I got to know Hilti through the Unitech International program, and found myself doing an internship at their head office in Liechtenstein.
 
I was quickly immersed in the Hilti working culture: a challenging environment where ownership and accountability come with the freedom for you to act. I liked it so much that I applied to do a thesis internship and, after that, started my career as a product developer.
 
The intention was to build a solid base in the innovation engine of this company, to understand what sets us apart in the industry, and to prepare me for future roles. I can safely say that this is still paying off!
 
After three years of developing exciting new products, I was given the opportunity to set up a team responsible for part of our product portfolio already in the market. This allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of our customers and support them in their daily challenges on job sites all over the world. At the same time, I got to develop my own team members.
 
In 2016 I was offered the chance to move to Shanghai to create a project management department for R&D and supply projects. In the meantime, in early 2018 I have been able to take over the role of leading the entire Asia consumable development and supply organization in Shanghai. Can you believe it!? 
Here I now am, working with various stakeholders in the region to define our regional strategy, further build up the organization and executing our regional project roadmap, in a completely different working culture and for a totally brilliant opportunity - all typical things for Hilti! That’s what they’re about. If you’re up to a challenge and willing to leave your comfort zone, Hilti can offer tremendous opportunities to grow yourself and your career.

Back in 1994, I was called by a recruiter at Hilti looking to create a new role as fire protection engineer. At the time, I was a firefighter and inspector in upstate New York. I was a bit daunted to be the first fire protection engineer in the entire company, but I took a chance. A visit to Hilti’s corporate office helped persuade me and gave me a great understanding of the vision of this newly developing fire protection group.
 
My career has taken many twist and turns since then – from engineering to product development to marketing and sales. I soon realized that I had a lot to learn about the latter and did a part-time MBA through Hilti. 
 
Since completing my master’s degree, I’ve held several positions in marketing and engineering. I’ve also had the pleasure of representing Hilti’s largest engineering and product specialist team as head of engineering for North America. This has meant shaping the future of Hilti engineering with peers from around the world, an experience that’s allowed me to see engineering from a different, global perspective.
 
If I had to describe my time at Hilti, it has been truly about the people. I’ve worked with teams in various departments from all different countries with diverse educations and experiences. I’ve made friends around the world, and built strong relationships with them and their families outside the office too. We lean on each other and solve problems together. For so many in the company, it’s not about who comes up with an idea or who gets the credit, but together solving problems for our customers. Those who can’t work that way don’t fit in our culture. I like that.