Kirsi Hautala has recently been promoted to the position of Deputy Managing Director of WSP Finland. She has also retained a business development role which she firmly believes has been an experience that has enabled her to make this next important step in her career.
With a technical background, having gained her MSc (Master of science) in Civil Engineering in Oulu, Finland, followed by a PhD in Steel Structures in Essen, Germany, her formative years were spent first in technical research, then in product development for industry. Gradually she moved into business development, a role she has had with WSP since joining in 2002.
As leader of a “virtual team” developing a global strategy for WSP’s industrial sector, Kirsi works with representatives from the majority of WSP sectors and countries, who meet regularly to plan their action plan for the development of WSP Industrial. “We have industrial clients in Sweden, Finland, Norway, UK and South Africa,” she says. “We have been carrying out market analysis and strategic client interviews to work out the best way of developing our services for the future. Based on these studies we have prepared a global industrial sector business plan for the group, which includes promoting global industrial services and initiating cross selling.”
Kirsi continues, “Our target is to secure more work for our existing businesses and develop new services, never losing sight of our priority to provide an even better service to our clients.”