Explore and follow profiles from this article to get timely updates:
Finnish energy and infrastructure company Enersense is handing its finances to someone who already knows where everything is buried.
Today Jan-Elof Cavander officially stepped into the CFO role after less than a year on the company’s board. The move is unusual in Finnish listed companies, where directors rarely cross directly into executive management unless ownership wants continuity and close control during a critical phase.
That appears to be exactly the case at Enersense.
Cavander arrives with a background built around financially demanding businesses. Before joining Enersense’s board in August 2025, he served as CFO at Purmo Group and Rapala VMC, overseeing international operations, investor communication, and balance sheet discipline. Most recently, he worked as COO at Virala Oy Ab, the parent company of Nidoco AB, one of Enersense’s largest shareholders.
The ownership connection is notable. Both Cavander and Chair Anders Dahlblom work at Virala, giving Enersense’s largest owner strong influence over both strategy and financial execution at a time when the company is shifting from restructuring to growth.
And the restructuring phase has been significant.
From turnaround to growth
Outgoing CFO Jyrki Paappa leaves behind a much stronger balance sheet than the one he inherited in 2024. By the end of Q1 2026, Enersense had improved its equity ratio to 34.8% while cutting net gearing to 36.8%, following divestments, refinancing measures, and a tighter strategic focus.
Now the company is turning outward again.
Just a day before Cavander officially started, Enersense raised its long-term growth target and sharpened its focus on electrification and data centers. The company’s order book climbed to a record EUR 413 million, driven by growing demand for grid infrastructure and energy-related projects across the Nordics.
For the new CFO, that creates a different kind of challenge.
The turnaround years were about stabilizing the company. The next phase is about turning a growing order book into profitable and cash-generative growth while managing long project cycles, supply chain delays, and working capital pressure.
The first real test
Cavander enters the role with one major advantage: he already knows the system from the inside. During his time on the board, he sat on Enersense’s Audit Committee and reviewed the same reporting structures and controls he now oversees operationally.
The first major checkpoint comes in August, when Enersense publishes its Half Year Financial Report, the first set of results formally signed off by Cavander as CFO.
Investors will be watching for one thing above all: whether Enersense’s record order book is finally starting to translate into stronger margins and sustained growth.
Follow moves like this on the Listeds Executive Intelligence Platform.
Other top stories to read next
Stay on the pulse, catch the signals
Subscribe to Listeds Leadership Intelligence Platform:
leader and company database access
email alerts
career, boards and interim opportunities