A Sought-After Partner
As the vice president of External Manufacturing for Siemens Healthineers, Kimberley Davies partners with more than 80 suppliers around the world to design and manufacture products that doctors and patients rely on for efficient and accurate diagnoses.
Throughout her varied and high-powered career, Davies has gravitated to both risks and collaborations. “I want to be that sought-after partner,” she says. “I want people to say it won’t work unless Kimberley is involved.”
She joined the healthcare innovation giant in 2001, and has held leadership roles in supply chain, research and development, sustainability and marketing. Between 2011 and 2017, she shepherded development of the company’s Atellica Solution, a modular medical lab system that rapidly provides results from as many as 170 diagnostic tests.
Yet when she arrived at Stevens in 1988, she worried that she didn’t belong — and not just because there were so few women pursuing engineering degrees in those days. She quickly learned she’d have to work much harder than she did in high school, and that meant asking questions.
She found that speaking up had its rewards. When she moved to campus after her first semester, she made lifelong friends and got involved in student government, Greek life and other activities.
Davies describes Stevens as “part of my fabric,” and has been active in placing students (“by coincidence, all female”) in internships at Siemens.
She enjoys mentoring and recommends that women forge those relationships early in their careers. “It’s so powerful to be able to connect with somebody who has experience and can help you network and learn the ropes,” she says.
She also encourages women to raise their hands and speak up, much as she did in those early days at Stevens. “Voice your knowledge,” she says. “It’s a game changer. And when you do it once, the second time is easier.”
Davies and her husband Billy have three daughters — Paige, Keara and Brooke — all now in college. They’ve had a lifetime of seeing their mother take risks and lead, often as the only woman in a room of engineers, academics or business leaders.
“I don’t think about males and females,” says Davies. “I just think about my skill set and what I bring to the table.”
– Karen Nitkin