Employee Spotlight: Renee Walker

#FutureInYourHands

//JOBS

renee walker

medical device lead auditor at TÜV SÜD

#FutureInYourHands – This motto properly describes how TÜV SÜD empowers its employees. It’s best to hear from TÜV SÜD executives and staff members what their personal experiences are working for TÜV SÜD.

Can you describe your role within TÜV SÜD?
I am a Medical Device Lead Auditor. Typically, a week for me will look like: travel to the client, work with the client to look at their quality management system, their products, their processes and establish conformity to the audit criteria that they are applying for, and at the end of the week I come home. The following week is the same sort of thing with a different client, or I will spend that week planning for upcoming audits.

What do you enjoy most about your role?
I love engaging with clients. I love being able to learn about their systems and their processes. Every client is different, and their technology is different; their products are different. One client will do something one way, and then I go to another company, and they have different needs for their product, and they need to do things a completely different way. Because of this, I am constantly learning about new technologies. Furthermore, I am learning about technologies that I have seen repeatedly. My favorite part is looking at the production floor and watching how people are making things.

What do you find most challenging about your role?
It takes a lot of detail and organization. I do not just have one client; I have a lot of different clients. I may be planning for an audit a couple of weeks from now while still working on documentation from an audit that might have been a week prior. There are many parts that are constantly moving, and it can be a challenge to keep those things in order. Additionally, it is important to keep an open mind. Sometimes I see a process of one client that I think is close to perfect. Then I go to another client, and they are doing it differently – but not wrong. It can be hard to step out of that mindset and look just at what each client is doing and compare it to the standards without bringing in a fixed mindset that there’s one perfect way to do something.

How does TÜV SÜD differ from other companies you have worked for?
The two jobs I had before joining TÜV SÜD were for IVD and medical device manufacturers. Those two jobs were an excellent way to understand the auditing process because now I am on the opposite side of the table. Instead of being the audited person, now I am the auditor. My past roles give me a lot of compassion and understanding of what the clients are experiencing. Additionally, when I worked at the manufacturers, I only saw their way of doing things. At TÜV SÜD, I get to see many different ways of doing something. I get to see many different products, and I get to learn from each of those experiences. I think TÜV SÜD brings broad expertise across the board for all sorts of different processes, and I like that.

How would you describe TÜV SÜD to someone looking for a new job?
I think one of the great things about this company is that it is very large and there are all sorts of different roles. You could be an auditor, do technical documentation assessments, or have a project coordinator role, so it would depend on what someone is looking for. The other thing I really like about this company is the diversity. We have employees from all over the world. If you want to work with a dynamic and changing team, I think this is a great company for that. I would tell someone to start looking at job descriptions and see which one fits.

When not working, how do you spend your spare time?
I am a really outdoorsy person. This past weekend I went kayaking, and I enjoy mountain biking; I have a dog that I love to take out, and I also love to cook, especially outside in my fire pit. So, anything I can do where I can be away from the screen and be active is enjoyable for me.