A highly experienced leader takes over the General Manager duties from Eve Bader. Martin Kikstein returns to the Hungarian capital from managing the global pharmaceutical company’s solution center in the Asia Pacific region.
Martin spent 10 months in the Budapest office 5 years ago where has grown fond of the city. He then moved to Kuala Lumpur to lead one of the three solution centers of Roche. As General Manager of Roche Services and Solutions (RSS) APAC, serving 17 countries of Asia Pacific, he played a valuable role in building up the business unit of the organization currently employing 750 people, as well as laying the foundations of its diverse organizational culture – so much so that the center won the Kincentric Best Employer Award in Malaysia last year.
"It feels like coming home to Budapest, yet I am fully aware that my predecessor has raised the bar very high, for which both she and the entire Hungarian team deserves recognition,” stated Martin Kikstein upon his appointment. Eve Bader has led Roche’s Budapest office since 2017, extending its portfolio with new services throughout the years. During the leadership of Ms. Bader, the company has seen major developments: employee engagement has increased significantly, while fluctuation has decreased considerably. Meanwhile, the team of 31 different nationalities, boasting numerous female managers, has expanded from 900 to 1,200 employees, prompting a move to the newest office building of Nordic Light Trio last summer.
Eve Bader will continue her career within the company group, as Finance Manager of Roche Pharma Germany. Her passionate, attentive and innovative management style has not only been recognized within the company, but also on the Hungarian market, receiving the BSC Manager of the Year award from the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) in 2020.
Martin Kikstein replaces Eve Bader from 1 January 2021. He is originally from Germany and has over two decades of leadership experience. Before joining Roche in 2011, he spent 13 years at IBM, initially in finance, then in global procurement. He believes in diversity, inclusion and in a company culture based on openness and cooperation, where everyone feels valued. He believes that this atmosphere is best to fully develop one’s skills. Martin Kikstein stated, “The Budapest office of Roche must continue to play a key role in supporting the developments of the international organization of the company.”
Roche Services (Europe) Ltd.
Roche Services (Europe) Ltd. as an affiliate of the Roche Group has been operating in Hungary since 2006. Roche has three service centers around the world: in Budapest, in San José and Kuala Lumpur. Roche Services (Europe) Ltd., located in Budapest, is the biggest office with more than 1200 employees. It supports the whole EMEA region providing global support and consultancy to more than 120 Roche subsidiaries in finance, procurement, human resources and IT processes. The service center is continuously expanding through improvements and the increasing amount of end-to-end services provided.