Generalist and Specialist Rolled into One | Tobias Wenk
No risk, no fun? But not when it comes to our safety and health. Sometimes it’s simply more important to play it safe. Tobias, risk and quality manager, knows a thing or two about that. An effective risk management is vital with medical technology in order to minimize the risks of a medical device. That’s why Tobias analyzes and assesses our products and their application over their entire life cycle.
Top priority: Placing safe products on the market
In September 2016, Tobias joined the WEINMANN community; he’d already made initial contact with the company many years earlier: “At university we had a trip to WEINMANN Emergency. While there, I realized what a really nice company it was.” So I decided to write my thesis in the Advance Development department at WEINMANN Emergency. Despite a couple of years working in another company after graduating, he never lost contact with WEINMANN Emergency: “While I was doing my thesis, I established friendships here that I still have today.” When a job as risk and quality manager became vacant, he applied straightaway. He’s now responsible for placing safe products on the market and ensuring they stay safe there. Safety for patients and users is always Tobias' top priority.
Guardian of ISO 14971
He accompanies the product throughout its entire life cycle. But given the number of products involved, he can’t look after all of them. He’s responsible specifically for MEDUVENT Standard and MEDUMAT EasyCPR. For these products, Tobias applies ISO 14971 and continuously reviews its implementation. The standard describes a systematic approach to risk management for medical devices and aims to ensure that the risks posed by medical devices are known and controlled and are acceptable compared to the benefits. For this purpose, Tobias regularly organises and moderates risk meetings in which risks are first analysed and assessed in teamwork, with different roles in the project. Suitable risk control measures are then jointly discussed and adopted.
Risk management is a team sport
Due to the complexity of the products and the resulting variety of topics in risk management, Tobias has many different interfaces in the project. As a risk manager, you should also look beyond your own nose and have an understanding of the different requirements and needs of your colleagues. “That’s precisely what I love about my job. I’m not working on my own, but always collaborating with many various colleagues. It really is a true team sport,” says Tobias. Being able to accompany his products over their entire life cycle is something he also really enjoys: “My work doesn’t stop once the products are ready. I have to keep an eye on them to see what happens to them in the market and check whether they continue to be safe.” He also needs to assume this supervisory function in his role as quality manager His main task here is to evaluate development results and ensure compliance with internal processes as well as to improve these processes. In addition to safety, he also focuses on the quality of products and processes.
People are the top priority
More than anything else an analytical mindset and communication skills are therefore fundamental to his job. “You also need to be both a generalist and specialist for risk and quality management,” adds Tobias. You need to have broad knowledge of the technology and application of the products, but also be a technical expert in your field. Tobias wouldn’t work anywhere else than WEINMANN Emergency. It’s not just working for a company that develops meaningful and interesting products, but it’s also the interaction between colleagues that he really appreciates. “We discuss issues on an equal footing, are goal-oriented and, as a young father, I can also confirm the good life-work balance. The focus is on people at WEINMANN Emergency,” says Tobias.
Five quick facts about Tobias
- In my job you are allowed to think analytically, to help shape, to moderate, to discuss.
- My everyday work is characterised by risks and side effects.
- My colleagues say I am solution-oriented and convincing.
- WEINMANN Emergency is a modern and meaningful employer for me.
- At the weekend you can find me with my dog in nature, with or without my guitar on the couch, at a concert, etc.
