Nov 18, 2008. /Lesprom.com/. Esa Ikäheimonen has been appointed new CFO and member of the Group Executive Committee of Pöyry, the company said. Esa Ikäheimonen (44) holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Turku, Finland. He will join Pöyry from Royal Dutch Shell plc. Ikäheimonen is currently Vice President, Finance at Shell Exploration and Production, responsible for Finance and Contracting & Procurement in the Africa region. He is located in Lagos, Nigeria. Ikäheimonen has a close to 20-year international career with Shell. Before moving to Africa, Ikäheimonen led Shell's Upstream Finance in the Middle East and worked as the Finance and Commercial Director in Qatar. He has also led Shell's Downstream Strategy and M&A activity in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as worked as the Finance Director in both Finland and Shell Scandinavia. "I am very excited to have Esa Ikäheimonen join Pöyry Group's Executive Committee. He is a dynamic leader with significant international experience and a strong track record, not only in Finance and Control, but also in other areas relevant to the new position. His international investment project know-how in the energy sector fits well with Pöyry's business. In addition, he has extensive negotiation experience in complex governmental and multicultural settings," says Heikki Malinen, President and CEO. "Pöyry is a company with a strong track record and exciting future. I am delighted to join the team," says Ikäheimonen. Ikäheimonen will be located at the Pöyry headquarters in Vantaa, Finland. He will take over as the new CFO and member of the Group Executive Committee by 1 April 2009 at the latest. Due to future growth expectations Pöyry PLC has decided to strengthen the Internal Audit function. Pöyry plc's current CFO, Lars Rautamo (59) will lead the function as soon as Ikäheimonen takes over the position as CFO. Rautamo will report to the President and CEO of Pöyry plc, Heikki Malinen as well as to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. After taking over his new duties, Rautamo will not continue as a member of the Group Executive Committee. Pöyry is a global consulting and engineering firm focusing on the energy, forest industry and infrastructure and environment sectors.