There is a certain romance to shipbuilding. The workmanship, the discipline, the challenge of bringing together so many parts into one working vessel. For Iva Holer Sersic, Team Lead Plans and Arrangements, it all began in her hometown, where shipyards were part of the landscape. “Growing up around shipyards, I saw early on how many disciplines are involved in building a ship. Once I had the chance to look closer, I understood the level of coordination and expertise it takes to turn a design into something real,” Iva explains.

People and Process
At Damen Naval, she leads the Plans and Arrangements team. Her job is to make sure the design documentation meets the demands of the contract, the rules of the regulators, and the realities of the schedule. Iva: “This role allows me to focus on team coordination and development, while applying everything I’ve learned as a designer and engineer.”

Some days are filled with meetings across departments or with the client. Others are spent working side by side with her team, looking for ways to streamline the process or spot issues before they surface. The work is technical, but it’s also about people.

Inside the Project
Her current project is a demanding one. It involves a tight delivery window, high technical complexity, and a continuous flow of input from multiple departments. Plans and arrangement team acts as contributor and integrator at the same time. The goal is to deliver documentation that reflects both the big picture and the smallest constraints. “No two days are the same. We’re constantly shifting between coordination and problem-solving.” The design needs to hold up on paper and work in the real world. There is always something that can be improved.

“In shipbuilding, many challenges can be addressed by drawing from previous builds. But I also look beyond the sector for alternative approaches.” Iva Holer Sersic

Solving at Scale
She approaches problem-solving as a team. Constraints like time, cost, and feasibility are always taken into account. The ideas have to work in practice. While experience is a strong foundation, she tries not to fall back on familiar solutions too quickly. “In shipbuilding, many challenges can be addressed by drawing from previous builds. But I also look beyond the sector for alternative approaches.”

Iva draws from other disciplines: civil engineering, architecture, industrial design. She sees value in how others frame problems. Within her own team, open discussions often generate the most practical solutions. The combination of shared experience and cross-disciplinary input keeps the work moving forward.

Skill and Capability
She doesn’t frame her career through the lens of being a woman in engineering. The focus is the work, the role and the contribution. It has always been that way. “I’ve always believed that roles should be defined by knowledge, skill, and capability,” she affirms. She has seen the industry change. More women are entering the field today, and teams are becoming more diverse in their approaches. “Engineering should be open to anyone who finds meaning in the work”, she says. Her advice to young people in the field is to “stay humble about what you know and what you still need to learn.” The best engineers, she says, are the ones who keep asking questions.

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