Interview with Nils Holm Toverud – new Chief Business Officer

Name: Nils Holm Toverud
Position: Chief Business Officer
Start: 1st of July

Nils Holm Toverud started as Chief Business Officer (CBO) in NFM Group on 1st of July. As CBO, he will be responsible for developing NFM in key international markets.

– An essential part of NFM’s long-term strategy is to be physically present in our key markets. With Nils in our team, with his unique international business background, we will develop the company further in our strategic markets, says Walter Øverland, CEO of NFM Group. 

– In the next few years, we will establish a production unit in France and the USA. In addition, a new factory in Bulgaria will be ready in the third quarter of this year, as our factory in Ukraine had to be closed down due to the war. We are also working to strengthen our position in Germany significantly, says Øverland

In this interview you can get to know Nils a little better. 

I am 46 years old and married with two children.

I am educated as an officer and have a Bachelor of Engineering in the Norwegian army. I also have a master’s degree in Management and Economics at the Norwegian Business school and recently completed the Norwegian Defence Senior Executive Course.

I served in the Norwegian military for five years at the Norwegian Defence Material Agency. We were responsible for equipping the Armed forces, where I had a special focus on soldier systems, CBRN equipment and camouflage. I had a similar role in the police, some years later.

When I left the military, I worked at Oslo Airport, as a contract manager in the terminal, which was a drastic operational change from the military. Moving 80,000 people through a terminal daily while maintaining functionality was indeed a challenge. After this, I worked for Thales for almost 14 years in various roles from sales to operations. I was head of soldier systems for Thales globally and left Thales as CEO for their international activities in Norway and COO for Northern and Central Europe.

Why NFM?

I have known about NFM my whole career and worked closely with the company during my time at Thales on the Norwegian soldier modernization program. NFM was heavily involved in this program.

I joined NFM because of a mix of three things:

1. The people I have met from NFM throughout the years have been extremely professional and inspiring to work with and I see that NFM can and does attract the best people in the market. So clearly it is a good company to work for. 
2. I believe NFM has been at the forefront of personal protection equipment for many years. They see the importance of soldiers and police being protected and have significantly added value in this area. If we look at the world today, this will be even more important in the future. 
3. NFM is very ambitious which I admire. That is something I really want to contribute towards. 

Can you share some good advice?

Don’t be afraid to seek new challenges, even far outside your comfort zone. I believe this will make you grow in several ways and make your life more interesting. Don’t forget to respect all the people you meet on your way.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced in procurement/acquisition roles?

I have been leading several procurement projects on behalf of the defence and police and the most challenging part I found was defining the user requirements in a way that benefits the competition in the market – leveraging new technologies and innovations. This was to ensure that our soldiers and police end up with the best equipment available.

Fun Fact

I am a Liverpool football club supporter and I tend to spend too much time following them – just ask my wife.

Despite his football team preferences, we wish Nils the best of luck in his role as Chief Business Officer at NFM Group!