Meet Henriette Ruud, Quality Director at Chemring Nobel in Saetre, Norway. From a degree in cellular, molecular biology to her current role in managing quality, Henriette shares her career choices and varied roles with Chemring.
Can you describe your current role and responsibilities?
I started in Chemring Nobel eight years ago and am now responsible for Quality and Compliance. That includes the quality of all products going out to customers and all the raw materials coming in. I also oversee quality control in our lab facilities and customer quality issues. Following a recent restructure, I now have a larger team including three engineers, a lab manager and a quality controller. As a team, we work with all other departments following up compliance and managing the internal audit processes.
Describe your career path to date and how you got to this position.
I’ve always liked biology and physics and decided to do my degree in cellular, molecular biology. I’m interested in how things work and how one thing can affect another. That motivated me to do a Masters degree in toxicology. I helped in a lab after my Masters finished and then a temporary job came up at Chemring in health and safety. From there, I moved into a project role to implement REACH regulations and compliance.
A colleague then retired in the marketing department, and so I took on a role in marketing. This was a great experience as it enabled me to understand the customer in a different way. An experience like that has been really beneficial in my quality role, as I now see the product through the eyes of the customer and think about how they would react. In 2016 I was appointed Quality Manager, and since then the role has expanded to Quality Director with the areas of responsibilities described above.
What advice would you give anyone starting in Chemring today?
If you want to progress, you need to have a positive attitude, help others and try to see the bigger picture. You are responsible for showing people what you can do and pushing yourself forward. Chemring will support and develop you, but you need to help them to see your potential.
I also feel that Chemring treats people fairly and with equality and is respectful of diversity.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I enjoy not knowing what to expect each day I come to work. There is always something new coming up. I also enjoy being able to have an impact on what we do and how we do it. I am a people person and like working in a team with all departments. This is a very inclusive role, and building good relationships is an important part of the job. I also like trying to understand different perspectives. You learn so much from others, and that helps you develop.