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"Over the past few years, the Medtronic Bakken Research Center has been at the origin of important medical innovations."

Being with Medtronic more than 21 years in a variety of departments and functions, you can say that Leo, our Vice President & General Manager of the Medtronic Bakken Research Center (BRC) in Maastricht is dedicated to the company.

Leo about his position at Medtronic

As the General Manager of the Medtronic BRC it is my primary role to spearhead the Centers of Excellence (COEs), to ensure their alignment with our campus vision of delivering innovative, high-quality therapies that have a positive impact on human lives.

At the BRC, we are committed to maintaining and establishing new and existing relationships with internal and external partners, making sure to add value to Medtronic, our customers and to our patients.

Leo's education and career path

I joined the Medtronic BRC in 1996 after completing my Biomechanical Engineering study at the Eindhoven University of Technology. I started my career as a research engineer in the field of stent research, after which I took on several engineering and scientist positions. In 2007, I became head of the Quality Assurance group at the BRC campus, and after four years, I was asked to start, build and lead the International Clinical Operations (ICO) group. Since 2014, in addition to my MC2 Global Clinical Account Management responsibility, I also assumed the role of General Manager of the BRC.

From May 2017, I have been fully focusing on my role as General Manager for the BRC and in October 2017, I was promoted to Vice President and General Manager.

Most challenging in my current role

In today’s rapidly changing globally competitive environment, companies must be innovative in order to survive. Over the past few years, the Medtronic BRC has been at the origin of important medical innovations. Looking ahead, we are constantly looking for new forms of innovation to carry forward our innovative role within Medtronic as well as adapting for the future.

What I like most in my current job

Medtronic offers plenty of opportunities for people to grow and develop. Being with Medtronic for over 21 years, I have been able to work in a great variety of departments and functions, allowing me to develop towards my current role. It is an international company with diverse business units where people who are willing and talented, can move across functions and borders to develop themselves and reach their potential.

What I like about working for Medtronic

It is great to work for a company that is not only driven by a very strong Mission, but where you meet people sharing that passion for our Mission every single day. This is also consistently demonstrated in different internal and external surveys; our employees know the Mission and value working for a company like Medtronic. Next to that, the drive for unsurpassed quality in what we do, how we do it and what we deliver to our patients and physicians. All this is highly motivating to me.

Our Mission still guides our daily work and is playing a pivotal role in the consistent delivery of outstanding results for contributing to the success of the EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) region, Medtronic in general and our patients in particular.

What ‘Further, Together’ means to me

Each one of us plays an important role in driving change and helping to achieve our Mission to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life. At Medtronic, we are dedicated to helping solve the biggest challenges in healthcare. Together, we can transform healthcare.

My most memorable experiences at Medtronic

The creation of ICO, the Clinical Operations group that we build around a complete new business model for supporting Medtronic Clinical Departments in EMEA, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Greater China and Latin America (LATAM) back then. The spirit of engagement of the people involved and the drive to deliver and start up the new model, were really amazing. The involvement of people across the matrix, building systems, structures and partnerships, were key to the success. It was a great experience and I am grateful to have been able to lead that early work in building our Clinical Operations model.