The big picture and people behind the numbers

Malin Kirejs Hellbjer CFO

Malin Kirejs Hellbjer has been working with everything that has to do with finances at Spaljisten for a year now. We sat down to hear how her first year in Spaljisten has been and learn more about what excites her in her work and life.

As Chief Financial Officer, Malin Kirejs Hellbjer’s most important task is quality assurance of numbers. That includes having different checkpoints, such as financial statements where the importance is to go through the results for ensuring that the conclusions she presents are reliable to show where Spaljisten stands.

Working in a team of four, they put together reports based on forecasts and calculations. These function as prerequisites for suggesting what to work with in the future and show what already works well. In addition to this, they keep account of the investments in collaboration with the other departments. All this is crucial for making good decisions regarding Spaljisten's future.

With a background as the Finance Manager at a sister company of Spaljisten - KG List, she has a good comprehension of the organization and how all the functions can be utilized in the best way. A year ago, Malin also started as the CFO at Spaljisten and it has been an exciting journey, she says. It has been interesting getting to know a new company and a different industry where Malin has been met with open arms.

What makes Spaljisten an exciting workplace?

- The people! Of course! But also, the journey we now have to take to go from being a company that has a turnover of maybe half a billion to just over a billion, during hopefully a five-year period. And then during that journey also keep in mind that we want to be a prosperous company that earns a profit as well. I think that's fantastic!

Malin is most proud of the willpower that can be found in Spaljisten and thinks that it is crucial to take advantage of what exists in the company. She understands that Spaljisten has an incredibly ambitious journey ahead of it, but that is also what makes it exciting.

- It's really inspiring! When you talk to people here, one can tell that there is a lot in the company and all the employees - there is a lot of commitment, there is a lot of will. We need to benefit from it!

When she's not working, Malin enjoys being in nature and out in the woods running. She used to be a youth coach in badminton and enjoys playing badminton herself. Although she has not managed to get her children to understand the allure of the game and so have they spent their summer on football fields and moved on to hockey arenas for the fall.

Seeing the big picture and finding the best way to take advantage of all the components' properties is something that can describe her hobbies as well. Malin and her partner are enthusiastic about pairing together different foods and wines - trying different combinations and learning which characteristics work together is something they find really interesting. Sometimes we agree with the theory, sometimes we do not agree, but it's fun either way, she says!