Nokia’s exec shake-up continues, head of Mobile Solutions Anssi Vanjoki resigns

Mere days after Nokia named Microsoft’s Stephen Elop as its new CEO, comes another major management change for the Finnish cellphone manufacturer. The company announced today that executive vice president and head of Mobile Solutions Anssi Vanjoki has resigned with six months notice.

Vanjoki, who has been with the company since 1991, will continue with his duties in Nokia’s Mobile Solutions division — which develops smartphones like its upcoming N8 and E7 devices — until his departure.

The announcement couldn’t have come at a worse time for Nokia, which is holding its Nokia Week event in London, England this week. The event is the company’s chance to show it can innovate and compete with newer smartphone titans like Android and Google, but that’s going to be a tough message to sell if it keeps losing executives.

Vanjoki’s resignation may have come about because he was passed over for the CEO position, GigaOm points out. And there’s a good chance it won’t be the last major management change we see this week for the company.

Such abrupt management changes won’t help Nokia’s image as a company that’s in trouble, but in the long run having new employees in these key executive positions may help to fix Nokia’s innovation problems.