People at Sartorius: Kajal Patil

How a Thirst for Knowledge and the Courage to Take an Unusual Career Path Made a Pioneer

Kajal Patil has always been eager to explore and learn new things. That is why her career path – at the first view – does not appear to be very straight forward. After diverse roles in global biopharma groups, she found a position at Sartorius in which she benefits from her experiences every day. Together with her team, Kajal steers a collaborative learning platform for Sartorius customers and employees that aims to improve the understanding of emerging technologies in biopharma. 

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Looking at Kajal's resume, one has the impression of reading about several careers rather than one of 13 years: After obtaining her master’s degree in biotechnology from the University of Mumbai, she started her career with an internship at a biotech manufacturing company – and quickly realized that a career in research and development was not for her. “I am a people person,” Kajal says. “I enjoy connecting and networking with people much more than performing experiments in the lab.” She continues: “Nevertheless, I wanted to work in an environment where my educational background would pay off and I would be able to thrive.”

The Early Stages: Learning and Thriving

And that’s when the journey began: Kajal took on a variety of roles at big global life science corporations in India and got a feel for a wide range of functions. From Customer Service to Product and Corporate Marketing, to Sales and Product Management, to Project and Program Management.

Today, I feel like I have a full perspective of how an organization works – and I benefit from it every day.

Kajal Patil, Manager of Sartorius Academy

“I wanted to understand how the businesses are run,” Kajal tells. “While being in the different roles, I even learned about things that were completely outside my scope, for example about Supply Chain, Finance or Human Resources. It was in my role as a project manager where I began to understand how the dots connect. Today, I feel like I have a full perspective of how an organization works – and I benefit from it every day. It is worthwhile to mention that the learning continues.”

In 2019, now mother of a newborn, Kajal and her family moved to Singapore. As chance would have it, she became friends with someone at Sartorius who suggested a job. “I had already heard of the company, and when I was ready to get back to work, I applied and got a job,” Kajal recounts.  

Daring to Grab an Opportunity When it Arises

At Sartorius, Kajal started off in Business Process Improvement while also dedicating time to the project management for a new collaborative learning platform for both Sartorius employees and customers, now known as the Sartorius Academy. “Back then, the Sartorius Academy was just an idea in the minds of the leadership team,” she remembers. “When things got more serious and the idea needed a full-time project manager, my boss would have been a good choice for that position, but he had planned to go on parental leave. So, I took the opportunity.”

Kajal started building the Sartorius Academy from scratch with the support and ideas coming from cross-functional teams. “I defined the team structure and profiles – including the team lead role – and even created the job descriptions. Funnily enough, at the time it didn’t occur to me that I could be the one to fill the lead role someday.”

Only when switching into a program manager role and prototyping courses for the academy, did it dawn on her that this could be her next step. "The team lead role would need a customer-centered perspective, biotech knowledge, sales and marketing expertise and project management skills.” She had all this. But she hesitated. Did she have enough experience? Had she been with the company long enough for this move? “I talked to some peers who encouraged me and then I just dared to give it a try. My new manager at the time supported me, we went through the whole interview process and here I am, the Manager of Sartorius Academy.”


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Running the Academy

Kajal’s team designs and conducts global learning programs on emerging trends and technologies in the biotech industry. To do this, they bring together external experts from the biopharma industry and  Sartorius experts from Corporate Research, Application Services, Sales, and Marketing. “We learn so much throughout the process of a course development. And every course poses new challenges. We need to be creative in our thinking to come up with suitable solutions,” Kajal says as she describes what she enjoys most about the job.

I appreciate the openness within the company, it truly lives its values. This is the best experience I have had so far throughout my career journey.

Kajal Patil, Manager of Sartorius Academy

“I never thought I would be working in this position someday,” Kajal concludes. “Now that I am working here, I feel lucky. I appreciate the openness within the company, it truly lives its values. This is the best experience I have had so far throughout my career journey.”