Soili Nepponen has over 20 years of experience in executive search and recruitment. Throughout her career, she has worked closely with owners, boards and executive teams in situations where people decisions are directly linked to strategy, growth and business performance. She understands that every key appointment is a business decision with long-term impact on direction and competitiveness.
Soili began her career in the IT sector, building a strong Business IT foundation and commercial understanding at the intersection of technology and business. Her transition into IT recruitment and later into demanding executive search assignments has given her deep insight into talent markets, leadership and organisational capability building. She has worked across multiple industries with clients ranging from start-ups to international listed corporations, delivering assignments at specialist, executive and board level.
At Birn + Partners, Soili is responsible for Interim services in Finland. In addition, she provides executive search services, leadership assessments, executive team development, business consulting, as well as career advisory and outplacement services. She also acts as an interim executive herself in project management, business development and new concept creation assignments.
She has served as Interim Head of HR in an international listed company, leading and developing the HR function during a period of change. She has built a recruitment business from the ground up for a vocational education institution and has acted as CEO of a private equity-backed portfolio company, where she established and scaled an executive search business as part of a staffing services company.
Soili’s expertise includes concept development and people-centric process design. She combines an analytical, research-driven mindset with a pragmatic, hands-on approach. She operates effectively on a strategic and tactical level while also leading projects operationally to ensure execution and results. High client satisfaction and an excellent employer and candidate experience are key priorities in her work.
Education
Doctoral Researcher
Master of Science in Economics and Business Administration
Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business Administration
Her doctoral research focuses on the professional identity construction of executive search consultants and the role of artificial intelligence in identity work.
Certifications
SHL: OPQ, MQ, Verify
Hogan: HPI, HDS, MVPI
