The energy sector captivated Ipek Keçioğlu, CFO of MET Turkey. She explains why women have a different type of perception.
“It’s like solving a puzzle,” this is how Ipek Keçioğlu characterizes her daily routine. As the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of MET Group’s Eastern European Sales Division, she works with several countries and cultures, different perspectives and business models. “You need to be very agile and flexible to understand and adapt to these differences,” says Ipek who also holds the position of CFO at MET Turkey.
Ipek Keçioğlu has 17 years of experience in the energy sector. “The career progression I have reached makes me happy,” she summarizes. She studied Management Engineering at the Istanbul Technical University, and as number crunching is her favourite thing, she wanted a job in finance. After working for PwC and Pfizer, in 2008 she arrived to Enerjisa, a leading company in the Turkish energy market.
What seduced Ipek in the energy sector was the changing dynamics. “This sector is affected by all the global moves – politics, economics, climate. Being in the energy market forces you to follow the world.” She joined MET Group in February 2024, and when asked about her overall impressions, she calls it a “very ambitious company, aiming at very high targets”.
The CFO did not need to put aside her own ambitions for personal reasons. “It just required planning and organisation in my personal life.”
Ipek Keçioğlu believes that the female perspective can be very useful. “Women have a different type of perception. We are more detail-oriented, more perfectionist,” she states.
Ipek is pleased that MET Group promotes gender diversity and has around 40% of female employees across the Group. At the same time, MET has a performance-driven culture in which performance is acknowledged regardless of gender, age, nationality or any other factor.
MET Turkey’s CFO considers working as a woman to be a two-way issue. “The energy market is very challenging, quite exhausting with long working hours. But, if you plan your family life accordingly, it is manageable.”
In the Turkish gas sector, the male energy still dominates. In the power sector, however, there is an increasing number of female executives. Are female quotas a good way of growing their number? Ipek is not convinced. “I appreciate hard work and high sense of responsibility, it doesn’t matter if that person is a man or a woman. Keeping your personal life out of work and focusing on your daily responsibilities are the most important things for me.”
Ipek likes working and being busy, this is what she has been doing for the last 24 years. How does she recharge her batteries outside of working hours? “I love running, it refreshes me and keeps my mind off work. I also cook during the weekends. During summertime, I like swimming in the sea, or just reading a book on the beach, and listening to the waves.”