My career in Vestas has taken me on a true journey through the wind energy business. Starting out in Blades production, I soon moved on to mastering the Service business, and finally to my current role as a Sales Engineer.

My job is all about following sales opportunities in the Latin American region from business development up to final contract negotiation. I support internal and external stakeholder activity and close deals with the right level of customer satisfaction, acceptable risk and overall quality.

Working in Vestas is exciting as you feel your work has an impact on the company – by creating value for our stakeholders – and on the wind market. I can safely say that I learn new things and improve my skills every day.

What makes me proudest about being a Vestas employee is delivering our high quality projects on time and to the highest standards. The positive feedback we, as a team, often receive from customers is a testament to this and gives me great satisfaction in my everyday work.

Since I joined Vestas in 2008, I have worked with various disciplines in the IT space – project management, infrastructure, application development and outsourcing. As part of my global experience, I was also expatriated to Singapore for 1½ years.  

Vestas is a dynamic enterprise operating in a challenging market, and it’s exactly these dynamics and challenges that make Vestas a great place to work. It all comes down to working with talented colleagues - it is a true privilege to be able to solve business challenges on a daily basis with your Vestas network around the world.   

No matter where you work in the company, you feel close to business. In fact, one of my proudest moments in the company so far was the first time I visited a factory and climbed a turbine. It helped me understand the true scale of the turbines and how many engineering skills are needed to design, build, erect and service them. 

Although I only officially joined Vestas in 2007, I had worked with Vestas turbines in previous companies for 10 years as a Service Engineer and Service Team Leader. In fact, having raised an customer issue with Vestas' (NEG Micon) service team, I was subsequently granted the opportunity to take care of gearbox maintenance in NEG Micon, which would later become Vestas.

I soon became involved with our core management and execution team to redefine the way we repair gearboxes, from the traditional method of lowering down the gearbox from the turbine, to in situ “up-tower” repairs. This both reduced cost and improved the quality of our service operations.

One of my greatest achievements was the introduction of periodical gearbox inspections, eventually allowing for more efficient servicing of this component, and saving money for both Vestas and our customers by eliminating unnecessary turbine stoppages. Since then, Vestas has recognised our capabilities and my team has been awarded many other rework processes.

I am so happy to have been given the opportunity to continue my career with Vestas, and I look forward to leading more improvements in future.

The basic fact that Vestas products make the world a better place to live in is really important. My children are proud that their father works in the renewable energy industry.

Vestas culture is extraordinary in terms of commitment, and people are genuinely proud of working for us. In Service Nordic, I feel that we accomplish so much and our customers show their appreciation. It pays off to be loyal to customers and it pays off to work together as a team. As a manager I feel a responsibility to give energy to the organisation and make my teams go the extra mile, not by working more but working smarter.

I’m very proud of my contribution to Service Sweden’s visual management: Entering service in Vestas, I immediately identified the lack of focus on stopped turbines. I started introducing the basic principle of conducting a daily cross-functional status meeting. The simple logic is that everyone knows the numbers of the day. Now, this information is available digitally and team leaders can share the information, even if they are on site. In fact, Vestas' President of Northern Europe now displays this information via TV monitors as a best practice example.

I started as Assistant Site Manager in Tiverton, Ontario, Canada as the 115-turbine Saugeen Shores project was entering the construction phase. During this time I also worked at the Murdochville, Quebec V80 site as temporary Site Manager. In July 2008, the Ontario Site Manager relocated to Portland, Oregon and I became Site Manager for Service in Ontario and Quebec.

Vestas places employee safety before any other priority and demonstrates this approach in everything that they do. We also place our customers' success at the forefront of our actions as we understand that the outcome for the customer and their projects depends on the foundation and attention they receive from Vestas. We always keep in mind that strong customer relationships mean future opportunities for our area. Our Vestas values do not stop at the end of the work day though - Vestas also encourages us to participate in community projects which champion the environment and general quality of life in all communities that we influence.    

I have worked in Vestas as an Installation Supervisor since 2011. I initially worked with an area called Balance of Plant (BOP) which focuses on the civil works, foundations, roads, substations and transmission line that a wind power plant may require. After my first project, the Installation team took me on as a Turbine Installation Supervisor. I took training courses in Spain, Chile and Brazil to bring me up to speed, and by the time my second project came around, I was ready to supervise the installation of 28 V100 1.8-MW turbines, gaining useful site experience from colleagues along the way.

I am now on my third project in Vestas as a trainee Site Manager, and with almost 30 V100 1.8-MW turbines installed, I can safely say that everyday I gain new experiences and take on new roles and responsibilities which help me focus on my main goal.

I understand my work in Vestas as a healthy mix of quality, safety, and procedures. On site we try to recognise positive rather than negative achievements and we try to motivate our workers to better themselves every week. Timeliness and coordination of tasks together with strong leadership are also definitely key assets to have when working with the site team and subcontractors. 

During my time at Vestas, I have worked on various sites throughout Canada. I began my adventure  as a technician on Prince Edward Island, but have also worked on projects in Newfoundland and New Brunswick for two years each. Two years ago, I moved back to Prince Edward Island, but this time, as a manager.

The wind industry is continuously evolving. Indeed, when I started out, a safety culture existed, but it has significantly evolved since then. To keep ahead of the game, managers and technicians have to be flexible and proactive when it comes to change. Individuals must always be thinking of safer, more cost effective ways to do tasks they have been performing for years. We can’t become stagnant or the Industry will pass by us to a point where we become ineffective.

I am most proud when I see my teams performing their best with high morale. I enjoy when we work to successfully accomplish goals with other Vestas employees at the other end of North America, Europe and further afield. Success, especially on smaller sites, is more easily achieved through teamwork and knowing the strengths of your employees.

I joined Vestas in 2001 in Skjern, Denmark where I repaired various types of blades from the smallest two and one-half-metre models to the largest at that time of 32 metres. In 2007, I switched to the production of V90 44-metre blades in Lem, and in 2010, I took on the challenge of working with the V112, the industry's latest technology.

In 2011, I saw my dream come true when I was assigned as guide of the Lem factory. It is with great pleasure and pride that I show  interested visitors around on the factory, telling them about Vestas’ history and its products. In April 2013, I fulfilled a second ambition when I was elected full-time safety representative. For me safety comes above all else. We must never compromise on it.

Overall, my job presents me with a lot of challenges and I look forward to going to work each day.  Because of my colleagues, the challenges, and the people I meet, I am proud to call myself a part of Vestas.

Vestas has been a significant part of my life since 1992 when I started out as a Construction Project Manager in the UK and Ireland and set up the local sourcing, hub and nacelle assembly, site construction and service and maintenance organisation in India. Since then, I have traveled and worked on setting up and managing Vestas facilities around the world, from Italy to Denmark, and Germany to the USA. More recently, I have also been involved with local content projects.

Over the years, Vestas has matured from a very individual performance driven organisation to a more business procedure driven organisation. In my daily work, I too strive to approach all my tasks from a “best-for-the-business” perspective. I find it truly encouraging that I can challenge both the team members reporting to me, my peers and my managers without this being taken as undue criticism.

The globalisation of the company has had a significant impact on our culture. In the past everything was driven out of Denmark with a distinct North European approach to problems and solutions. Today, with most business departments being represented globally and many employees working outside their countries of origin, the working culture has become much more international and yet still retained some of its Northern European flavour. In fact, I think my proudest moment would be from back in 2010, when I completed the hub and nacelle assembly factory in Brighton, Colorado and handed it over to the factory manager and his organisation. It was like experiencing your child graduate and venture into the world. 

On my way to work in the morning, I usually think about my day at Vestas, and I often come to the conclusion that working in Vestas means having great possibilities, from both a professional as well as a personal perspective. I truly value being part of an organisation that takes care of workplace ethics and conduct, whilst at the same time allowing me opportunities to grow and learn.

My daily commitment is to oversee continuous improvement in our manufacturing operations processes. This is a challenging yet incredibly interesting task that puts you at the heart of operational issues and engages you in the reality of Vestas' business.

My proudest moment was undoubtedly in 2012, when our factory in Taranto reached the 365-day milestone without injuries. This shows me that, in Vestas, we can achieve great results by acting together as a highly-committed team.