There are many ways to grow in Schibsted and sometimes an unexpected opportunity can lead to a career change. This is what happened for Kari Eline Strandjord, Sustainability Manager at Schibsted.
Coming from a broad background filled with both music, programming, product development and building a start-up, Kari Eline Strandjord joined Schibsted back in 2019 as a software engineer. For many years prior, sustainability had become a passion of hers and through the large impact Schibsted as a Nordic family of digital consumer brands has, Kari Eline Strandjord saw her new position as a way forward in making an important impact on both society and the environment.
– I wanted to work with something that has an impact. News media is a very important part of society and I wanted to help develop our digital products in-house, delivering world class journalism, she says.
Unexpected opportunity
Two years down the road, in January 2022, a vacancy opened up in the Sustainability team due to a colleague going on parental leave. Kari Eline Strandjord had just taken part of the yearly Sustainability Changemaker Program in Schibsted and was offered the position as Sustainability Manager at the end of the program.
– I have for a long time wanted to work in the interface of tech and sustainability, and when this role was offered to me I was very excited. To have an environmental perspective is fundamental, and combating the climate crisis is one of the largest challenges of humanity. Schibsted with our digital products and services really has the opportunity to empower people in this transition, Kari Eline Strandjord says.
Creating a strong foundation
Since then Kari Eline Strandjord and the sustainability team have been looking into many different ways for Schibsted to become more sustainable. One of the most important tasks is to see where the different products and services can have the highest impact on society and the environment.
– There are still a lot of unknowns in the field of quantifying societal and environmental impact. In Schibsted we try to take a data-driven and collaborative approach to create more insightful actions. A simple example can be that using a laptop to read our newspapers takes up far more energy than using our smartphone apps, which means that a mobile first methodology is also better for the environment. To build our actions on data is key to knowing if we make a real impact, Kari Eline Strandjord says.
Full disclosure for a better future
To help both end users and co-workers understand Schibsted’s environmental impact, transparency is key. A yearly sustainability report is released, showing hard numbers and clear facts on what is being done for the environment and society and what the ambitions and targets are going forward.
– During the four months I have worked in the Sustainability team I have learned a lot about what we already do and where we want to go. I was lucky to have the opportunity to contribute to this year’s sustainability report. This work really makes me proud of how transparent we are on our impact on society and the environment, making it easily accessible for everyone. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with these topics, Kari Eline Strandjord says.
