Her current assignment is for a multi-billion company in the middle of a crisis
Her career started as a consultant at Omnitrade, a company developing and implementing systems for the economy- and financial functions. After a couple of years, she moved on to the mining company Boliden where she became Group Accountant for one of the divisions.
“I was a wild card as I didn’t have much experience within accounting and leadership, and I was a young woman. But it turned out to be a vitamin injection for the organization.”
– Eva Kaijser – CFO
During her 14 years at Boliden, she had different roles, as Group Controller, Head of Treasury and Head of Finance. She always raised her hand and wanted new challenges and got a great possibility to try different things. In her next step, she was part of driving a greenfield project, Northland Resources, one of Sweden’s largest industrial projects with over 10 billion SEK in financing. Her role was to secure the financing and build a large-scale mining function in under two years with all the economical competence needed to handle this large turnover. Unfortunately, the project ended with two reconstructions and a bankruptcy. “It was a good lesson, having to go through tough times”, Eva says.
Eva then got the position as CEO at Nordic Mines: “I was meant to join the Board but was offered the role as CEO. The company had just gone through a reconstruction and part of my assignment was to re-negotiate with the banks and find new investors. After this was done, I stayed as an advisor and in the nomination committee during a transition period.”
After her years in the mining industry, Eva has worked with security within aviation, fintech, consulting and online gaming development. “At iZettle I was a project leader for their planned IPO. It was the largest IPO that year and it was fun to try out a new industry. The company is very well managed, but it was a tremendous work with all the demands that come with an IPO. We were really in the headlights.” Eva continues: “Stockholm is a hub in Europe for the new tech companies. This is the new industry where our children will work and it is important to attract capital by, among other things, an attractive stock exchange location.”
Eva steps in as an interim manager when a CFO does not have time or the capacity to, for example, make an IPO, acquisition, or reconstruction. “That’s when I am most useful. One day I am in a company on the top, and the next day I handle a reconstruction. That is what drives me.”
Her current assignment interested her as the company is in a deep crisis where she feels that she can be very useful. Her experiences from negotiating with banks and supporting the management team and her team is valuable. “I always have an open door, I am transparent and communicate with the team. Leadership is very important in difficult times. To see the turning point together with the team is fantastic.”
“What attracts me with Interim Management is to drive change, the leadership and to see the results of my work. To succeed, you need to be brave and step outside of your comfort zone. Contrary to management consultants, my role is hands-on, and I drive change together with my colleagues being part of the team.”
“One of my UPS’ as an interim manager is my experience from large basic industry companies with governance and maturity, which I can apply on the younger companies and put structures and policies in place and create a scalable business.”
Eva says that the advantage of engaging an interim manager is that you bring a fresh view of the business. New perspectives and a clear assignment enable you to drive a quick and effective change process at the same time as you bring energy and reinforces the team. “When the big changes are done, the management team and board are often exchanged, as you need a new kind of competence in the new situation. Here I can remain in the company for a period to stabilize and act as an advisor.”
“Working in projects will be the new way of working. Many young people are working independent, as ‘giggers’. The tech companies I have seen experience an extreme growth, they grow so fast that they cannot just hire the needed competence but need to work with consultants. These people must have the same conditions as the permanent employees. The next generation wants to work flexible and control their own lives. But is equally important for companies to have this kind of flexibility, as you need different competences depending on the situation.”