Dear future communication colleague,

I say the why of work comes down to meaning and people.

First: Let’s start with meaning – and let’s start with this speech

It’s from November 2021, and by the then Norwegian Minister of Energy, Marte Mjøs Persen. It’s a speech about Norway’s role in the energy transition, yet it doubles as a run-through of Aker Solutions’ contribution towards the path from here to zero. It’s a fairly straight-forward speech, but one that made it clear to me how Aker Solutions’ transformation, pivoting gradually to low-carbon and renewables, mirrors Norway’s challenge and opportunity – and that is a story I am keen to tell.

Now, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has heightened attention around Norway’s role as an oil and gas exporter to Europe – but it remains that while we are supplying the energy we need today, we also need to work to decarbonize the energy system of tomorrow. And when the minister highlighted examples of how Norway is doing just that, I could place Aker Solutions squarely in all of them:

  • Delivering solutions to lower emissions from oil and gas production. Tick.

  • Building on the expertise of the oil and gas industry in new business areas, such as offshore wind. Tick.

  • CCS as a solution to the climate challenge, referring to 20 years of CO2 storage at Sleipner, the Northern Lights project, and using CCS to get carbon neutral cement production. Tick, tick, tick.

  • And finally, she mentioned hydrogen. Tick.

Second: It comes down to people

We all know the phrase: we are building new industrial businesses on the shoulders of existing industrial capabilities. It’s also one I didn’t think twice about until I visited Aker Solutions’ yard at Stord in Norway.

At Stord, my colleague Elisabeth Sætrevik ran me through engineering work on gas installations, how retired oil rigs are recycled, the production of modules for oil and gas development projects, and standing in front of the dry dock she told me about floating concrete foundations for wind turbines and deliveries of converter platforms for offshore wind farms. Same facilities, same people, transferrable insights.

Also, on the flight to Stord that week, I finished reading the book 2070 by climate researcher Bjørn Samset. He includes a passage from Lord of the Rings to draw a parallel to our current crossroads:

“I’ll take the ring,” Frodo said. “Even if I don’t know the way.” And then history is set in motion.

We have made the Paris agreement international law. But we don’t know yet the solutions needed to get us there.

But if you were to join us at Aker Solutions, you’d have thousands of colleagues determined to find these solutions. And that is pretty awe-inspiring. We’re even called Aker Solutions.

Now, the team you’d be joining is truly global and full of people you will love working with. While you will have colleagues in 20+ countries and work with lots of them, your closest colleagues are likely to be the ones in our communication team and we are based in Brazil, India, Norway and the UK. That makes for a pretty fascinating workday and brings the narrative of solving global energy challenges together pretty close to home.

As the minister ended her speech, “Together, we will find solutions.”

We will be part of this transition – so, come help us shape the future and tell these stories internally and externally. The deadlines for applying are all in early August – hope to hear from you!

Kari