We are hiring, Chief Operating Officer
Swedish and English · Full-time
Aurinkokarhu Oy
Based at Aurinkokarhu Oy, Vassor, Finland · Application deadline 4 September 2026
About Auriko Group
Auriko Energy Group AB is a Nordic company developing battery storage and solar power through its subsidiaries. Our Finnish operation, Aurinkokarhu Oy, currently runs a portfolio of more than 50 projects at various stages of development. The company’s biggest achievement to date is the Tuovila battery storage project (125 MW / 500 MWh) in Korsholm, Finland, which is expected to be operational next year. We are now building an equivalent operation in Sweden through our Swedish development company.
Why this role exists
Aurinkokarhu Oy has proven itself to be a skilled project developer. What the company has not yet done is make that repeatable at substantially higher volume, across three countries. Delivering on that ambition requires reinforcing the management team of Aurinkokarhu Oy, and that is why this role exists.
The COO owns delivery: making sure the portfolio actually moves through its stages, on time, to a consistent standard, with the process written down. You report to the Managing Director of Aurinkokarhu Oy and work actively with the boards of Aurinkokarhu and Auriko.
Beyond keeping high-level oversight of the portfolio pipeline, the COO is expected to contribute to strategic decision-making and to play an active role in establishing the group’s foothold in other Nordic markets, building on the Swedish expansion and preparing the ground for Norway as the next step.
Responsibilities
Portfolio delivery
- Own the operational plan for the full project portfolio: milestones, stage gates, permitting timetables, grid processes, and the critical path on each revenue-carrying project
- Run the permitting and grid-connection workstreams to a predictable cadence
- Introduce and enforce stop/go criteria so that weak projects are discontinued early
Process and platform
- Turn how we work into documented, transferable process IP: playbooks, templates, checklists and standards
- Drive the AI-native operating model together with the team
- Build a single source of truth for project, land and agreement data
Group operations and reporting
- Establish group-level operational and financial reporting to the boards and to our investor, quarterly
- Own development budgets, cost control and supplier management
- Governance, HSE and compliance across the group
Team and expansion
- Recruit, onboard and develop project developers across Finland and Sweden
- Support the Swedish ramp-up operationally, and prepare the operating model for Norwegian market entry
- Get the group’s operations, documentation and data to a standard that stands up to institutional due diligence
What we are looking for
Essential
- A track record in renewable energy, energy infrastructure, grid, construction or industrial project delivery, with real accountability for schedule, cost and outcome, not only advisory work. We read that either as around ten years in the field, or as a substantial volume of projects taken through development or construction (in the order of 1 GW); depth of involvement counts for more than years served
- Demonstrated experience running a portfolio of parallel projects, not single projects in sequence
- A degree in engineering, business or a related field
- Strong Swedish and English. Vassor is in Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia; Finnish is a clear asset
- Willingness to be based in the Vaasa region and to travel in Finland, Sweden and later Norway
- Comfort with data and modern digital tools
Valued
- Experience of BESS, solar PV or wind development in the Nordics, and of Finnish or Swedish permitting and grid connection processes
- Experience of building process and reporting discipline in a company moving from founder-led to institutionally owned
- Exposure to transactions: project sales, due diligence, data rooms
- Board or management team experience in an owner-driven company
What we offer
- A group-level operating mandate with genuine authority, reporting to the Managing Director of Aurinkokarhu Oy and working directly with the boards of Aurinkokarhu and Auriko, including the Chairman
- A competitive base salary and a performance-based incentive package, agreed individually
- A serious platform-building assignment: a real portfolio, real revenue, an international co-owner, and a multi-year institutional growth plan
- A small, senior, low-bureaucracy team, and a workplace in Vassor near Vaasa