What surprised you at Eurofins?
I was most surprised by how quickly you can prove yourself. If you do your job well, then you will be rewarded on many levels and receive the credit you deserve. People are willing to listen to your ideas and try them out. I think it's great to have so much to say and be heard when you are relatively new in the company.
In brief, what does your team do?
We work on production chemistry, keeping track of all the methods we use for testing water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins. At the same time, we are working to optimise and modernise our methods.
What is your role and what are the accompanying responsibilities?
As Chief Chemist, I am the day-to-day manager of the chemists in our vitamin testing laboratory, and I also lead the calculation team. My day can be very varied. I am still in charge of methods, so 10% of my working day involves the same work as our chemists. The rest of the time, I am involved in areas such as procurement and development projects, and I am also the link to our quality assurance department, which looks critically at how our analyses perform and whether they live up to Eurofins’ standards. I am also part of the management team at the Vitamin Centre.