Vanwege het internationale karakter van ons bedrijf en onze medewerkers hebben we hun verhalen en ervaringen in het Engels weergegeven.

"Thinking of the bigger picture:
not only finding a solution for my own job or my department, but finding the best Medtronic solution."

Ines holds the Belgian nationality. She also lives in Belgium, together with her partner and two boys: Xander (12.5) and Giel (11).
In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her family, and enjoys the small things in life: walking, riding mountain bike, reading, doing sports.

Ines has already been working for our company for 18 years now. She has held a variety of positions within our company: both in finance and related to administrative processes. At this moment, Ines is the Finance manager within the Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Operations team – located in Heerlen – for the Cardiac & Vascular Group (CVG) in the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region.

Ines about her position at Medtronic

Approximately 1.5 year ago, the CVG FP&A Ops team was set up; this is a new central FP&A operations team. In line with the business finance roadmap, our team supports the regional CVG business teams and business finance partners in EMEA. The focus of the team is on centralizing, standardizing and optimizing operational processes across the different businesses and geographies.

In this role, I am working closely with the CVG (finance) business partners across the EMEA region and the central finance functions in the Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in Tolochenaz (Switzerland), Heerlen (the Netherlands) and Prague (Czech Republic). This is crucial to the success of our team.

The team allows our country business finance colleagues to move (further) towards becoming a pro-active business partner, providing insights and recommendations to support business decisionmaking.

Ines’s education and career path

After my Applied Economics studies, I started working at Ford Motor Company, where I first experienced what it is like to work in a multinational organization.

A few years later, I started my career at Medtronic as a financial analyst within the European consolidation department. After that first job, I held several positions within finance, where I was mainly involved in the expansion of Financial Shared Service Center (FSSC) activities, and the SAP integration.

In 2008, I moved to the Dutch Sales office (Medtronic Trading NL) to perform finance activities for the Benelux. Five years later, I was asked to reorganize the administrative business processes, as the Administrative Manager of the Business Support Team in Eindhoven.

After 10 years’ experience in the Dutch sales office, I returned to the Medtronic European Operations Center (EOC) in Heerlen. I took on the responsibility to set up the FP&A Operations team for CVG EMEA. It is really great to discover a new piece of Medtronic after being 17 years in this company.

Most challenging in my current role

The most challenging aspect of my role is at the same time the most exciting part: setting up a new team. The combination of forming a new team, carrying out complex processes and the fact that different departments determine the outcome, makes it sometimes challenging to meet deadlines. It is not easy to get all involved parties on the same page.

Next to this, setting up a new department also means a change in roles and responsibilities for all parties involved. That in itself is already a big adjustment for people, but – to add an extra level of complexity – we are also working in a remote environment. This we should not underestimate and it deserves the right level of attention.

What I like most in my current job

I absolutely enjoy being a spider in the web. Being able to connect the different teams and departments, to assure we are reaching our end result in a timely fashion. This is what I try to achieve by continuously focusing on “our common” goal.

Another aspect which I enjoy, is the international environment we are working in – and with – on a daily basis. Also, the appreciation we receive from our colleagues in all the different countries, makes us really feel we provide an actual added value.

What I like about working for Medtronic

I am proud of the devices and therapies which we, as a company, provide to our customers and patients. Next to this, I enjoy the size and complexity of the company. The company is continuously changing and seeking improvements. This allows me to grow, both professionally as well as personally.

Lastly, I think it is fantastic to see how a company evolves with the needs of today’s society: creating a diverse and inclusive working environment and culture. As a member of the steering committee of the Medtronic Women’s Network for the Netherlands, I like to share my thoughts on the needs, for both the employees and management, required to make a diverse environment a successful one.

What ‘Further, Together’ means to me

By adding value in an indirect function such as finance, our colleagues in the business can focus on bringing the therapies to the customers and patients. In this way, together we are contributing to our mission. Our colleagues in the business, who are interacting with our customers and the patients, should not be bothered with the internal administrative and financial tasks and our performances. They should use it as a foundation for their strategic decisions.

‘Further, Together’ in my day-to-day work means thinking of the bigger picture; not only finding a solution for my role or my department, but finding the best Medtronic solution.

My most memorable experiences at Medtronic

I had the honor of meeting Earl Bakken - our founder - in Minneapolis during one of the Christmas meetings. Now, since his passing, I realize even more how special it was to have had that opportunity.