One year has passed, and the year as Management Trainees is coming to an end. For the past twelve months, we have had the privilege of working within a wide variety of business areas, in several business units, and at different geographical location. During the year we have grown tight with each other, but also gained a rich network of interesting colleagues all over Scandinavia. The Management Trainee program has helped us develop strategic, technical, and personal skills that will hopefully make the transition into our new jobs easier. So what happens next? This is where you will find us from September:
Peder Engesæth
Title: Business Development Manager
Location: Oslo
Business Unit: Visma IT&C Division
Description: Visma IT&C is the most technical division in the group, with responsibility for the underlying IT infrastructure. My position will involve identifying, planning and executing new strategic initiatives in the division. Examples of such initiatives could be:
- New technology to implement
- Cooperation with other parts of Visma
- Improved internal processes
- New ways to serve customers
Why this position: There were three main reasons I chose this position:
- I get to report to the CIO of the Visma group, which should enable me to help out on some of the most exciting project in all of Visma
- Visma IT&C has some of the coolest machine learning and automation capabilities in Visma, which I will work closely with
- It is the best way for me to improve my technical skills and competencies
Martin Ringdal
Title: Growth Hacker
Location: Oslo
Business Unit: Visma AS
Description: Organic growth is essential for most companies. My role as a Growth Hacker will be to identify and craft cross-sales and growth initiatives for the Visma Group. I will collaborate closely with experts from our business units, and work on tasks such as
- Utilize data to find areas for growth
- Ensure that cross-sales opportunities are commercially utilized
- Use technology to improve internal leads generation
Why this position: I enjoy problem solving, and I believe this role will be a great place for that. An important part of the job will be to raise questions, experiment with ideas and apply a data-driven mindset. At the same time, I look forward to collaborating across the Visma Group, and I appreciate the learning opportunities in the job.
Julie Lie
Title: Business Improvement Manager
Location: Oslo
Business Unit: Visma Enterprise Division
Description: In the position I will be responsible for establishing, conducting and following up technical business improvement projects. The projects will most likely vary based on the activity in the division and my own skills and preferences, so it is difficult to say anything more specific.
Why this position: A large part of my drive and motivation has always come from solving problems and improving the things I have a possibility to influence, so when I heard about this position I was immediately drawn to it. As a Business improvement manager, I also get to use a wide range of what I learned while studying. Further, I really wanted to work at a divisional level (as opposed to in a business unit), because I want to increase my general understanding of the whole organization before I specialize further, and because I want be close to where large decisions are made.
Jonas Marthinussen
Title: Division Controller
Location: Oslo
Business Unit: Visma Enterprise Division
Description: With the Enterprise Division experiencing strong growth the previous years, with an equally strong expected growth the coming years, the need for a Division Controller has emerged. The position will be responsible for both keeping track of and following up on the finances and operations of the legal units already incorporated in the division, as well as continuously aiding in the financial integration of newly acquired companies.
Why this position: I have wanted to work in a financial position since I started as a trainee. When I discussed this position with what has now become my boss, he clearly communicated high expectations of me, while at the same time emphasizing the need for me to work autonomously. The fact that the position sits at a divisional level also increases my learning potential of the rest of the organization, and I expect to learn and grow a great deal during my time as Division Controller.
Anders Fagerholt
Title: Business Controller
Location: Oslo
Business Unit: Visma SMB Division
Description: As a business controller for the SMB Division I’ll be creating a framework for performance measurement in the division and, in cooperation with others, throughout the Visma Group. The position will focus on technical solution bringing efficiency and insight into the reporting process.
Why this position: As an industrial economist, I always wanted to work in the intersection between technology and IT. The possibility to work with financial reporting with a technological background appeals strongly to me, and the projects lined up for me in the coming season are all really interesting.
Camilla Hjortdam
Title: Business Insights and Performance Manager
Location: Copenhagen
Business Unit: Visma e-conomic AS
Description: My position in e-conomic will involve a wide range of activities centered on business insights, such as delivering operational reports to the company, as well as evaluating the performance of the company activities and propose improvements towards business goals. Thus, by proactively using business insights and business understanding, I will be driving activities that improve operations and value of e-conomic.
Why this position: During my year as Management Trainee, I spent 20% of my time in e-conomic’s Business Insights and Performance team. There, I got to get my hands into operational reporting and working with data. I got to see the impact of delivering quality reports to the company, supporting them in their activities and reaching business goals. Quickly, I realized that a position within business insights would combine the best of both worlds for me: Close interaction with stakeholders in understanding their information and reporting needs, and then supporting these by the use of data and business understanding.
Cecilia Bindslev
Title: Business Improvement Manager
Location: Copenhagen
Business Unit: Visma e-conomic AS
Description: The position will among others involve to challenge internal work processes, scalability and value chain within the organisation and propose improvement initiatives following the company strategy. As well as participate in selected change management processes related to organizational changes, company acquisitions etc.
Why this position: The broad variety of tasks have been one of the most appealing things about this role. And with the prospect of proactively work to identify, initiate and manage relevant projects within different areas, it will almost be like the beautiful life as a management trainee will continue forever.
But most importantly, I will have the chance to collaborate with a wide range of awesome people across the company. And it thrills me to be able to work closely with so many innovative people, that I know will inspire me everyday!
Alexander Artman
Title: Business Improvement Manager
Location: Oslo
Business Unit: Visma Enterprise Division
Description: A position at divisional level with focus on improvement projects and integrating newly acquired companies to the Enterprise division.
Why this position: I’m very fascinated with many of the challenges that comes with a merger, such as integrating two different company cultures, making sure the employees stay happy and finding business areas that can be merged and improved together. Additionally I find it interesting to work at divisional level and be close to where the decisions are made.
David Månsson
Title: Nordic Project Manager
Location: Stockholm
Business Unit: Azets
Description: Market predictions anticipate that (near) future business automations will come through robotics process automation (RPA). Azets, recently bought out of the Visma family, strives to lead RPA initiatives and apply it to their core business deliveries; payroll and accounting. My role will be to actuate that all countries identifies processes for automation, furthermore, guide the organisation to apply robotics in a meaningful way.
Why this position:
I did my first management trainee project at Azets (previously Visma Services) and left with a desire to learn more about automation on a broader geographical scale. Since then, I begun a hunt to fulfill three desires in my future position. 1) Work closely to a strong leader figure. Future David makes business critical decisions centered on information systems. Working near strong leadership exposes appurtenant complexities which I want to learn from. 2) Meeting people. I thrive with people around me, it serves as an important energy pool for me. Chit-chat, networking, jargon, knowledge sharing, all good ingredients in my workplace. 3) Opportunities for development. Learning new things, change and development all have a central place in my heart. The end game for future David may be set, however, the path there will likely take many unpredictable turns.
Michael Håkansson
Title: Corporate CX Manager
Location: Oslo
Business Unit: Visma AS
Description: In Visma, as for any successful technology company, having satisfied and loyal customers is very important for organic growth. As Corporate CX Manager, I will work closely with all companies in the Visma Group to find insights that can be used to increase customer satisfaction and grow the business. I will also help newly acquired companies to get onboard with the Visma-way of working with CX.
Why this position: From an early stage in the Trainee Programme, I knew that I wanted to work over company borders within the Visma Group, and preferably with something related to user experience. Therefore, when I was offered this role within customer experience on a corporate level, I thought “wow, I need to work with this”. And here we are!
Amanda Lindqvist
Title: Mergers & Acquisitions Analyst
Location: Oslo
Business Unit: Visma AS
Description: As an M&A Analyst I will be working directly with one of Visma’s main growth strategies: acquiring companies. Visma acquired 25 companies in 2016 alone, which means that my two M&A colleagues and I won’t have time to sit around on the amazing 9th floor terrace at Skøyen.
Why this position: Working with M&A in Visma is extremely versatile. On one day I might prepare presentations of potential targets to the board, research a certain software market and prepare legal documents for our deals in progress. The next day I might go to a conference in another country, attend negotiations for a future acquisition or contact a potential target. I cannot imagine any other position that would be as interesting for me as this one. It’s a combination of number crunching, market analysis, legal aspects, seeing potential synergies and, last but not least, people and networking. This job makes me think “damn this is cool” which is everything I wished for and more.
Eeva Penttilä
Title: Business Improvement Manager
Location: Stockholm
Business Unit: Visma Enterprise Ab
Description: In the position I will be responsible for establishing, conducting and following up improvement projects. To my tasks will be included:
- Suggesting improvement areas
- Managing strategic projects
- Supporting Enterprise Management work
- Reporting on progress and results
Why this position: There are so many good reasons for why this position. I have found working across several business fields really interesting and that project working is the way I keep myself motivated. I look forward to see results of projects, which have succeeded in developing for example one of our processes or frameworks. The best is that you need to think new and there will always be things that can be made better. I’m also excited to work closely with the Management Team and the steep learning curve this will imply. In other words, this position will be all about challenges and growing – bring it on!
We are all very excited to begin our new positions and continue on our journeys towards new challenges. After a year as Management Trainees, we have grown used to quickly adapting to new people, places and cultures. Further, we have been working close with inspiring leaders, and built the confidence and skill-set necessary to truly believe anything is possible with the right mindset. We are very excited to see what the future brings!