Sandra Rackauskiene joined Outokumpu as a Senior Accountant when the company arrived in Lithuania in August 2016. “I was among the first twenty staff,” she recalls. “I wanted to work in a service center that was starting off from scratch and what also intrigued me was a company that was new to the country.” One year later, she advanced to her current position. “I am very excited to work at Outokumpu and in this role.”
Supporting the whole European business
The Global Business Services Center in Vilnius is a centralized service hub to support Outokumpu’s operations in Europe. With a staff of 100 employees, the center focuses on realizing the company’s efficiency improvement measures and harmonizing business processes. The Vilnius center serves internal customers across the business area. In her role, Sandra communicates daily with teams worldwide, which requires good collaboration and networking skills. She acknowledges to fully enjoying the multicultural dimension of her job. “The company and the work environment are very dynamic.”
Sandra plays an important role in Outokumpu’s ongoing business transformation program, aimed at harmonizing the company’s business processes and systems worldwide. “This will result in better management of resources and also cost savings,” she explains. Sandra is working to ensure General Ledger processes are efficient and compliant. “It’s about finding common best practices for the whole company.”
Deepening insights about the business
Since she joined Outokumpu, Sandra has developed an eye for stainless steel and notices it in her daily life. “When I see something made of steel, I can’t help but thinking there’s good chance it’s been made from Outokumpu stainless.”
Sandra enjoys visiting the company’s production facilities and seeing how stainless is made. “For accounting professionals, production companies are interesting because their processes are so complex. All the pieces of the puzzle, meaning input from all operational units behind those processes, have to be reflected in the books.”
Working in this type of a challenging environment is Sandra’s main motivation. “I get a lot of valuable experiences working with people who are of great inspiration to me.” They help her expand her knowledge of accounting and finance but also of Outokumpu as a company. “I learn something new every day, which is very motivating.”
She says Outokumpu offers plenty of opportunities for professional development. “I know I can continue to grow within the company — I have a feeling that Outokumpu will be able to offer me new challenges for a long time.”
Biography: Sandra Rackauskiene, General Ledger Process Owner, has been with Outokumpu since August 2016. She holds a bachelor’s degree in financial management and a master’s in accounting and audit. In her free time, she enjoys going to the theatre, reading and learning about mindfulness and self-development.