Meet the Team: Interview with Robert Hodge – Senior Director, Corporate Planning

Can you describe your day-to-day role at FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific?

As Senior Director for Corporate Planning, my role involves providing leadership and coaching to the managers of several departments within the Company including Corporate Planning, Corporate Communications, Shipping/Logistics, and Information Technology. My primary responsibility is to act as a facilitator; removing obstacles, helping to identify and solve problems, and providing guidance to help my teams excel at what they do. Additionally, I spent a lot of my time building teams and managing corporate projects, such as our integration of the Shenandoah business, and the project to take over commercial operations of the Wako US Lab Chemical, LAL, and Automation business units, and now our singular focus on life sciences.

How has your professional and academic background led you here? What are some of your career highlights?

I have worked in the Information Technology (IT) field for a long time – since even before it was called “IT”. Throughout my career, I have been able to experience and directly implement many tech “firsts” for companies I worked for – first networked PCs and file servers, first internet access, email system, remote access, website and ecommerce, and many more. These collaborative, cross-functional IT projects helped develop my large-scale project management skillset and my focus on leveraging technology to improve business functions and solve enterprise problems.

I joined FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific as IT Director, and was immediately able to apply past experiences to some of the challenges facing the company at that time. After successfully navigating several projects and IT improvements, my role was expanded into "Shared Services", which involved reorganizing and managing additional departments, as well as building new corporate functions (such as Trade Compliance, and more recently building out a Corporate Planning team).

What are your passions outside of work?

I enjoy spending time with friends and family, especially my four grandchildren. My wife and I like to travel extensively, and we particularly love traveling throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. I dabble in creative activities, such as oil painting and sculpture, and I am an avid football (soccer) fan – I don’t play anymore, but I still follow the English Premier League and my team, Arsenal FC.

What attracted you to FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific, and how has the Company evolved since you joined?

My career has spanned several industries, but always working for companies providing equipment and services to help other companies be more efficient and profitable. After leaving my last company, I wanted my next role to be with an organization that had a more inspiring purpose. I came up with a few selection criteria to help guide my search, and FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific ticked all those boxes. They were in one of my industries of interest, they were a technology/R&D company, they were experiencing rapid growth, but most importantly they contributed to end results that had a positive and tangible impact on peoples’ lives, providing therapeutics to treat diseases and helping families have children.

Since joining, the Company’s growth has continued to accelerate, and with that has come all the growing pains you might expect when transitioning from a smaller company to a large multi-site, multinational organization. During that time, Irvine Scientific was acquired by FUJIFILM, and we have acquired other companies for continued growth. This has demanded a lot of evolution within the company, and has given me opportunities to work on a number of post-merger integration and large global IT projects - which I enjoy.

FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific is a worldwide leader in the innovation and manufacture of cell culture media solutions, can you describe how the Company’s various teams work together to deliver unrivalled service and quality to customers?

FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific is certainly a quality-driven company, and there is a distinct focus on customer service, from top management and throughout all levels of staff. I think it is simply ingrained in our culture to collaborate and find solutions to ensure that our customers receive the best possible experience and we meet all of their needs.

In what ways does the Company actively engage with the local community? And why is this important?

We support a number of local charitable initiatives, from cleaning trash at our local beaches to fundraising for the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). We also have longstanding ties to local universities, and we offer a range of internship opportunities to students, some of whom join us permanently after graduation.

What do you think sets FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific apart in terms of its vision, technology, and impact on research?

Companies are their employees. I know that isn’t necessarily about vision and technology, but the reality is that what sets us apart is our people. We have so many bright, talented, and experienced employees who pride themselves on perpetuating our culture of quality, innovation, and service. We are "ALL IN" on taking care of our customers, and this is what sets us apart and makes all the difference in what we deliver and how we deliver it.

 

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