From the cleanroom to commercial strategy: Baxter Healthcare’s Sheila Mutschel shares her career journey in healthtech

With more than two decades at Baxter Healthcare in New Zealand, Sheila Mutschel has built a career shaped by curiosity, adaptability and a deep understanding of how healthcare services are delivered in practice.

Today, as Head of Strategic Partnerships and Marketing for Baxter’s compounding business in New Zealand and Australia, Sheila feels a deep connection to the company’s mission to save and sustain lives.

Baxter has operated in New Zealand for over 40 years, supporting caregivers with a broad portfolio of medical devices, connected solutions and injectable therapies. 

The company’s national network of licensed compounding facilities plays a critical role in preparing medicines including chemotherapy, parenteral nutrition and antibiotics. These medicines are compounded by more than 100 highly skilled employees and support hospital pharmacists and clinicians to deliver timely, quality and equitable care to patients across New Zealand.

For Sheila, her career in compounding has taken her from technical operations, to creating customer-focused marketing campaigns, and now establishing strategic partnerships that support sustainable healthcare outcomes.

Sheila’s journey with Baxter began unexpectedly. After working as a hospital pharmacy technician in Canada, she applied for an aseptic compounding technician role in New Zealand.

“I was immediately intrigued by the opportunity to join an organisation whose products and reputation I knew well,” Sheila recalls.

“During the interview, I was struck by the precision and responsibility involved in the compounding process,” she says. “It was clear this was a service hospitals relied on, and I wanted to be part of something that directly supported patient care.”

Starting in operations gave Sheila deep insight into hospital pharmacy workflows and the real challenges customers face. This later informed her move into commercial, where she began translating technical understanding into customer-focused engagement.

“The transition to commercial felt natural. I leant on my technical experience and customer insight to build trusted relationships across New Zealand’s hospitals and oncology clinics,” she says.

This step in her career also coincided with starting a family. 

“I see this as one of the most important parts of my life both personally and professionally,” she says. “The support and flexibility I received while my partner and I raised our two young boys, enabled this time in my career to be formative rather than limiting.”

As her responsibilities grew, Sheila’s career expanded across the ANZ region, broadening her commercial perspective and leadership capability. Along the way, Baxter supported her formal development, including completion of an MBA.

Today, Sheila leads a strong team of sales and marketing professionals. Central to her leadership style is creating opportunities for others.

“I’ve benefited from strong mentors and leaders who invested in my development,” she shares. “Providing that same support to my team, through guidance, flexibility or learning opportunities, is a responsibility I take seriously, and I believe will deliver better outcomes for our customers and the patients they care for.”

Reflecting on her career so far, Sheila sees health technology as a sector rich with opportunity, particularly for those willing to explore different pathways. 

“If there’s one thing my career path has taught me, it’s that progress happens when operational expertise, technical insight and commercial thinking come together, and that’s what continues to motivate me.”