Three years ago, I joined Global Procurement for my first job at a pharmaceutical company and since my arrival, it has supported my growth. The culture and the people I have been lucky enough to work with and learn from are a credit to my success so far. Without such great people or my own dedication and passion to learning more about an ever-evolving industry, I would not be where I am today.
My name is Marianne. I am a Senior Category Project Specialist. After finishing secondary school I decided to attend university. I wanted to study something I am passionate about so I enrolled in a three-year event management course at Buckinghamshire New University, in England
After graduating with a B.A. (Hons) degree, I endeavoured to find a full-time role in a large company. I worked in different industries in the areas of Recruitment, Finance and Marketing, but soon outgrew each of the roles and felt I was capable of so much more. In September 2017, I applied for a role as a contractor in Global Procurement, supporting the execution of clinical contracts. With no previous pharmaceutical experience, this role was outside my comfort zone, but I was looking for a big challenge and felt that my drive to always achieve more would bridge the gap.
In my position as a Contracts Coordinator I made sure I got involved in anything I could to improve my knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry. I made connections with colleagues across the globe and am grateful to those who took the time to explain how Roche operated.
In 2018, I was hired on a permanent basis, which then led to my current position, a Senior Category Project Specialist, supporting the contract research organisations and patient insights vendors. I use my skills as an event manager to support teams in executing strategic projects, for example by improving processes in terms of efficiency and cost effectiveness, bridging the gap between external suppliers and our internal business stakeholders through the Roche global Supplier Day 2020, and developing new ways of working to strengthen our connection to business stakeholders across Roche.
More and more departments at Roche - including mine - are implementing agile methodologies and ways of working. That's why I have recently trained as a Scrum Master and hope to continue to build my skills in this area throughout my time at Roche.