Suomen Panttilaina Oy is entering a new growth phase and looking for a CEO to lead and scale the Finnish business.
The company is a part of the Pantbanken Sverige group, which operates across Sweden, Norway and Finland and is the largest within its sector with 120 employees, 36 locations, a loan book of 200 M€ and a net profit of 12 M€. In Finland, 13 committed employees in four locations contribute with a net profit of 672 000 €.
This is a rare opportunity to lead a profitable, trusted and values-driven company – and to build Finland’s future market leader in pawnbroking. This position gives you the mandate to invest in expansion in a growing sector, driven in part by rising gold prices, with the backing of a financially strong group. So far excellent customer experience and competitive pricing have resulted in organic growth without significant marketing efforts. Now the group is open to scale through innovative marketing, rebranding, repositioning and targeting new customer segments.
A business built on trust – since 1866
Long before the term microlending existed, pawnbroking provided fair, transparent and accessible credit to people who needed it. Pantbanken Sverige was founded in 1866, when shoemaker Johan Alfred Jansson began lending small sums against personal belongings. That idea still guides the business today: respectful customer encounters, ethical lending, transparency and long-term thinking. The majority owner is a foundation, J. A. Janssons Stiftelse, which means decisions are driven by long-term values, not quarterly figures.
In addition to growing market share, you will also grow the market overall through educating consumers about pawnbroking as an alternative to other short-term consumer credits. As pawnbroking is asset-based lending, the consumer only risks the item they have deposited as collateral, not their credit eligibility (luottotiedot) or a cycle of compounding interest and collection charges.
Why this role now?
Suomen Panttilaina has grown successfully but has so far been led from Sweden. The group’s strategy is clear: each country should be locally led, autonomous and strong. The goal is to grow Suomen Panttilaina into Finland’s largest pawnbroking company within 5–10 years. To achieve this, we are looking for an experienced leader and business developer who can both scale the business in Finland and bring new perspectives to the group management level.
Your role as CEO
As CEO, you hold full responsibility for Suomen Panttilaina Oy.
You will:
- Lead and develop an autonomous Finnish organization
- Own full P&L responsibility
- Create and execute the Finnish growth strategy
- Scale the business through branch expansion, marketing and loan portfolio growth
- Build key capabilities, especially within marketing
- Lead performance through KPIs, forecasting and clear execution
- Act as the main interface towards ownership and board
- Maintain and nurture the value-based culture of Suomen Panttilaina
- Contribute to group level development where appropriate
Who we are looking for
You are a business builder and people-oriented leader with:
- Proven experience scaling a multi-location consumer business
- Full P&L responsibility and profitable growth
- Strong commercial and marketing-led growth experience
- A track record of building high-performing teams
- Ability to operate within group ownership while maintaining local agility
- Ability to build modern marketing capability — and to reposition a brand with an inspiring mindset and new innovative ideas
Backgrounds in retail, consumer services or financial services are especially relevant.
Culture and values
You will lead the Finnish team that has a trust-based culture and excellent customer satisfaction. Decisions are made close to the customer, leadership is hands-on, and ethics, professionalism and respect are central values.
The principle is simple: When we trust each other, customers can trust us.
Interested?
Please submit your application as soon as possible.
