Hi, my name is...
...Amanda, I was born in Rome from Italian and Canadian parents. As a child I was encouraged to become a “citizen of the world”. To this end I always pursued an international career. In 2010 I completed my Master’s degree in International Business and immediately after I had the opportunity to work in different international marketing and sales roles, among them setting up the distributor network in Emerging Markets while conducting B2B sales with international accounts. One day in 2013 I received a call from a Swiss company for a Marketing Manager position focused on French speaking Africa. I was more than excited to start this new adventure in Switzerland and three months later I moved to Basel! Three years down the line I successfully interviewed with Roche and made the decision to move again in order to pursue a career as an International Product Manager (IPM) at Roche Diagnostics.

My typical day at work is...
…starts around 06:00 a.m. to take the train from Lenzburg to Rotkreuz - I’m an early bird! Travelling by train gives me the opportunity to start reviewing my schedule for the day, preparing meetings and reading emails. At work no day is like the previous one: There is a routine, but being an IPM comprises very different activities and gives you many opportunities to interact with other teams. You can always look forward to learning new things. As I have a longer commute to the office, I can also benefit from working from home, which is a real advantage when you need to optimise the use of time.

The location I'm working at is...

…Rotkreuz site and it is simply amazing! The surrounding area is beautiful, especially because of the nature that surrounds the site, both lake and mountains. This part of Switzerland is particularly beautiful and in the future I would like to live even closer to the office. The facilities within Roche are generally great and the atmosphere you breathe is very international: with people coming from all over the world you can broaden your horizon every day!

My work helps Roche to...

…ensure that the instrument is available in the right quality and quantity so that we can support the diagnostic process all around the world. In the past I worked as a sales person and I never grasped the complexity underlying an existing product, but today I can say that it requires a lot of effort and coordination from all sides in order to keep things on the right track.

Roche as an employer is...

…great! Being a mother and working full time can be very demanding at times but it certainly is rewarding when you realize that you can do it! To this end I really appreciate having the flexibility to manage my time independently. This is very helpful when there is an unexpected event that requires my attention. I can say that at Roche work life balance is encouraged and respected.

What distinguishes the Roche culture from the culture at other companies you have worked for?

The culture is very open and animates exchange of opinions at all levels. People are willing to support one another. Arriving from another industry I could benefit from having the support of the team, also because our team brings together people with different backgrounds and levels of experience.