"I was welcomed from day one," says Jacob Illeris. "Finns are open-minded, no-nonsense people. Having managed people from 30 different nationalities, I truly appreciate that."
A Nordic career with global adventures
Jacob Illeris began his Veolia career in his home country Denmark, leading and managing drinking water and wastewater projects first locally and then across Europe. After participating in a Veolia executive programme, Paris HQ offered him the chance to take on a major assignment in the Middle East. Illeris and his family welcomed the adventure.
The Illeris’ lived in Dubai, where Jacob was the CEO of a wastewater concession held by Veolia.
“Six years in Dubai was a very rewarding experience. Setting up everything from scratch in the Middle East came with many unexpected challenges. It also turned out to be a great family experience,” Illeris recalls.
Following his assignment in the Middle East, Illeris was based in Stockholm where he led Veolia’s Nordic water business followed by a job as Business Development Director for the Energy, Water and Waste activities in the Nordic Countries before returning to Copenhagen. In early 2024, Veolia made a strategic decision to develop and grow its businesses in Finland, and Illeris was asked to lead the Finnish operations.
"I had been developing projects in Finland since 2017 and believed that Finland was a country with a huge potential for further development."
Fostering a culture of growth
During his first year as Managing Director in Finland, Illeris has focused on familiarising himself with the people and understanding how the organisation works. He sees his first task as fostering a growth-oriented culture across Veolia Finland.
"The strategic question is how can we make growth happen? It is not so much about changing the organisation but about the mindset and putting the right questions in front of us every day: how can we collaborate better and how can I contribute?"
For Illeris, integrating Finland more closely with Veolia's global strategy is key. Growth, he says, must align with the company’s GreenUp strategy, which focuses on decarbonization, circular economy solutions and sustainable resource management.
"Customers trust us to deliver best in class services, which they cannot live without for even one hour. Our customers really trust us. Managing such complex operations requires a high level of technical knowledge and expertise. We have the unique knowledge and experience to support our large industrial customers to decarbonise and reduce their water footprint,” Illeris stresses.
World-class projects with global significance
Veolia Finland’s operations are far from ordinary. The country hosts projects that are exceptional even by global standards. One example is Veolia’s partnership with companies like Neste and Borealis in Kilpilahti – or Boliden and Nornickel in Harjavalta, where Veolia through its subsidiary STEP supplies critical services to major industrial clients.
Another flagship project is the biorefinery developed together with Metsä Fibre in Äänekoski. Having started operations in 2025, it is the world’s largest facility producing biomethanol from pulp mill sidestreams.
"In Äänekoski Veolia developed a unique concept to take waste products and turn them into a biochemical with very low emissions."
Finnish expertise meets global strategy
Jacob Illeris sees Finland as a perfect platform to combine Veolia's global capabilities with local excellence:
"For example, the new Kilpilahti power plant was a merger of Finnish engineering skills and global Veolia concepts. The same applies to the biorefinery in Äänekoski. This is how Veolia operates: our business is always glocal: global and local."
Veolia Finland's service offering for process industries is truly unique, even within Veolia.
"We have the ability to manage assets worth billions of euros in a reliable way. It is quite unusual for industries to outsource the supply of critical utilities. We have both the technical and operational skills as well as the track record to deliver.”
"Our goal is not only to grow our business in Finland, but also to use our experience here to help renew Veolia’s operations in the other Nordic countries," Illeris explains.
Shared Nordic values
Looking back at his extensive and versatile journey with Veolia, Illeris feels grateful and humbled by the opportunities he has been offered and the challenges he has been able to overcome:
"It’s been an incredible journey. I had no idea it would turn out that way," Illeris says, smiling.
Living in Copenhagen and regularly travelling to Finland, Illeris has quickly adapted to the Finnish straightforward, pragmatic culture. Apart from the language, Finland is like any other Nordic country with a strong connection to nature and shared Nordic values.
"We are in a good position to grow in Finland and beyond. We should stop more often to reflect on what we have achieved and be proud of it. And the Finnish sisu — that determination and resilience — is a real thing."