15/12/2021
A landmark year for Dean Grady, Senior Product Engineer at Sika Roofing, 2021 marks an incredible two decades spent with the company. Originally joining as a technical services advisor, we sit down with Dean as he takes us through his career progression, the vast amount of expertise he’s acquired through the years and his extensive fire safety work towards Sika achieving BROOF (T4) across all Sarnafil roof systems.
Starting out in the Technical Services department as an advisor, it was Sika’s ethos that initially drew Dean to the company back in 2001. “Sika’s ethos has always been centred around a commitment to doing what’s right for the customer and the industry – and that really appealed to me. They’re market leading, have outstanding products that are rigorously tested, robust specifications, are a member of all the key trade associations and their customer service is second to none. It’s a great company with great people and exciting innovations.”
Having previously worked as a site agent for a construction company, Dean brought with him widespread construction knowledge and various construction qualifications, along with a can-do attitude; a key combination that allowed him to progress quickly within the organisation. “I’m very much a doer, I enjoy problem solving and am a very practical person when it comes to work. I think it was those attributes that allowed me to progress into product engineering. It’s a role in which you have to be able to spin a lot of plates, and that’s something I’m good at,” says Dean.
As a large, forward-thinking company, Sika was able to offer Dean the opportunity, support and guidance needed to advance his career. “Sika has a huge product portfolio, which they’re always looking to add to enhance through innovation. As such, it’s a company that offers lots of opportunities. If you want to get your teeth stuck into something there’s plenty to crack on with and that’s how I was able to develop into the role hold today – Senior Product Engineer.”
As well as managing Sika Roofing’s existing portfolio and being involved in developing, overseeing and introducing new products to the market, Dean’s role also involves market research, dealing with partner suppliers, fire testing and regulations. During his time with Sika, he has also attained his Technical Membership (TechIOSH), which recognises both the qualifications and experience needed by professionals working in a range of operational health and safety roles.
His work within health and safety has in fact formed the basis for one of his greatest achievements while working for the firm – taking an instrumental role in Sika completing Extended Application Assessments, testing to CEN/TS 1187:2012 Test method 4, for the entire Sika Sarnafil range of PVC single ply membranes. Subsequently, the most common Sika Sarnafil roof systems are now all classified under BSEN 13501-5 as BROOF(t4).
Announced by the company just recently, the update is the culmination of a two-year project working closely with global fire safety testing, inspection and certification company Warringtonfire.
“The market has become acutely aware of fire safety and it is looking to industry leaders to help. We have seen for a while now that specifiers, architects, clients and building control are increasingly insisting on fire test certificates that directly reflect the exact system being installed. As it is very problematic to test every single permutation of a system, when you factor in multiple substrate types, insulation thickness and membrane type/thicknesses, EXAP testing, through an independent body, allows us to cover most variations of the system being installed. It’s taken a lot of dedication, hard work and support from within the business, but what we’ve now accomplished is a real achievement and something I’m very proud to have worked on.”
Other highlights over the years include travelling to Sarnen, Switzerland for the first time to visit Sika’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, and moving to work in product management, at which point Dean was given the responsibility for the single-ply and major accessory product portfolios. “That’s all our partner suppliers, such as Kingspan, SFS and Brett Martin,” he explains. “It’s my responsibility to manage these relationships day-to-day to ensure we’re getting the most out of the connections with what are big, market-leading companies.”
Continuing, Dean looks ahead to the future of his role at Sika: “As the company is so big and diverse, you never know where your career could take you. But I don’t see myself working anywhere else and I’d like to end my career here. ”
Despite being such a large firm, Dean says Sika has a great working culture where employees never go unnoticed, are continuously offered opportunities for growth and development, and always recognises employees’ achievements.
“The work environment is fantastic also,” he adds. “I’ve made many genuine friendships over the years with both my colleagues and our customers. If coworkers are spending time together outside of work, which I do, you know that the professional dynamic in the office is going to be equally positive.”
As we look forward to Dean’s future contributions to Sika’s Roofing team, we’d like to take the opportunity to congratulate Dean on this 20-year milestone and thank him for his continued service at Sika.