Tiina Uudeberg has held the position of Undersecretary for Defence Planning at the Estonian Ministry of Defence since February 2021. The Undersecretary for Defence Planning is responsible for defence and capability planning, defence investments, defence budget, defence R&D, industry and cyber policies. The Undersecretary coordinates the Defence Planning Department’s, the National Defence Information Systems Department’s and the Innovation Department’s work and exercises oversight over the National Defence Investment Centre.
Ms. Uudeberg joined the Ministry of Defence in 2004 after finishing her BA studies. She worked for five years at the NATO and EU department at the MOD, contributing to the formulation of Estonian positions in NATO in various work strands.
In 2010, Ms. Uudeberg joined the Estonian Permanent Representation to NATO as a diplomat. She was a senior representative in resource issues until 2014, serving as the Head of the Resource Section and Estonia’s representative at the NATO Resource Policy and Planning Board (RPPB) and Budget Committee (BC). Her work included planning and oversight of NATO common-funded budgets, major capability development and programs (medium-term resource and financial plans), budget negotiations, and audits.
In 2014, Ms. Uudeberg joined the Defence Planning Department as a Deputy Director. In 2015, Ms. Uudeberg became the Director of the Defence Planning Department. While holding that position, she was responsible for coordinating national capability planning, preparing and executing the defence budget, organizing financial affairs, and coordinating Estonia’s participation in NATO defence planning. As the Director of Defence Planning Department, Ms. Uudeberg coordinated and participated in several activities, programs, and projects nationally, regionally, and in a broader international arena. She has regularly represented her country in various negotiations and formats such as Baltic cooperation, Nordic-Baltic cooperation, NATO, the European Union, and bilateral formats.
Tiina Uudeberg holds a Master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations (minoring in Economics) from the University of Tartu. She has participated in numerous defence policy and defence planning related courses, and in 2017 she graduated from Newton Leadership Programme (organised by the Civil Service Excellence Centre of Estonia’s Government Office), tailored for future senior executives in the public sector. In June 2021, Ms. Uudeberg graduated from National Defense University (Eisenhower School) in the United States, receiving an MSc degree in National Strategy and Defence Resource Management.
Ms. Uudeberg has received several honours and decorations, including the National Order of the White Star, V class (2018), and Estonian Ministry of Defence’s Cross of Merit, III class.
Tiina Uudeberg is fluent in Estonian and English and has a satisfactory command of French and Russian.