Marzena Singh
Job Title: Procurement Manager
Sector/BU: Alstom Thermal Services, Australia
Degree(s):
Bachelor of Engineering In Computer Engineering
Graduate Diploma of Management (Technology Management)
Why did you decide to come to Alstom? After graduating from the Wollongong University, I commenced my career with Alstom in Australia in 1990. I commenced in the Alstom Industrial Products Division, in the Process Automation department as a Customer Service Engineer, then moved into technical support and training. Heading up our training centre enabled me to travel - meeting Alstom customers and developing relationships. Alstom encouraged internal mobility and diversity, which then enabled me to experience a career as a Sales Engineer, securing the North Parks Gold Mine Process control project. My career was continually at a fast pace, moving to the Projects Division where I was part of the process control commissioning team on the Eastern Distributor and Melbourne City Link projects.
Alstom threw challenging opportunities continually and I found myself in Project Management and finally in Marketing. I spent 11 years with Alstom (1990-2001), through a number of changes and had over 9 different job opportunities. I found Alstom a great company to learn and grow, with so many opportunities arising and so many people with years of experience working with you as a team.
When the opportunity arose to return to Alstom (March 2009), I brought with me 19 years of experience working in numerous business areas, including Product Management, Supply Chain, International and Domestic import / exports and Project Management. I have now been with Alstom in the Thermal Services business for 6 months in the Procurement department, focusing on supporting the tendering and execution phases, supplier management and cost saving project strategies.
What exciting projects have you worked on at Alstom? During this time, I have been working closely with the tendering team in over 9 tenders including a mill trial project. I am becoming familiar with all our suppliers and forming new partnerships. Working closely with the Procurement team and becoming familiar with the internal processes has been a focus with the vision of continuous improvements. Challenging times are ahead, and based on past experiences, I know Alstom will enable me to bring my expertise into the organisation and take my career another step further.
Why do you like working at Alstom?
I am excited about working at Alstom, and in joining I knew that I would be challenged and encouraged to increase my product knowledge at a rapid pace. Alstom is known for innovative technology solutions and creating environmentally efficient tailored solutions, focusing on decreasing green house emissions. The world is becoming more sensitive about the environment and I hope one day I can think back and say I was part of the successful team within Alstom that made a difference. I am looking at the challenges ahead positively as I know there will be many with great opportunities.
What are your goals at Alstom – what are you working to achieve? My career objectives are to work in an organisation where I can utilise my expertise, strong communication and negotiation skills in conjunction with people and management skills. It is very important to me to love what I do, to be happy to come to work and to be successful in a challenging position, where I will make a difference in the organisation. I have found the Alstom environment very friendly, multicultural and warm. Although it has only been 6 months, I feel that my career objective is being met today and will be in the future, and feel like I am at Alstom for a long journey ahead.