Max Fereday, R&D Project Administrator
Meet Max as he takes us through his inspiring career journey within Nidec Drives!
Read my story
Since starting in 2013 my Control Techniques journey has been varied and fast-paced. My initial role included assembling, programming & testing option modules to achieve departmental KPIs as a Production Operator. I was only in this position for a year before I was promoted to Stand in Team Leader, a role I then continued for a few years. I wanted to propel my career forward, and this position prepared me for my next step on the ladder.
This role saw me overseeing the day-to-day running of the department in the absence of the team leader. I reviewed sales requirements to utilize manpower efficiently and communicated with other departments for interdependencies. I was fortunate that this role primed me for my role as the Options Cell Team Leader. The two years I was in this position followed the same line of duties as my previous role, except for the added holiday and absence management and team Performance Reviews. Spending many years in leadership roles built upon my repertoire of skills that laid a good foundation for the role I’m in currently.
My roles have all been good experiences, but whilst in my position as Options Cell Team Leader, I saw a vacancy for an apprentice Quality Engineer come up. My sidestep into the quality team included investigating and resolving quality issues identified within Control Techniques products and processes, investigating, and resolving supplier quality issues, handling supplier visits to validate processes and to ensure conformance, direct communication with suppliers to improve performance and working within CFTs to resolve cross-departmental quality issues. I spent some time after the apprenticeship finished in the quality team before pushing myself further up the ladder.
Being involved with the production teams gave me an edge in my current role as a R&D Project Administrator. I am a familiar face, can handle and take-on line issues, and have worked with the Project Management Team and their software. Using the skills obtained in my previous roles, I have been able to collate and report project updates within the drives hardware team, plan and manage R&D projects, implement project management software across the various R&D teams, support the Product Development Director, handle the day-to-day project management software administration, and support project teams. In my current role, I am able to spend a lot of time with knowledgeable engineers, which presents a great learning opportunity for me.
I’m proud of the career I’ve established at Control Techniques and I can see that once I’ve completed my external qualifications, there will be even more opportunities for me going forward. If you’ve got the drive and the motivation to want to progress in your career, then Control Techniques is the right employer for you.