Stories and Viewpoints

Nearly eight years ago, on Christmas Even 2014, Martial Vanderpol decided to embark on an adventure. 

“It’s a new year,” he recalls thinking. “Let’s take a different journey, let’s see what’s going to happen.”  

Working in his native France, he decided to apply for a new role in the United States at the headquarters of what is now Viatris. When he got the job, he began working as part of the Global IT team to support commercial sales applications – just as he had in Europe – but now he was assisting colleagues throughout the world.  

“Viatris gives you an opportunity that I don’t think a lot of companies give employees: to speak to everybody all over the world and be involved in the process everywhere – Japan, Australia, South America, Europe. You have a view of all the regions, and that’s very valuable,” both personally and professionally, Martial said.  

In the United States, Martial was heavily involved in the transfer of legacy regional and local solutions to global commercial solutions when Viatris was created. It is a massive undertaking involving many applications. As the project architect, Martial was part of a small team who functioned as the single point of contact – a role that brought great responsibility, but also great opportunity. 

“That was a big challenge,” he acknowledged, but added, “You have a lot of open doors … it’s very nice.”  

Though they now live in Pittsburgh, where Viatris is headquartered, both Martial and his spouse still keep close ties to their French culture at home for the sake of their young son. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work made it possible for Martial to work from France for weeks at a time so he could stay connected to extended family there. 

The distance also brought some challenges, he noted. Though nobody could have foreseen the transition to remote work, it’s a function that he will continue to help support and refine for colleagues who work from home.  

His new focus is the IT strategy for global commercial solutions, a long-term initiative that is expected to extend to 2026. Because software markets and business needs change so rapidly, it’s a challenging assignment – but one that he is excited to tackle.  

“You have to be aware where (business and software trends) are going and be able to translate that to our workplace,” Martial said.   

He appreciates the company’s welcoming approach to new ideas in IT: “We look at your skill. If you can do it, we are going to try it.”