Joel Karlsberg is the head of procurement for North America at STIHL, a German family-owned leader in outdoor power equipment.

Before joining STIHL, Joel held a variety of procurement roles at Volkswagen. Starting out in Volkswagen’s global headquarters in Germany, he progressed through management roles in China and the USA. Prior to Volkswagen, Joel was engaged at ZF Friedrichshafen AG, completing an international management trainee program followed by a role as a project engineer managing relations with global automotive OEMs.

Joel completed his undergraduate education in mechanical Engineering with a minor in German at the University of Washington in Seattle. After gaining work experience as a design engineer at Kenworth Truck Company, he helped pioneer the URI / TU Braunschweig dual engineering master’s program with the support of the IEP’s founding father, Dr. John Grandin. Joel has also worked as a freelance technical translator and procurement consultant. He holds an MBA from the Vienna University of Technology.