Simon Larsen, purchaser
Career

Degree project work the way in for Simon

Simon Larsen is passionate about purchasing. He ended up at Höganäs almost a decade ago when he was doing his degree project work. Now he’s the head of purchasing, responsible for staff.

“There are plenty of opportunities at Höganäs to do different things and try different positions within the company. All kinds of opportunities are open to people with the drive to make the most of them, and Höganäs is generous when it comes to providing training courses for its staff,” he says.

As he was approaching the end of his studies in purchasing and supply management, Simon Larsen got in touch with Höganäs  to find out whether he could join the company to do his degree project work.

“I didn’t know much about the company at that time, but they made me an exciting offer for my project work. Then I was lucky enough to get a summer job followed by a temporary position, and I followed that up with permanent employment. I worked with both strategic and operational purchasing work – in practice, this involves working with all elements of the purchasing process.”

Purchasing is something he’s really passionate about.

“I work at the indirect materials department, and we buy in all kinds of things, from consumables to items requiring major investments. You have to keep things ordered and structured, be well prepared when going into negotiations, be able to compile requirement specifications and conclude negotiations with suppliers. It’s a very varied process.”

He’s switched jobs several times in his years at Höganäs. Initially he worked as a buyer at the purchasing department, then he went to the central warehouse and was given responsibility for staff, and as a result he was given responsibility for implementing the changes that were initiated by Höganäs at that time. Simon Larsen has been the head of indirect materials purchasing and the central warehouse since 2017.