Meet our people

Agnetha Thelin

What kind of education do you have?
Social economics and personal trainer.

What is the best thing about your current job?
The variety and the fact that I can impact my job.

How do you keep skills and knowledge current?
I received all the training I needed here, theory and a lot of hands on learning.
Barring vocational training itself, SSAB is really good on safety training.

What challenges do you see in the job?
Continuously striving to work more safely and to improve my job, both for myself and for the company.

SSAB is a global company, how does that feel in your role?
I don t notice it in my work, apart from when I visit the intranet.

What is your biggest contribution to SSAB's success?
That I see the opportunities and am not afraid to let my own ideas be known about things can be improved and made more sustainable.

Do you have any advice for future colleagues?
Adopt a positive mindset and open your eyes to the opportunities available

Suvi Mattila

What kind of education do you have?
I have a vocational qualification in precision mechanics from Raahe Vocational Institute. Before joining what was then Ruukki's Industrial Institute, I did a seven months electronics employee course.

What is the best thing about your current job?
Variety! In the morning, I seldom know what kind of tasks I will perform during the day.

How do you keep skills and knowledge current?
I apply for training, which is connected to my job.

What challenges do you see in the job?
A lot of my daily tasks require 100% focus.

What is your biggest contribution to SSAB's success?
I do my work carefully and precisely. The quality of the work is important to me.

Do you have any advice for future colleagues?
Do your work as you would do it for yourself.

Erik Nymann

What kind of education do you have?
I have an M Sc in Material Science.

What is the best thing about your current job?
My job provides a unique insight into the entire steel process, from deciding on chemical composition, though to steel production and finally as an application in a car, for example.

How do you keep skills and knowledge current?
Foremost, by learning from colleagues. Also by reading technical articles and presentations. Training like the SSL Green Belt program provides new tools and insights. Finally, by daring to try things out and making mistakes.

What challenges do you see in the job?
Finding ”unicorns”-steel grades with good combinations of strength, ductility, formability, flatness and surface quality.

SSAB is a global company, how does that feel in your role?
As we are responsible for developing new steel grades, which are to be used on every market that SSAB is active in, we have contact with people from different parts of the world on a regular basis. Since we also have production and development in different nations, we also have contact with these people as well. English is spoken rather frequently.

What is your biggest contribution to SSAB's success?
In order to be a company that s taking the lead, we need products with superior performance and quality. I help to develop these products.

Do you have any advice for future colleagues?
Dare say, ask and act.

Jani Kastell

What kind of education do you have?
I have an MSc degree from the University of Oulu, where I studied mechanical and industrial engineering. I also majored in business management.

What is the best thing about your current job?
I really like the truly international business environment and the possibility to make things happen. It s great to meet, and even exceed the customer s expectations regarding product, delivery, service you name it. My customers and colleagues are all over the world and English is the language we mainly use. It might seem strange, but I might even have a stronger business vocabulary in English than in Finnish.

How do you keep skills and knowledge current?
I have been privileged to participate in different training events quite frequently. E.g. presentation training, International leadership, sales skills, financial & cost analytics, to mention a few. I also have had a possibility to change position roughly every 2½ years, which has kept me also very busy learning new things. I have taken part in a mentoring program, which I found very useful.

What challenges do you see in the job?
Lots of different actions and requests: both internal and external. During the past 12 months, also the merger between former Ruukki and SSAB has driven extra interest in creating an organization, learning new ways of working, extending the sales program and communicating it to customers.

SSAB is a global company, how does that feel in your role?
My colleagues and customers are all over the world, which means the global network, which means receiving e mails 24/7.

What is your biggest contribution to SSAB's success?
My personal interest areas are well in line with SSAB s values and I want to be involved in proving them to our customers as well and showing what values mean in reality.

Do you have any advice for future colleagues?
Maybe this is a cliché, but a positive yes we can attitude and an eagerness and willingness to look for new things/ways of working will eventually pay off. It was said somewhere that a positive customer experience is shared with 2 persons, a negative one with 7 which group we should be in?

Fei Ying

What kind of education do you have?
I studied Material Science and Industrial management.

What is the best thing about your current job?
The creative environment and space to transform ideas into actions.

How do you keep skills and knowledge current?
I have attended some SSAB academy courses in order to learn more about the company and the business. Additionally, I keep myself updated on our challenges and opportunities ahead through constant dialog with sales and technicians.

What challenges do you see in the job?
The many diverse tasks that take me to fields I have never entered before. For instance, supporting a global team with different needs and environmental differences, working with our communication and marketing tools, as well analyzing databases.

SSAB is a global company, how does that feel in your role?
My role is a global one, which means I usually get to have online meetings with Asia Pacific in the morning and the Americas in the afternoon, and of course the rest of Europe and CIS, Middle East and Africa the whole day. My support depends on the degree of matureness in growth and business environment.

What is your biggest contribution to SSAB's success?
I am driving the wear services business forward by being responsive to end-customer needs, the business environment and our growth stage in the aftermarket.

Do you have any advice for future colleagues?
If you would like to work in an environment with inspiring and caring people and enormous development opportunities, SSAB is definitely the company to join.

Katri Kivihaka

What kind of education do you have?
I have a master's degree in material science, majoring in polymer technology, from Tampere University of Technology.

What is the best thing about your current job?
How my job has developed as my knowledge and experience have increased, which has led to varied tasks and new challenges. I also enjoy working with people, as a team aiming for the same goal.

How do you keep skills and knowledge current?
I have participated in several training events, for example, Project Management, and updating my computer skills to ensure more efficient ways of working. I also read trade magazines to see what s new and attend conferences and seminars when possible.

What challenges do you see in the job?
Staying on top of things when there are a lot of moving parts and the timetable is tight.

SSAB is a global company, how does that feel in your role?
Cooperation with our new team members and colleagues abroad has been interesting and I've learned a lot.

What is your biggest contribution to SSAB's success?
At the moment my major input is in taking care of line trials to run in Swedish color coated products on Finnish coil coating lines, so that the quality requirements are met even though production sites are changed.

Do you have any advice for future colleagues?
In a big company, there's a lot to learn, but be bold and ask for help, together we can find answers, as nobody knows it all!

Linnea Hellberg

What kind of education do you have?
I studied industrial engineering and management at the Faculty of Engineering in Lund (in Skåne, the south of Sweden).

What is the best thing about your current job?
I have the opportunity to work with people that have lots of experience and who really are experts within their field, so I learn a lot every day! Besides which, we have many exciting projects ongoing, so I like having a lot to do and no days being the same. Working with sustainability also gives me a sense of purpose how can SSAB become more sustainable and create more long term value for its owners and stakeholders?

How do you keep skills and knowledge current?
It is important to make sure that you go to seminars and forums, read up on research to ensure you keep up with international developments within sustainability. I also enjoy meeting students to hear what they think about the future, and what is important to them when thinking about a potential employer, or people whose work is un related to what I do and who see things from a different perspective.

What challenges do you see in the job?
Being confronted with new situations, and trying to get people to implement sustainability into their everyday work in everything from product development, procurement and marketing to how you sort the trash in the office and get to and from work everyday.

SSAB is a global company, how does that feel in your role?
Since my work is at the group level, it spans across SSAB so we constantly take into account all our divisions and group functions.

When talking about e.g. our emissions, we look at them from an international perspective since we compete in a global arena. Additionally, climate change is a global problem that cannot be fought at a company or country level, it requires wider collaboration.

What is your biggest contribution to SSAB's success?
I have a personal interest in this field and believe that, in future, it will be even more important for businesses to ensure they have a sustainable way of working. I believe that SSABs vision is a great way of explaining what we want to achieve stronger steels create lighter and more resource efficient products, and thus a more sustainable world. Hopefully [SSABs vision: A stronger, lighter and more sustainable world]

Do you have any advice for future colleagues?
Make sure that you have a good boss who you enjoy working with and have fun at work!

Michel Zveibil

Michel Zveibil

Oscar Gong

What kind of education do you have?
At university, I majored in casting, and then studied advanced metallurgy for my master s degree. After that, I received all of the advanced training from SSAB.

What is the best thing about your current job?
Understanding the customer's needs, offering them wear solutions and solving their wear related headaches.

How do you keep skills and knowledge current?
By continuously keeping in touch with specialists in KSC , keeping track of what s going on and the latest study results. Also, I take part in all the training wear technology, welding, and structural designing training, etc offered by KSC specialists.

What challenges do you see in the job?
I am always concerned about not having enough knowledge to solve customer's problems or meet their expectations. This means I'm continuously developing myself and moving forward.

SSAB is a global company, how does that feel in your role?
Wear projects within the APAC region are my responsibility, which means it s quite normal for me to communicate in other languages and visit other countries. Meanwhile, through regular meetings and the company network, we can easily share information and exchange knowledge & experience, which in turn makes it possible for me to develop myself and offer more efficient support to local customers in my region.

What is your biggest contribution to SSAB's success?
Together with sales and technical managers, we accumulate lots of application results and success stories regarding our Hardox material. Combined with the knowledge and experience we learn from other countries, we can offer our customer a unique service and clearly stand out from the local competition.

Do you have any advice for future colleagues?
Don't hesitate to join this great company when there is an opportunity. However, before you do so, make sure you meet the challenge.

Panu Pitkänen

What kind of education do you have?
I have an M Sc in Industrial Engineering and Management from Tampere University of Technology.

What is the best thing about your current job?
Leading a product group gives an excellent view of the core of the special steel business, and I enjoy working in a really global environment and with multicultural teams. I'm strongly motivated to continuous development and now, since the merger, we have huge opportunities to improve our ways of working based on a new set up.

How do you keep skills and knowledge current?
In a constantly changing environment, I try to be close enough to a few of our industry-leading customers to be able to understand their current thoughts and where their business will go in future.

What challenges do you see in the job?
The product group is involved in several functions and processes, and now almost all of these processes are undergoing some kind of change, so we are all really part of shaping the new SSAB.

SSAB is a global company, how does that feel in your role?
Structural special steels are sold at a global level, so my team interacts regularly with all SSAB market areas.

What is your biggest contribution to SSAB's success?
During the first year of the new SSAB, I have been leading the team to combine structural products under the new Strenx brand. Launching Strenx and our new My Inner Strenx brand program has been a really great team effort from everyone involved.

Do you have any advice for future colleagues?
SSAB offers a wide selection of interesting career opportunities. It's also incredibly nice to see how well customers recognize SSAB's knowledge and expertise.

Piotr Gala

What kind of education do you have?
I studied at the School of Management and Banking and I've a master's degree in financial services.

What is the best thing about your current job?
The possibility to create and run new projects with people whose engagement and goal awareness are at the highest level.

How do you keep skills and knowledge current?
I develop my skills and competences by participating in leadership and sales training, for example, as well as by playing an active role in projects. The biggest project I've been involved with to date is building the Ruukki Express chain in Poland.

What challenges do you see in the job?
My biggest challenge is to build a strong, revenue-generating commercial network, where each Ruukki Express sales point has a key role on the local roofing wholesale market.

SSAB is a global company, how does that feel in your role?
We can learn and use the knowledge and experiences of our colleagues in other countries.

What is your biggest contribution to SSAB's success?
Each employee achieving the company's sales targets impacts the company's performance and market position. I am focused on my targets.

Do you have any advice for future colleagues?
The most important assets are a willingness and commitment to work. Persons who are active, open, consistent and creative achieve their goals and can be successful at work.

Viktorija Kadiseva

What kind of education do you have?
I have studied economics at Riga Technological University of Civil Aviation, specializing in labor sociology and economics.

What is the best thing about your current job?
Most of all I like meeting customer's needs. This includes organizing the whole process from preparing quotes, placing orders, organizing delivery to end users in Latvia, sending invoices and receiving accounts due. It is like a big chain, where you have to be in control of all the links to ensure a good end-result.

How do you keep skills and knowledge current?
Since this is my first job in the steel business, I have had to learn a lot about steel. Before I had experience of customer service, negotiation skills and business planning, but no technical knowledge about steel. This is why I regularly participate in product training (e.g. engineering steel, special steels), visit mills and really try to build on my knowledge every day using our internal information channels.

What challenges do you see in the job?
Because competition is fierce, it s not always easy to give customers good quotes. However, you should always try to find the happy medium that offers better solutions to ensure the customer is satisfied with our service and really wants to do business with us.

SSAB is a global company, how does that feel in your role?
Even though I work locally with my customers, internally it is important to work together with colleagues from different countries.

What is your biggest contribution to SSAB's success?
We in sales are behind our customers to support them in the best possible way.

Do you have any advice for future colleagues?
Actually it's a piece of advice for everyone: Whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger.