Heins has worked at
Siemens,
BlackBerry,
Powermat Technologies and in public service.
Siemens Heins spent 23 years working at Siemens. He worked in several positions related to wireless technology including the
chief technology officer of Siemens' communications division and several general management roles in hardware and software.
BlackBerry Heins joined Research In Motion (now BlackBerry) in 2007. He rose through the ranks starting as senior vice president of BlackBerry's handheld unit; chief operating officer for product engineering, and finally chief operating officer for product and sales in July 2011. In January 2012, Heins was named to succeed co-CEOs
Jim Balsillie and
Mike Lazaridis as president and CEO. During his time as CEO, the company continued to struggle in a rapidly changing market. Heins was responsible for BlackBerry's development of the BlackBerry 10 line of consumer and enterprise devices. In 2012, Heins was named
Cantech Letter's 2012 TSX Executive of the Year and ranked a year later as third on a list of the worst CEOs of 2013. Heins was replaced by John Chen, a veteran Silicon Valley executive, during a November 2013 management shakeup and left the company with a $13.8 million severance. Heins found himself in the middle of a battle between two factions on Powermat's board. Since October 2015, he and some board members were the target of a lawsuit by other Powermat board members led by founder Ran Poliakane for allegedly running the company without an approved budget. Investors like
Goldman Sachs and Hudson Clean Energy backed Heins. Heins and other board members, constituting a majority of the directors, countersued. Heins resigned from Powermat in July 2016. Heins' resignation helped settle the lawsuits and allowed for new investment from several important shareholders. Heins had earlier threatened to leave due to what he called a
hostile work environment.
Public service As of 2012, Heins was on the board of the German Canadian Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Toronto. As of 2016, Heins is on the
University of Waterloo's board of governors. ==Personal life==