Meet our purchaser Magnus

The KONGSBERG patriot

Magnus is looking forward to playing football with the K for Kongsberg on his chest again. He is about to complete five years of economic studies in Trondheim, and has already secured a permanent job in his home town. In June, he will commence the position as an operational purchaser within missile systems at Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

“Most of all, I’m looking forward to finishing school and getting started with something that is useful for more people than myself,” says the 24-year-old.

And not least, he is looking forward to moving back to his hometown, which he loves so much. Here he has both family and friends, he can play golf and most importantly; he can play football for the club closest to his heart, the local football team Kongsberg Idrettsforening (KIF). At the moment, he is exercising hard to be admitted a return to the A-team, where he has played for many years.

“I can't let down a club that is struggling,” he says and smiles.Magnus with KIF shirt

In his first three years in Trondheim, Magnus studied economics and investment analysis. Now he is working on a Master's thesis focusing on Business Analytics, mainly concerning analytical subjects looking at the big data, with a bit of finance on the side.

“I gained a lot of trust and think it was cool to be part of a large company, learn a lot and get to know new people. The working environment there was absolutely fantastic.”

Attractive summer job
Magnus has always imagined that he will be working at KONGSBERG when the time is right. After working four summers at a grocery store in Trondheim, he decided to make the most of his last summer vacation during his studies; go home, try something new and establish contacts with a view to future job opportunities. That turned out to be a wise decision.

The summer job he was offered within Supply Chain at Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace became a stepping stone into permanent employment. During six weeks, he had the opportunity to get to know the company, the department, the people and the tasks, and at the same time practice the theoretical knowledge from his studies.

The work he did covered an actual need. Magnus was given responsibility for collecting basic data to increase the data quality related to export control when receiving goods for storage. The main task was to put fundamentally important information into the system, and the work he did is today part of the purchasing tasks.

“It was very exciting. I saw how important both export control and purchasing are for everything to go smoothly. The purchasers are the first step in the entire production process, and form the basis for everything that happens afterwards, and I like to know that my work is valuable for others,” says Magnus.

Although the main task as a summer student was related to export control, he also worked closely with the purchasers and gained a good insight into the fast-paced everyday life of a purchaser and saw how important it is that all necessary papers and documentation are in place.

Purchasing job next

In his role as an operational purchaser, he will be responsible for ordering material to support the production of missiles. He must ensure that what is delivered is in accordance with the agreement, both with regards to quantity, price and quality. He will also continue the work he did as a summer student, as this now is a part of the purchasers work.

Magnus is an outgoing type who gets energy when he’s surrounded by people. This exact personal attribute will be useful working as a purchaser, where the building of relationships is important.

“I genuinely like to get to know new people and to be in contact with people in general, and as I understand it, this will fit well as I will be working with several different professional environments and be the main contact for several suppliers,” he says.

The working environment he will be a part of consists of a good mix between experienced senior purchasers, and some younger, newly hired. The combination is not accidental, but established to exploit the advantages of both experience and fresh theoretical competence.

“It seemed like a very motivated and outgoing group, and a good composition of people which I think will suit me very well. It seems like a group of colleagues you can joke around with, and that's important,” he says with a sly smile.

Magnus will also have the opportunity to become part of the Young@KDA network, which is an offer for young employees who wants to get to know more people at their own age, across divisions and departments. It is a popular initiative, where employees under the age of 35 regularly gather for various social events. And even though Magnus already has a network in the city, he doesn't want to miss the opportunity to get to know even more people.

“In order to maintain a safe society, we are dependent on having a defence. Contributing to that, and at the same time taking part in innovation and technological development of defence products feels exciting and rewarding.”

“He was an environmental creator who challenged us socially in a positive way, showed initiative and did a very good job. He was undoubtedly a resource we wanted to be a part of our company.”
Ida Margrethe Ullern (former Operational Procurement Manager)

Kongsberg patriot in a double sense
Being new to the job market, there are three things that stands out as most important for Magnus; a safe workplace, a good working environment and development opportunities. Now he knows that Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace checks off all three.

“I have always known that a job at KONGSBERG means a safe workplace and that there are endless opportunities to take on new challenges and to develop in such a large company. Now I also know that the working environment is great, so I'm really looking forward to coming back and getting to know even more people,” says Magnus.

As a true Kongsberg patriot, he happily tells his fellow students why they should do like him and apply for a job at KONGSBERG.

“To most of the people I talk to, it’s probably the amount of possibilities that are the most attractive, in addition to the working environment. I also tell them that Kongsberg is a great city - not too big, but not too small either, and with a lot to offer both summer and winter,” he says. “And although you may not be able to boast that the nightlife is on par with the big cities around the country, it is very easy to know where to go to meet nice people,” Magnus says with a smile.

Hopefully he manages to convince someone to move southwards with him. In Kongsberg there is room for both more citizens and more purchasers, to name a few.

“We have positive experience from recruiting former summer students. They gain a completely different knowledge and insight into what it means to work with the tasks they are studying, and it gives both parties a real opportunity to see how it works in practice.”
Dag Espen Tegdal (Operational Procurement Manager)

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