Merve is Product Line Manager for Electrical Systems and Solutions EMEA at Eaton, the power management multinational dedicated to improving people’s lives and the environment with technologies that are more reliable, efficient, safe and sustainable.
Merve has been living and breathing electrical transmission and distribution for 11 years, first as a design engineer before switching to the sector’s commercial side – and now as Eaton’s lead for EMEA medium and low voltage solutions across strategy, positioning and pricing. Her career has been a fast-moving journey in every sense, previously leading tendering, sales and marketing teams throughout EMEA. She has also managed market entry strategies, sales operations, business development and operational improvements with a 6 Sigma project implementation which was the subject of her Masters’ thesis.
Plotting Eaton’s product development roadmap to meet customer needs is a critical dimension of Merve’s current portfolio. This includes shaping product strategy deployment for medium and low voltage products and transformers, as well as managing the profitability of the portfolio. It also extends to recommending, developing and pursuing long-term strategy and actionable objectives for the EMEA product line – ensuring it’s aligned to the overall global product line strategic direction. Through collaboration with R&D, segment and sales teams pursuing Eaton’s growth ambition in the core segments, in cooperation with operations and supply chain.
As Merve has evolved her career, she’s been inspired by strong female leaders, identifying in particular with themes Facebook former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg explores in her celebrated book ‘Lean In’. The ‘likeability bias’ that sees successful men liked, while successful women are deemed pushy is just one of the many challenges ambitious women face that Merve is determined to address and overcome. Now actively sponsoring female talent in her current role, both inside and outside the company, she’s keen to increase awareness of the hurdles women face in the workplace. Merve feels very much ‘at home’ at Eaton where the company’s commitment to changing the mindset around equal opportunities and the gender gap are clearly paying off. She believes strong female leaders within the company have been key to setting a positive example – one that’s now driving her own aspirations to take her career as far as she can.
Merve studied in Germany and Turkey. She has a BSc in Electrical Engineering, and an MSc in Engineering Management.
Outside of work Merve enjoys spending time with her daughter for whom she wants to set the good example of being a strong and independent professional as well as a happy and loving mother. She also loves travelling, rowing at sunrise, laughing with her family and playing FPS console games.