In 2004, Lisa Zak moved from recruiting into the VMS world working for ProcureStaff Technologies, which was the provider for Medtronic’s contingent workforce program. That role evolved through program management into Medtronic’s sourcing organization as the client sponsor; today, she serves as Medtronic’s director, strategic sourcing – contingent labor and HR, a role that keeps her on her toes. “I really love … working through problem situations to come up with great solutions,” she says. “It’s taking a challenge and turning it into an opportunity.”

Medtronic’s contingent worker program is deployed in the US, Puerto Rico, Ireland and the Netherlands; overall, the company hires about 10,000 contingent workers annually — about 26% of Medtronic’s total workforce — across all disciplines. Although the last two years have produced ubiquitous challenges in supply chains and labor, Zak says, “I’m really proud of how our program responded to the organization’s needs [by] partnering with our vendors to make sure that we get the right talent at the right time in probably some of the most difficult market conditions I’ve ever seen.”

Currently, Zak and her team are helping with the implementation of a new VMS system with Vndly, which goes live in mid-October. She also plans to help Medtronic define its global expansion roadmap. “We’re at an exciting time in the industry,” she says. “I look forward to seeing what new [opportunities] become of the unique challenges we face in technology as well within the evolution of the collective workforce.”