Katja Tarvainen, Operations Supervisor

Operations supervisor Katja Tarvainen is in charge of the execution and quality assurance of forest management work in her own field of operation within Metsä Group’s Kuopio supply district. Uncompromising know-how and good cooperation are essential for wood supply.

“Our entire wood supply organisation works together to provide first-rate service to forest owners and supply wood to the mills. I’m proud to be able to work with such skilled professionals. My colleagues have built long and diverse careers in the forest industry through job rotation, for example.”

Speaking for sustainable forest management

After graduating as a forestry engineer in 2005, Katja immediately assumed the duties of a purchasing supervisor.

“Metsä Group’s Finnish origins and content caught my attention. It’s great to work for a Finnish company that also invests in Finland!” Katja says.

Katja’s current duties as operations supervisor for forest management call for a responsible and systematic approach, as well as flexibility. She describes herself as a fair and open co-worker, who encourages forest management entrepreneurs to take responsibility but also provides them with clear guidelines for their work.

“I’m responsible for the execution of forest management work in my own purchasing team, as well as for the related resourcing. What this means in practice is providing instructions for forest management entrepreneurs, monitoring schedules and the quality of work, as well as seeing to safety at work. While a systematic approach is essential in forest management, you must also be able to react to changes, for example in environmental conditions,” Katja explains.

We see to the diversity and ecological sustainability of forests.

Katja is inspired by the broad scope of forest management. In her work, she comes across new things almost daily. To keep her finger on the pulse in forestry, Katja acquires information online and by reading publications in the field, as well as by discussing topics with her co-workers and by attending training. Katja is inspired by her work, which provides a good match with her own values.

“We see to the diversity and ecological sustainability of forests by increasing the area of protective thickets and by leaving high stumps in place during felling, for example. Forests are dear to me – they’re a big part of my daily work, but also a place where I spend leisure time – hiking, for example. I want the imprint we make on the forest to be of as high a quality as possible,” Katja says.

Cooperation is power

Katja’s job is to put the promises made to the customer into practice. She relies on cooperation as her main tool – Katja plans and schedules tasks with forest specialists, forest asset managers, harvesting supervisors and forest management entrepreneurs. In her opinion, mutual trust among all the parties is a must. Katja is herself a forest owner and is fully aware of the importance of keeping to agreements.

“We stand out from our competitors by offering comprehensive and reliable top-quality service to our customers, irrespective of the communication channel. We continuously develop our services and systems. One of the things I appreciate at Metsä is that the company listens to its personnel, and our ideas are taken into account when carrying out development projects,” says Katja.