Rachel Penri, Assistant Project Manager
Meet Rachel as she takes us through her inspiring career journey within Nidec Drives!
Read my story
After over 9 years at the company, I have had a diverse career that’s been full of opportunities.
My initial role at Nidec Drives, was a Production Operator in the UK Manufacturing Site. This role required me to work on the production side of drives where you work closely with your team and have daily targets to meet. I was then encouraged by my team leader to apply for an opening as a Leading Hand. Although nervous, I applied and was successful. This was a big step up from my previous role as it required a different skill set. I needed to learn interpersonal skills to be able to handle different types of personalities, managing the running of the line, and recognising talent within the team and encouraging people to take their next step. All this experience prepared me for my next role as Training Co-ordinator.
So, I underwent an internal course called Train the Trainer, and whilst on this course, one of the training team recognised something in me and put me forward for a Co-ordinator role. As a Training Co-ordinator, I grew so much as a person. It helped build my confidence and ultimately, I ended up teaching the Train the Trainer course, which I found rewarding because I know how valuable that course was to me. After numerous years in the role, an opportunity came up that allowed me to look towards a new challenge.
I’d been very closely involved in the UK Manufacturing Site and the processes there, but I wanted to see what I could contribute to the company outside of that, this is where I saw the position of NPI (New Product Introduction). Working with Research & Development, Procurement, NPI and Manufacturing teams to help improve the current NPI process, and take the product from Research and Development and introduce it into the Manufacturing Site. This was a role I really enjoyed but once again, my manager at the time encouraged me to think about my next career progression. I expressed that the Project Managers inspired me and eventually I’d like to try my hand at actual Project Management. My manager then created the Assistant Project Manager position I currently hold today.
This role requires me to collaborate with different departments to ensure the concept of a product is brought to fruition. I’ve learnt the importance of open and regular communication, differing opinions and perspectives, ensuring everyone in the project feels valued and respected and ensuring that we are all working towards the same goal. Project Management is constantly evolving, and rapidly progressing in line with the products we make. The experience that I have got today is going to stand me in good stead, with my end goal to become a Project Manager.
Nidec Drives is the kind of company that hires people who have a bit of something about them, a spark. They constantly look for talent within teams and promotions are definitely possible if you’re prepared to put yourself out there and if it wasn’t for those people recognising what I had to offer, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today.