Senior coordinator Anna Mustajoki: ‘Code for green!’ — From the private sector to a supporter of sustainability transformation in a research institute

Anna started at Syke in 2023 and has been with the organisation for about a year at the time of the interview. She works at Syke as a senior coordinator and the head of the Spatial data management group within the Digital services unit. Anna holds a Master of Science degree from Aalto University, and she has worked in private sector IT-companies and under municipal employers. Although Anna’s career has been diverse, her work has always centred around spatial data management. Eventually Anna ended up at Syke based on her own values and interests: ‘Syke has seemed like an interesting workplace since my days as a student, a strong promoter of green values. When this position at Syke opened up, I thought I had to give it a try.’

The group led by Anna is part of the Digital Services unit, which develops Syke’s information systems, spatial data management, and digital services, as well as the necessary digital infrastructure. The Spatial data management group is responsible for solutions supporting the management and distribution of spatial data, such as Syke’s open data service and spatial data interface and download services. The group aims to ensure the easy availability of essential spatial data and services to Syke’s researchers. Groups digital experts also participate in research projects as spatial data experts.

Anna has a coordinating and developmental role within her unit, and as a group leader, her job description is varied. From her perspective, sustainability transformation means a motivation to support and to do things in her role that help the planet to survive. ‘When I joined Syke, I thought the unit’s technical development direction was good. It was great to jump on this moving train and continue pushing things forward,’ Anna says. In her work, Anna focuses on how information moves within Syke and how it is managed. It is important to her that she can support sustainability transformation by improving the availability and usability of information to support decision-making. As a group leader, her job also involves financial and personnel matters. The ongoing recruitment at the time of the interview, has attracted a lot of promising applications: ‘The bar was set very high for those selected for interviews,’ Anna tells excitedly.

Anna believes the best part of her job is the close-knit team spirit and the overall theme of information management. She finds the management of environmental spatial data particularly important: ‘Especially in environmental data, it is crucial to know what is happening and where.’ For Anna it is gratifying to use her own expertise in managing the lifecycle of environmental data and developing easy access to information. At Syke, information is not only archived; long-term data enables, for example, the examination of long-term changes in the environment. ‘Systems age, information doesn’t,’ Anna sums up

As a new employee, Anna has found the work environment’s forward-looking attitude particularly enjoyable. She appreciates people’s positive attitudes and solution-oriented views. Reflecting on her first year at Syke, Anna recalls a particularly amusing memory from her first days: ‘I was drawing on the whiteboard during a meeting until I realised I was holding a permanent marker!’ Anna laughs. ‘I thought it was nice that as a new person, I left a permanent mark on the wall,’ she continues. Fortunately, the situation was not serious, and it was resolved with the help of friendly office managers. ‘You get funny little memories here every day,’ Anna adds.

Why should people come to work at Syke?

‘Syke has a strong and progressive digital side that is not always visible from the outside. At Syke’s digital services, you get to do diverse and interesting technical work. The Digital services unit is an especially good place to work because, while doing your job, you can also promote meaningful values – Code for green!’