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// Case study · MedTech · Corporate IT

Leading and growing Corporate IT at MED-EL

Grew Corporate IT from around 60 to more than 100 internal employees, with senior management responsibility for its people, IT budget, strategy, and architecture.

Head of Corporate IT

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The responsibility

I worked at MED-EL from 2010 to 2025, progressing from the helpdesk through five roles to Head of Corporate IT. I held that role from 2019 to 2025, reported directly to the CEO and CDO, and was part of senior management.

60 to 100+internal IT employees, 2019 to 2025
14countries
5direct management reports

My responsibilities covered cybersecurity, helpdesk, IT operations, governance and strategy, and the IT contribution to ISO work. I was accountable for people, technology strategy, architecture, and the annual IT budget across operating and capital expenditure, including infrastructure, security, and external partners.

Building the organization

The function was already established when I became its head. The work was to develop its management layer and operating model as it grew, with most employees at headquarters and others in country teams.

I defined what each function owned and gave its managers the authority to make decisions within that remit. Shared governance and standards provided consistency, while delivery remained close to the people and sites it served. My role was to lead those managers and resolve decisions that crossed their boundaries, rather than manage every team member myself.

Applied AI inside the business

In 2023 I personally built MED-EL AI, an internal generative AI chat made available to employees across the company. Soon afterwards I added retrieval over internal knowledge.

The work combined hands-on implementation with responsibility for how AI fitted into the IT environment.

Security and certification

I was executive sponsor and led the IT contribution to ISO 27001:2022 certification for a scope covering part of medical software development at headquarters.

I participated directly in UK Cyber Essentials audits and personally carried out the work behind the Cyber Trust Austria Gold label, which MED-EL received in 2021 as one of the first two companies awarded it. These roles combined executive accountability with direct involvement in the evidence and audit process.

Career progression

  • Head of Corporate IT, 2019 to 2025
  • Manager, IT Operations, 2017 to 2019
  • Team Leader, Communications Infrastructure, 2016 to 2017
  • IT Helpdesk Specialist, later Manager of Corporate IT Helpdesk, 2010 to 2016