Magdalena Åkesson

Magdalena studied Development Engineering at University of Halmstad in Sweden and has a Bachelor of Economics and Marketing from the Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law. She began her career as a project manager for an innovation consultancy before joining the energy industry in 2009 as a Development Engineer at the Ringhals nuclear power plant in Sweden.

“I joined the nuclear industry at 27 at a time when most of the plant employees were male, much older and had a huge amount of experience! I had also had responsibility for a very large investment programme so it was a steep learning curve, but working alongside the operators and maintenance engineers in the plant quickly helped build my understanding.

My career has progressed rapidly since although I never really set out with a particular path in mind. I have been lucky to have had really good managers who have given me opportunities to progress and encouraged me to take part in talent management programmes. I think you have to have trust when someone sees potential in you that you perhaps don’t see in yourself.

I also didn’t think I would be a good manager but being appointed as a Program Manager for the large safety modernization program made me realized I loved developing people and handling difficult situations and that role really gave me the tools and the insight needed for my career since.

Speaker Details
  • Profession

    Vice President of Business Unit Fuel, Engineering & Projects

  • Company

    Vattenfall AB

  • Country

    Sweden

Interview