Korteniemi transferred to the post of Head of Mission from her position as the Director of the Unit for North America, which she held since 2020. As the Director of the North America Unit, she oversaw the bilateral relations to Canada and the United States. Her Unit covered political, commercial and economic issues related to Canada and the United States as well as transatlantic relations.

Korteniemi has previously worked abroad as the Head of the Unit for Peace and Security at the Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN in New York, and at the Embassy of Finland in Washington. At the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Korteniemi has served at the Political Department’s Unit for Arms Control and Unit for Security Policy and Crisis Management, as well as at the Departments for Global Affairs and for International Trade. She has worked as a Transatlantic Diplomatic Fellow at the United States Department of State.

Hanna-Leena Korteniemi joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 2006. She holds a Master’s degree in social sciences from the University of Tampere and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oregon. Ms. Korteniemi was born in Lapland right above the Arctic Circle. Ms. Korteniemi is married and she has a dog.