Medical Technology Project Manager

Please introduce yourself and your work.

My name is Petra Krainz. I have been working as an engineer in distribution with a special interest in business matters since 2007. My activities include implementation of all customer requirements, project handling and ongoing customer support. Specifically this means identifying customer requirements on the basis of the customer’s technical documents, calculating and preparing offers, order management, planning and implementation of projects in compliance with quality standards, change management, as well as product life cycle management.

Why did you choose WILD as your employer?

While I was still at school in 2000 the opportunity arose for me to undertake an internship in technical distribution at WILD as part of my curriculum at the industrial engineering branch of Wolfsberg Secondary School for Technology.

Due to the interesting job opportunities and the diverse insights that I was able to gain at that time, my goal became to join Wild’s distribution department and make the most of the many opportunities for personal and professional development they offer. I also find the opportunity to slowly get back into my working life following a year of parental leave wonderful. Thus I have been able to get the very best start with the number of hours I wanted.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Generally there is no such thing as a typical day at work. Every day brings new challenges and tasks and it is my responsibility to organise and coordinate them internally and to be the mouthpiece of the customers inside the company.

This can include dealing with customer phone calls, rescheduling deliveries or sending an email where a quick change has to be implemented in a component or where a product is due to expire and new frameworks have to be planned, or a new project has been announced and meetings have to be scheduled. The range of tasks is extensive and requires  good organisational talent in coordinating customer enquiries to make sure that they are processed and concluded in a timely manner.

Typical aspects are the QM processes, which are prescribed internally, and which we must adhere to in our work, as well as those which must be adhered to in medical technology according to ISO 13 485.

What appeals to you about the area of technical project management in distribution? What characterises this area?

The area is characterised by distinct customer-oriented communication, and I find working on projects with new challenges that change every day particularly appealing.

The requirements grow continuously and we have to implement them to suit our customers and organise and process them in accordance with the high quality requirements in medical technology.

Our department is also characterised by distinct internal communication and cooperation with other departments. The distribution department coordinates with the in-house departments and, as a technical project manager, you are often the first point of contact and the initiator for internal processing of customer-related problems in a coordinated manner.

What skills do you need to work in the area of technical distribution and project management?

The major characteristics of this job are self-organisation and personal responsibility. In terms of job-related training it is advantageous if you have some basic technical knowledge. Without an essential basic technical understanding it is difficult to discuss technical requirements with customers at their level.

In times of agility it is important to be able to get used to new situations quickly and flexibly, to deal with them in a solution-oriented manner and to work on tasks in a process-oriented way.