experienced (SQEP), I undertook extensive self-learning and sought guidance from industry experts, developing my knowledge through their experience.
Following the formation of KBS Maritime, I moved into a role focused on leading the future strategy for buildings and sports facilities across the establishment. I held this position for just over a year before moving into my current role—leading the Design Management team within Project Delivery—which had always been a career aspiration.
How does it feel to have been here for 10 years?
It feels quite surreal, as the time has passed incredibly quickly. This is largely due to the constant change, variety of challenges, and breadth of experience I have been exposed to during my time here.
What do you get up to in your free time outside of work?
Those who know me well—or have made the mistake of asking what I did over the weekend—will know I tend to keep very busy. Evenings and weekends are usually filled with DIY and a wide range of hobbies, too many to list.
Some of the main ones include country pursuits, scuba diving, and motor racing.
At the moment, much of my time is taken up with a large refurbishment project on our new home, which we moved into last year. Outside of that, I also keep busy looking after our nine chickens and two cocker spaniels.
What are the top things on your bucket list?
My bucket list is topped by the desire to own a smallholding. I’d also love to travel to Japan to experience both its heritage and modern culture. Lastly, I’d like to scuba dive with every type of shark (although some will definitely be in a dive cage so I don’t become dinner!)
What did you want to be growing up?
I was fortunate to know from a very young age that I wanted to be a civil engineer, following in the footsteps of my Grandad. He was a highly accomplished engineer, having worked on major projects including the Rio–Niterói Bridge, which at the time was the second longest bridge in the world at 13.29 km.
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