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

"Quality is vital for a medical device company, and our team has a direct impact on improvements within the company."

Joep Gerrichhauzen is 34 years old, lives in Maastricht and loves to go touring the hills of Limburg on his racing bike and spending time with his friends. He started his professional career in October 2011 as a quality engineer for the distribution center at the
European Operations Center (EOC) in Heerlen, right after university.

For Joep, Medtronic was the perfect company to combine both his studies in a job as he rolled directly into a quality position.

Joep about his position at Medtronic

Quite recently, I moved into a Europe Middle East & Africa (EMEA) role as a
Quality Systems Manager. In this role, I am responsible for setting up regional market and logistical quality processes and I am managing a team of six quality specialists who support the EMEA region with the setup and implementation of quality processes.

Joep's education and career path

Before starting at Medtronic, I studied at the Maastricht University where I graduated with a Master of Science degree in International Business as well as a master’s in Health Policy, Economics and Management. At Medtronic, I started as an associate quality engineer in 2011 and gradually I moved into more senior roles, like a team leader role and not too long ago into a manager’s position.

Most challenging in my current role

As a team we set up processes which need to be easy to execute. The biggest challenge in this is to deal with conflicting interests. Satisfying both internal stakeholders – where we need to be pragmatic - and external parties (for example external auditors) in being compliant – is not always an easy task.

What I like most in my current job

What I enjoy most in my role, is the fact that we work with a very knowledgeable team. Together, we find solutions to improve our quality system. As a team, we have a direct impact on improvements within the company. Quality for a medical device company is so vital, it is nice to represent this department and be part of the bigger wheel of serving our patients.

What I like about working for Medtronic

The inspiring mission which drives us all, makes me proud to work for Medtronic. I like the feeling of working for a big company that adds value to society.

By setting up effective quality processes, striving to prevent issues before they arise and enabling first-time-right executions of these processes, I contribute to our mission and what we do for our patients.

What ‘Further, Together’ means to me

‘Further, Together’ for me means that with teamwork, you can win championships, instead of winning a single game by working alone or in a silo. If we work together, across departments and teams, we will succeed in fulfilling our mission.

My most memorable experiences at Medtronic

Attending my first patient event seven years ago, where you could really see what the impact of Medtronic is on the life of an individual patient. This really made a huge impression on me.