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Interviews with our employees

How is it to work at Schaeffler? What do you do, how do you develop and what are the benefits? Schaeffler Nordics HR manager, Sara Sjödell, had a talk with Teemu Kiijärvi, Product manager for Optime Digital Service at Industrial IoT Solution Center in Jyväskylä and Rauli Kallinen, Quality assurance Lead also at Industrial IoT Solution Center in Jyväskylä, to get some insights and a better understanding.

Teemu Kiijärvi - Product manager for Optime Digital Service at Industrial IoT Solution Center in Jyväskylä

When and why did you join Schaeffler?

I joined 2019 so I am years three years with the company now. The reason for me joining was that I found the combination of a big industrial organization and their transformation into digital domain very interesting. Naturally the product (Optime) was also very interesting and a change for an industry. I also knew some of the current employees that recommended me to apply to Schaeffler.

What is your role and work tasks within Schaeffler?

I am Product manager for Optime Digital service - Web and mobile application. My main work tasks are related to understanding how to keep my product and it’s features competitive and answering to customer needs. This is done in collaboration with customers and our country- and sales organizations. This together with conveying this feedback into requirements and releases is the main target of my work.

Can you describe the product you are working with?

OPTIME from Schaeffler allows comprehensive condition monitoring that is both easy and affordable. Thanks to its simple plug & play installation, OPTIME allows companies to start monitoring and lubricating hundreds of rotating machines in just a few hours. At the heart of OPTIME is the digital service that brings all the information and data from all the devices into one central simple and easy to use interface for our customers.

What has been your main learnings within the company?

It has been a great opportunity to learn a new industry and the industrial customer segment and to combine traditional large scale industrial corporate strengths and scale with agile and fast product development. But also, how to combine cross cultural teams and how to find solutions across regions and Europe.

The pandemic was a challenge. We solved it by a lot of interaction and communication, and it worked out well. This has strengthened my understanding that “there can never be too much communication” even more than before.

As a product manager I naturally always work together with Sales and in Schaeffler that has also plays an important role. Luckily, and despite the pandemic, I had the opportunity to travel with Sales to meet Customers. To be a part of the whole process from developing the product to customer visit is really the essence of Product manager work.

What has been your main contributions within Schaeffler?

I believe keeping the product developing moving forward through constant improvements.

How has your professional skills developed within your time in the company?

Mainly the large-scale development of end-to-end solutions. This is a unique opportunity, and I had a chance to learn a lot during the journey.

How do you find the cooperation within- and between the teams?

We have a very good collaboration in and between the teams and between key development sites and I think all feel that this new product and approach has brought great opportunities for teamwork. I can travel, and I am visiting colleagues in other countries regularly which is good for the collaboration and for creating a winning product. I travel to Germany about once per month. We also do get visits to Jyväskylä from colleagues in other countries.

Do Schaeffler allow a balance between work- and private time?

For me it is very important to stay healthy that I can manage my own time. I have the opportunity to work from home when I need. Schaeffler is a modern employer and is focusing on result rather than tracking time.

What do you think is the most important factor for that you feel motivated at work?

It is important that we keep moving forward with the development and innovation and the possibility to work on a global market with the product. It is also important with good support from leadership within Schaeffler. I also enjoy the time with my colleagues, we have a good spirit even when there are challenges.

Can you recommend Schaeffler as a great place to work and if so, why?

Schaeffler is a global organization that is taking the digital transformation seriously and there is support from highest management which is an important factor to succeed. Working in a global company gives you the possibility to work with different markets and to experience different cultures, so this is great.

Do you have career opportunities within Schaeffler?

Yes, there are plenty of opportunities in the organization as it is a global organization, and this is something I appreciate as an employee. To have the opportunity to change roles or location is very important for my personal growth.

What do you want to accomplish in your future professional career within Schaeffler?

I want to keep scaling the digital service further and have a clear wider business impact. I also want to show that we can work in small, motivated teams between sites and accomplish great success when working with agile methods.


Rauli Kallinen - Quality assurance Lead at Industrial IoT Solution Center in Jyväskylä

When and why did you join Schaeffler?

I joined in August 2021 and the main reason was that I was interested in working with a specific product. It is great business potential in the IoT (Internet of things), and this was what was attracting me to apply the role. I wanted to work with benefit of customer and see concrete result and I was interested at working with how hardware and software collaborate since I have a background in software. As an educational background I have a Master of Engineering and I have worked with software R&D lifecycle all my professional life.

What is your role and work tasks within Schaeffler?

I am Quality assurance lead, which means that I am leading the Q & A team that verifies and tests that that the IoT Solution is meeting the requirements. We try to always iterate the most suitable requirement from customers and how they want the delivery and result. Our team tries to provide quality status before release.

What has been your main learnings within the company?

We need to be fast in our moves and understand how to build requirements that are needed from customer. We also need to have good discussion in the IoT solution team all the way from product management team to employees. This has been a good learning also for me.

What has been your and your team's main contributions within Schaeffler?

We in the team are working to secure quality and try to lift every finding and issue to be able to improve for the customer. At the same time, we are building trackability and visibility. We have done good improvement during the year that I have worked within the company.

How has your professional skills developed within your time in the company?

I have worked in Software over 20 years really close to customer and in different kind of roles. I can benefit from my experience from the technical customer perspective. I have also learned a lot by internal information sharing sessions, this has contributed to the teams and my own knowledge building.

How do you find the cooperation within- and between the teams?

We have an open atmosphere and dialogue to share opinions, so it works fine. It is a smooth cooperation without hierarchy and without artificial protocol. Within the testing team we try to endorse an open atmosphere and trying to communicate. Collaboration is very good in the IoT team.

Do Schaeffler allow a balance between work- and private time?

I am able to balance my hobbies with help of the flexible working hours. I like to play floor ball and do cycling, and I can reserve time for this. The company is respecting of out of office hours. We also get an incentive that only can be used for wellness and health activities. I have three children at home, so for me it is important to work in a company that are fine with flexibility.

What do you think is the most important factor for that you feel motivated at work?

I believe it is the sense of doing important things and the possibility to learn new things. I also like an atmosphere at the workplace where people feel valued and taken care of.

Can you recommend Schaeffler as a great place to work and if so, why?

Yes, I can recommend Schaeffler. It is an interesting field with a lot of possibilities to build knowledge in interesting areas. The site in Jyväskylä has a very good collaboration between the colleagues and also a very supportive atmosphere.

Do you have career opportunities within Schaeffler?

Yes, I think so. Schaeffler is positive for employees to be promoted. We have an international atmosphere, frequent collaboration together with German and Swedish colleagues, so there are possibilities.

We thank Teemu and Rauli for their valuable input and we hope that this might encourage other relevant candidates to find interest in our company and maybe even become one of our colleagues in the future.

Apply now and become part of the Schaeffler team.

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