Endre, finance and administration manager at Hydroniq Coolers, has had an interesting career path that has taken him from Singapore to the US to Uganda, and back to Norway. After working for GE, Save the Children, and Rolls-Royce, he started at Hydroniq Coolers in 2018. He has a deep interest in news, current affairs and sports and even had a brief ballet career while living in the US.
Endre is a 53-year-old man living in Sula, outside Ålesund, with his wife Susan and their two youngest children who keep them busy with various activities such as handball and football. Their three oldest children have already left the nest, and only a few months ago, Endre had the joy of becoming a grandfather for the very first time.
After finishing high school in Ålesund, he moved to Singapore to study business administration at the American College. In the middle of his studies, he moved home to take some courses at BI Norwegian business school before he moved to Boston, USA, to complete his bachelor’s degree at Suffolk University.
After he finished his studies in the US, Endre worked as a finance and administration manager for a subsidiary of the renowned architectural firm Snøhetta in Oslo, before joining GE as a financial planning analyst in 2007.
“GE has a large and competent finance environment, and I learned a lot about controlling there,” he explains
While at GE, he received a call from a former colleague about a job as a finance manager for the humanitarian aid organization Save the Children.
“I was informed by my former colleague that Save the Children urgently required someone to work in Uganda, as the previous hire backed out. I went through a month of interviews and a two-week visit to Uganda to familiarise myself with the job and the people I would be working with. Then, I decided to make the move to a completely new and unfamiliar country, all by myself,” he says.
During his time in Uganda, he worked at Save the Children’s office and traveled extensively throughout the country. One night, while watching a football match at a pub, he met his future wife, Susan.
“After three years in Uganda, Susan and I decided to move back to Norway, where I landed a job as a business controller at Rolls-Royce, now known as Kongsberg, in Ålesund. While considering a move back to the more internationally diverse city of Oslo, we chose to settle down near my hometown. It was important for us to be close to family and friends. It felt good to come back and build a life here with Susan,” he tells.
After several years at Rolls-Royce in Ålesund, Endre was presented with the opportunity to join Hydroniq Coolers in 2018. The company was setting up a fully independent organisation following the sale of its parent company, Sperre Industrier. However, it was an earlier encounter with Hydroniq that sparked Endre’s interest in seawater cooling.
“I first learned about Hydroniq Coolers when working for Rolls-Royce on a project where their heat exchangers were being pitched. At the time, I didn’t have much of an interest in seawater cooling, but I saw the potential in Hydroniq’s Pleat heat exchanger. It had a modular and scalable design that was well-suited for mass production and could greatly reduce the need for maintenance and maintenance hours,” Endre explains.
Endre’s workdays at Hydroniq Coolers are highly varied, but he always begins by checking financial market news and updating the company’s cash positions. His duties include assisting with business forecasting, project finance, contract reviews, and other administrative tasks related to customer communication and public reporting.
“Ultimately, I ensure that our back-office operations function efficiently and smoothly to support our sales and production environments. I also focus on safeguarding our financial position and ensuring compliance with private and public regulatory requirements,” he tells.
Endre has a voracious appetite for news, whether it is about business, politics, or current events. He used to have the news channel on at all hours, but he has now transitioned to a tablet for a quieter reading experience, to the relief of his family.
In his free time, Endre is an avid sports fan, particularly football, which he both plays and manages. He also enjoys spending time with his family over a good meal and a glass of wine or watching a movie.
“When my wife and I lived in Uganda, we had a really active social life, going out to dinner all the time. Now with kids and family obligations, our priorities have shifted. But I would not have it any other way,” he says
Endre’s friends might be surprised to learn that he once had a brief ballet career during his time in the US.
“When I lived in Wyoming as an exchange student, I was helping out with the student football team. Right before the football season started, some girls at school managed to persuade me and some other exchange students to join a ballet class. We trained for six months and even performed on stage. I played a prince in a fancy ballet suit, twirling around and lifting up ballerinas. I must admit that we joined the class partly to spend more time with the girls, but it turned out to be a really fun experience,” he concludes with a smile.
