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

"We push the boundaries further than we have ever done before."

My name is Ryan Powers, 37 years old, originally from the United States. I studied
East Asian Languages and Cultures at university level and lived/worked in Japan for many years before moving to the Netherlands. I live in Maastricht, I am married and have a
1-year old son named Oliver. I have been with Medtronic for 11 years.

Ryan about his position at Medtronic

Currently, I work in the Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO), leading a team of change managers for IT projects. We assess the level of change that people will feel as part of an IT system implementation and help to mitigate that change with stakeholder engagement strategies, communications and trainings.

Ryan's education and career path

I started in 2007 as a Regulatory Affairs Specialist in the US, working for
Cardiac Rhythm and Disease Management (CRDM) on optimizing the Japanese medical device submission process.

In 2009, I transferred to Medtronic Translations, which was located at the
World Headquarters (WHQ) in the US at that time, as a Japanese Linguist and Project Manager. In 2012, I changed roles to focus on Software Localization and Business Analysis working between WHQ in Minneapolis and the Bakken Research Center in Maastricht.

Most challenging in my current role

The main challenges of my current role are the huge number of different locations, countries, and cultures that we work with. Medtronic sometimes has a “one size fits all” approach to globalization. What we learn in practice is that every place and group of people is different and has different expectations and needs. What works in Minneapolis does not necessarily work the same way in Maastricht, Milan, Moscow or Marrakesh, and often needs to be adapted to fit local requirements and expectations. Those in turn need to be aligned with the objectives which we are all trying to reach together.

What I like most in my current job

Good things about this job: having the opportunity to meet so many new and engaging people; to travel around the world; and to know that you are having a positive impact on people’s health and well-being. This is true not just for our patients, but for colleagues as well.

What I like about working for Medtronic

Medtronic offers a wealth of opportunity for its employees. I am evidence of that very directly. I left university in the US with a liberal arts degree in history and languages and after an interesting job journey, I have gotten as far as IT in the Netherlands. It’s hard work and a lot of effort, of course, but without the opportunities and the support offered by the company, I wouldn’t have had a chance. In my eleven years with the company, I have worked for Medtronic on three continents in at least four entirely different positions.

My varied experience in the company helps me to see things from multiple perspectives.
I do everything I can to convey those perspectives to my colleagues and contacts, to ensure that we are always meeting the highest quality standards and delivering the best product to our patients.

What ‘Further, Together’ means to me

I’ve been around long enough to remember that this tagline was introduced shortly after Covidien joined Medtronic. I still think of that historic merger when I hear it. But now it encourages me to remember the time before the integration of the two companies, and when we still thought in terms of “oh, that’s a Covidien person” or “that’s a Medtronic person”. We don’t do that very much anymore. Now it’s no longer just integration. We have gone forward, further – and we are really doing things together now, as one company. It says to me that, together with my colleagues and with our patients, we push the boundaries further than we ever have ever done before.

My most memorable experiences at Medtronic

Meeting my wife, who also works at Medtronic. Nothing compares to that!