Proxion, Finnish planning and expert organisation in rail traffic and infrastructure, to set up a subsidiary in Tallinn

The Finnish company Proxion—which provides railway infrastructure planning, digital and training services—is expanding its operations to Estonia. The company’s headquarters are in Helsinki,

Timo Savolainen, CEO

with other offices currently located in Kuopio, Oulu, Tampere, Mikkeli and Pieksämäki. Proxion is now looking for a CEO for the subsidiary to be located in Tallinn.

Demanding private and public rail infrastructure projects are a part of Proxion’s core competence. The goal is to build an expert organisation in Estonia that Proxion can use to access, through the Baltic countries, the Europe-wide rail traffic projects.

“The first task of the CEO of Estonian operations will be to recruit 20 experts and build an expert organisation with Proxion’s support. They must also draft a long-term strategy and action plan to expand the operations through Baltic projects to the rest of Europe. Furthermore, the CEO will actively participate in the development of all of Proxion’s operations as a member of the management team,” says CEO Timo Savolainen.

Proxion aims to make doubling the amount of railway traffic in Finland possible. The same objective applies to Estonia. Our strong competence in railway infrastructure design and open-minded development projects are our assets.

“Green values are a strong influence in the background of our operations. We focus on promoting the utilisation of the full potential of rail traffic. We want to be bold and make new opening moves to develop all rail traffic. Our success depends on the competence of our experts and, therefore, the significance of a well-functioning team is also crucial in Estonia,” says Petri Puikkonen, the founder of Proxion and the Chairman of the Board.

Expansion into Estonia based on extensive assessment

Jussi Nieminen, Baltic Area Manager

Expansion into Estonia is a reasonable step. Establishing a subsidiary is based on comprehensive assessment work: the extensive signalling system designing project realised for Eesti Raudtee in 2019–2020. The 20-person-strong project team was led by Jussi Nieminen, Baltic Area Manager at Proxion.

“The project covered almost the entire Estonian rail network, including the stations. Eesti Raudtee used the initial design successfully in its

At the moment in the Baltic area, there are large railway projects underway that will connect to larger, Europe-wide rail network reforms,” Petri Puikkonen.

“We want to be at the frontline of developing Estonian and Baltic railway culture and, in that way, systematically advance to the European market. We will assemble a design team consisting of leading experts in Estonia and, with the new CEO’s guidance, the team will participate in Europe-wide projects.”

Proxion’s working culture is being developed in Estonia and digital competence is being enhanced

In 15 years, Proxion has grown into an expert company employing over one hundred professionals. Growth is based on skilled persons who are enthusiastic about their jobs and dare to think outside the box.

“In a certain sense, we have achieved critical mass. Which means that we employ so many different kinds of experts that we are always creating something new. The number of skilled persons guarantees innovations and bold initiatives. It is very important to us that we can transfer our ways of acting and thinking to Estonia. Of course, we also want to learn about a new kind of working culture from our Estonian colleagues,” says CEO Timo Savolainen.

Each of the new Proxion employees will be appointed a mentor who has been with the company for a longer time. The mentor will help in work duties and internalising the working culture. “Learning always goes both ways – therefore, the expansion into Estonia will also be used to develop Proxion’s way of working,” says Puikkonen, Chairman of the Board.

“In Estonia, there is strong political will to digitalise common services. This can also mean that we will focus more strongly on the development and productisation of digital business and software operations. Cooperation with Estonian educational institutions will have a significant role, just as in Finland. I am excited to see what both sides can learn along the way.”

Proxion operates like a family company in the sense that we always try to get rid of unnecessary hierarchy and bureaucracy. It is crucial that you can ask anyone for help or ideas. The management, from the CEO to the Chairman of the Board, participate in the daily activities, the same as everyone else.

“Petri is a visionary who, with his fearless attitude, encourages us to keep on going. And you can always call Timo and ask about something with a low threshold. They are a great pair to guide us forward,” Jussi Nieminen says.

Join us as CEO or rail industry expert at Proxion’s Estonia office

We are currently looking for a bold and visionary CEO for the Estonian office. The work starts immediately at the beginning of 2021. The CEO of the Estonia office will be supported by a team that includes Human resources and PR Manager Pia Haavisto, Baltic Area Manager Jussi Nieminen, and Business Director of Planning Mikko Saarinen.

“If you feel that your mission is to develop the rail traffic of all Europe through the Baltic countries, read carefully through the job advertisement for the position of CEO for Estonian operations and then act accordingly,” says Proxion CEO Timo Savolainen.

We are also compiling a database on Estonian experts who are the veterans and thinkers in the industry. Read more about our working culture and how we look after our personnel’s well-being in an innovative work community.

“If you are interested in working and developing into a top expert in the rail industry, read more about our working culture and current vacancies. After that, enter your information in the experts database. As the new CEO starts their work, they will primarily contact all the persons in the experts database. When you add your application to the experts database, you ensure that you will be among the first people to work at Proxion,” says Timo Savolainen.