My Tritech: Chris Stebbens

When I left school I started a four year apprenticeship at Ulvertech Ltd as an Electronics Test Technician. The company manufactured subsea equipment and it was here that I really developed my passion for what I do now. I always had an interest in electronics and to this day, I have a keen interest in electronic music including building synths and audio gadgets. It seemed like a natural choice to go into a field I had a real enthusiasm for.

I first joined System Technologies as an Electronics Test Technician and continued in this role when Tritech merged with the company. I then progressed to Repair Cell Team Leader in 2005. In my current role, I manage a small team in conjunction with completing product servicing myself. It is the repair cell team's responsibility to service any customer products which come in for repair or servicing.

I divide my time between team management and job product servicing, so it can be a demanding environment juggling both aspects of the role. However, I'm fortunate to work with a great team so there is always support on hand.

I start my day with morning reporting which includes recording the test technicians on-site and a count of the items in our service inventory, so I can allocate workflow. The test technicians are responsible for diagnosing non-functional/faulty items, and then preparing a service report detailing the remedial work and parts required. I review these reports then forwarding them to the service support team, so they can prepare a quote to send to the customer.

All products received must be evaluated and quoted to the customer before we can start the service/repair. As there are KPI's monitoring the service process, there is always pressure to do this ASAP to ensure customers can receive their items back as soon as possible. I also have to ensure I dedicate time to work on servicing products myself, specifically the Gemini and SeaKing products.

I feel fortunate to be doing a job I have a genuine interest in, and although it can be a challenging environment to work in. Teamwork is essential and I'm lucky to have some great people in the team and great people supporting the team.