Meet Sandy Lee, Teva Canada employee for 34 years

Sandy Lee’s journey with Teva Canada started back in 1988 when, newly arrived from Hong Kong, she accepted a position as a Secretary in Teva Canada’s Regulatory Affairs department. There, she discovered a wealth of support and encouragement as she embarked on her new career. Soon, she was promoted to the role of Executive Secretary to VPs in several departments, including Scientific Affairs, Compliance and Operations.

The leadership team recognized Sandy’s potential and sponsored her enrollment in Centennial College’s Operations Management programme through Teva Canada’s tuition reimbursement program. While working full time, she attended night school for three years and successfully obtained her certificate – all made possible by the company.

This launched the next leg of Sandy’s career journey at the penicillin manufacturing facility in Markham, Ontario. Since 1995, she has been the Logistics Coordinator responsible for scheduling and coordinating inbound and outbound logistics activities for three Teva sites in the Greater Toronto Area It’s a demanding role that requires flexibility, an aptitude for multi-tasking, and a strong team behind her.

“As logistics coordinator, I’m responsible for the end-to-end – from materials (API) being received at the site to the finished goods going out to our patients, to our customers. It’s a busy job but I like it,” she explains.

Sandy enjoys the challenge of navigating the changes in supply chain management, which is constantly evolving due to new technologies and systems, along with restrictions related to Covid-19 and recent shortages. “We need all the ingredients to “bake the cake” and it is my grand responsibility to ensure that we have all the necessary ingredients because our patients depend on it."

Sandy’s role has also evolved; today she shares her experience and skills as a mentor to other project team member. She is also a Teva Subject Matter Expert (SME) in the SAP software system. She says she still looks forward to coming to work each day, and is grateful to the company for her development, both professionally and personally.

“Teva Canada has always felt like a second home because of the strong sense of community here,” she said. “Even my grown-up children have memories of the Christmas parties, social events, and picnics. This company is very family-oriented. They also support the growth of the individuals and their families.”

As an example of this, Sandy’s daughter participated in Teva Canada’s summer student programme, which is open to the children of employees currently enroled in post-secondary education. She worked for two summers as a university student in Quality Assurance, which gave her a unique opportunity to gain valuable experience working for a global company.

Sandy is also grateful for the opportunity to work with a diverse group of colleagues at the three different sites – some of whom she considers her best friends.

“It’s really like going from one home to the other – at home you do the cooking, cleaning and looking after the children; at your work home you’re still helping and mentoring, and getting things done.”