Katja Pekkanen to lead the Are Projects function
Published 2 November 2020
Katja Pekkanen will start as the Director for the Projects function and a member of the Are Management Group on 18 January 2021. Katja’s diverse and strong experience in both projects and business management create an excellent basis for developing the projects business together with Are employees.
Before joining Are, Pekkanen worked at NRC Group Finland Oy (formerly known as VR Track Oy) as Vice President, Maintenance, and a member of the management group. She has extensive experience in both construction and maintenance projects. In addition to managing the line organisation, she worked as a Project Director in a large-scale alliance project. Katja has two academic degrees: Master of Science in Technology and Master of Arts.
“During my career, I have worked in a range of roles in projects related to the construction and maintenance of track and rail infrastructure. Projects are at the core of Are’s business, which means that the aim of all development work is to enable more streamlined and productive projects. I believe that I have fresh ideas on how to develop the Projects function. Of course, I want to start by gaining an understanding of how projects are managed at Are at the moment,” Katja says.
The appointment of Katja Pekkanen supports the targets Are has set for its next strategic period in the areas of project business development and shared operating models across Finland and Sweden.
“Making the Projects matrix support our business is a strategically important step for us. Katja has extensive business skills and the ability to lead people to adopt new procedures. I think we can achieve great results together by combining the Projects matrix with Katja’s strong profile and her project development and Sensus skills and the business project expertise available at Are,” Heikki Pesu, CEO at Are says.
