Recruitment within the pharmaceutical sector has been quite stable over the last 12 months, with losses in certain departments, offset by gains in others. The pharmaceutical sector in Ireland seems to have been quasi-resistant to prevailing economic conditions, primarily due to the fact that product pipeline cycles within the sector can last between 12 – 20 years, so any intermittent instability in the financial markets have little, if any, effect on ongoing projects.

Areas such as quality within the manufacturing arms of the sector have suffered due to an oversupply of staff, combined with the shelving of many new initiatives, while areas such as corporate quality, medical affairs and sales and marketing have blossomed. Companies are placing greater emphasis on service, delivery and education regarding their products in the field.

Recent Job Losses
The main focus of job losses in the past 18 months within the pharmaceutical sector have been as a result of the numerous mergers and acquisitions that have occurred. Schering Plough and Merck merged their operations; the consequent consultation and restructuring process lead to the announcement of the winding down of operations at Schering Plough Bray. The Bray plant manufactures veterinary pharmaceuticals and 240 jobs are expected to be lost over a staggered two year period continuing into next year. Pfizer also merged with Wyeth in 2009 to create the single largest global pharmaceutical entity; however the impact of this merger has yet to be fully felt here in Ireland yet.

Plans for Expansion within the Industry
A recent announcement in the press intonated the plans by Pharmadel, in conjunction with the IDA to create a global pharmaceutical centre of excellence in Tralee, with the potential creation of over 4000 jobs. Plans are underway to make this a reality and if they come to fruition, this feat will secure Ireland’s place in the international league tables as a leader in the provision of both manufacturing and professional services for the pharmaceutical sector globally.

Recent Trends
Many companies have adapted their recruitment processes over the last year to refocus efforts on improving their direct recruitment strategy for entry-level and high volume staff. Traditionally, recruitment of specialist and senior level staff within the pharmaceutical sector has been quite difficult and recent trends observed here at lifescience.ie indicate that employers will continue to use niche and specialist agencies to source and engage these elusive high-level staff, whilst adopting new direct strategies including social media and web 2.0 technologies to improve direct resourcing strategies for high volume and easier to find staff.

Salary Variance
Salaries within the sector are quite variable at the moment, with manufacturing and quality stabilising or deflating slightly, while salaries within the corporate, medical affairs, regulatory, sales and marketing areas staying stable or inflating very slightly.

Skills in Demand
The main skill-sets in demand at the moment are within commercial and medical affairs. These departments form part of the corporate function of the pharmaceutical company and deal with sales and marketing (commercial) and regulatory, medical information, medical liaison, pharmacovigilance and clinical research (medical). There has been a definite move to strengthen these departments over the last two years by the major players in the industry, to consolidate market share in the face of increased competition and to increase the level of education of key opinion leaders in the field, enhancing reputation and brand awareness.

Recruitment Expectations
In general, I expect recent trends of increased activity to continue well into next year with companies consolidating and streamlining manufacturing operations, strengthening their sales and marketing force, while further developing their medical affairs departments. Salaries will stabilise within manufacturing operations where there is an oversupply and may inflate slightly in medical and commercial where the specific skills-sets and experiential requirements are more in demand.

We’ve all been writing web-content in our sleep, with the result that there are many new sites live and would really appreciate you taking the time to look through and them and mot importantly…LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS.

Connected Health.ie: the first recruitment site in Ireland focussed towards this growing area of the economy. A recent conference highlighted this, at which Eamonn and Brian were proud sponsors and advertisers. Brian’s LinkedIn group is almost at 50 members, please do join up if you’re active in this area.

Pharmaceutical.ie – has just been relaunched, we think its a lot more relevant and useful, with career profiles and industry advice in different sub-areas of the Pharmaceutical industry.

Biotechnology.ie – were quite proud of picking up this domain name when we did! The site is colourful, functional and will constantly evoloving according to Client and Candidate demands as things progress, like all of our sites. FYI Mr Conor Lenihan, evolution DOES exist!!!

MedicalDevice.ie – James is delighted to launch this, he also created a LinkedIn group to support it. The site is getting a lot of traffic as it’s one area of the economy as whole which seems to be gathering some momentum.

Eamonn was featured in the Sunday Business Post this week – the link is here. Apologies for the SBP site link, it’s not great, is it?!

We’ll be launching and re-launching some more sites in the next 2 weeks, announcements will be made here and on Twitter / Facebook as we go along. Outside of these announcements we’ve all had a great Summers, even though we’re not really looking forward to finishing work when it’s dark in the evenings!

As always we’re delighted to hear your feedback on the sites, particularly the new ones above.

-Brian (bhc at lifescience dot ie)

All Life Science jobseekers should check out this video: HERE.

It’s 4 Irish industry leaders: Owen Treacy (GM, Novo Nordisk Ireland), David Lloyd (Dean of Research, TCD), Joe Keenan (Director Sales & Marketing, Argutus Medical) and Michael Gillen (Bioindustry Ireland). There are various tips contained within about how to distinguish yourself from your peers, how to sell yourself to people like them in industry, and how to get that first step on the ladder.

We get a lot of call from graduates and people with <1 years experience who are seeking to advance in industry. Although there aren’t as many opportunities as 2 years ago, following the advice provided here will set you well on your way. The concept of working for free is mentioned. Although I would agree with Doug Richard that working for free is not a great idea (it can create the wrong dynamic), certainly being flexible in your approach is the way to go to get that first notch on your CV.

I’d love to hear any thoughts you have on the above.

-Brian (bhc at lifescience dot ie)

I feel the same goes for start-up company names. I would love to know how much time people spend thinking them up. They have to be short, zingy and most important of all: PSEUDO-SCIENTIFIC!!!

Some common terms:

-cel (diagnostics / life science companies)

-bio (for life science / biotech)

-pharma

-med (for medical device companies)

If you can squeeze two into your company name your chances of success are immediately doubled.

Mix these pre/suffixes with terms like vista- (Life) vas- (the cardiac system), tek-, tech- (it’s cutting edge!) or similar. If you want to absolutely guarantee success, follow the rules above and it will result in stock market floatation and a huge pay-off for founding company directors within 5 years*

Disclaimer: we are aware of the irony of our own company name!

*not a guarantee

-Brian (bhc at lifescience.ie)

Clinical Affairs Department

Typically the clinical affairs department is headed up by the Medical Director. They are responsible for the following departments.

Pharmacovigilance – reporting of SAE’s and other pharmacovigilance data of current drugs on the market and also preliminary data for drugs in development.

Clinical Trials – management of ongoing phase I-III clinical trials.

Regulatory Affairs – management of the preparation and submission of regulatory documentation to the relevant government regulatory bodies – IMB, FDA etc

Medical Information – responsible for the dissemination of technical information regarding current products to primary care providers and academia. Responsible for the training of sales force with regards to technical information and also the dissemination of information internally.

Quality Assurance – responsible for the development and management of quality systems within the department – writing up SOP’s and training other stakeholders in their implementation and application.

Key Job Profiles:

Medical Director

Pharmacovigilance / Drug Safety Officer

Medical Information Officer

Medical Advisor

QA Executive

Medical Science Liaison

Regulatory Affairs Officer

Clinical Research Associate

If you would like any further information please contact

Eamonn O’Raghallaigh MSc, LifeScience.ie – 01 6854848

Brian Christensen from Life Science Recruitment examines how the recent economic difficulties have affected the Life Sciences industry in Ireland.

The Life Science industry in Ireland has weathered the economic storm relatively unscathed. A sweeping statement perhaps? But one we believe to be true. There are a number of points to be noted when assessing the current situation.

The Brain Drain

With 1,000 PhD’s scheduled to graduate this year, are there job for these candidates? Currently, it seems, the answer is no. Reliable PhD employers like Wyeth/Pfizer have frozen recruitment due to the current merger. Recruitment has also slowed down in relation to PhD recruitment with Abbott. The overwhelming result is that more PhDs are staying in academia, and are not contributing ideas to industry. Many are seeking work in more buoyant markets and also outside mainstream science – in areas such as sales and marketing and business consultancy. However, on the commercialization of research, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.

A 7.5% increase in capital committed to start ups in 2008 was noted, which was also 26% up on 2006. Many of these start-ups are based around special incubation centres on university campuses like the Nova Centre in UCD and the Ignite Centre in Galway. The take-home message seems to be there are still attractive and viable options out there for ambitious researchers who have pioneering technology to bring to market. Recent success stories include Cappella Medical Devices in Galway and Merrion Pharma in Dublin.

Governmental Plans

For those that suggest preparation is key, our governmental organisations would tend to agree, certainly judging by recent actions. The IDA and Enterprise Ireland (EI) in recent times have sourced planning application approvals for 2 “plug and play” Biopharma campuses, one based in Galway and the other in Dundalk. This makes it easier for these bodies to attract potential Clients, although the argument could be made for the apparent lack of potential new blockbuster drugs in the current global pipeline which would warrant such sites. However, having these options ready to go means we are gearing up for the market to shift in the right direction, and positioning correctly for when new investments need to be made. Another issue on the horizon is how long can we keep hold of our magical 12.5% corporate tax rate? Obama has made it clear that it is something he is not happy about, and the EU has sent signals to similar effect. This could have a hugely detrimental effect on all sectors of our economy were it to ultimately materialise.

Recent Industry Movements

There have been a number of new investments in the country this year, including the further development of the Athlone Medical Device hub, encompassing companies like Teleflex, Utah Medical, Abiomed, KCI Medical, Georgia Tech, as well as the clinical research organisation PPD. Other investments and expansions include worldwide manufacturers like Millipore in Cork and Merck-Sharpe & Dohme in Carlow. This is encouraging when considering Ireland within the scheme of global markets; we are still an attractive place to invest. However, a number of questions still linger. The most pertinent of these would seem to be the fallout from Pfizer’s purchase of Wyeth. As Wyeth has a number of high profile plants here in Ireland, it will be interesting how Pfizer judges them in the global context of their operations. The Grange Castle site would seem to be in good hands due to its modernity, but the Newbridge site is 38 years old, so may not have a future quite so bright.

Job Areas to Focus On

On a more micro level, we have noticed a number of areas where job shortages seem to be present, at least from our viewpoint. As there has been a historical lack of biotech in this country, experience up- and downstream process engineers, as well as micro professionals with biotech experience, are strongly in demand. Regulatory affairs have been tightened up in recent times, resulting in a constant need to regulatory professionals in various areas. We are also noticed a lot of outsourcing in this area. There has been a lot of expansion in the Clinical Affairs / Clinical Research area. Larger companies like ICON and Quintiles are going strong, with numerous smaller companies making market gains with pioneering new technologies like electronic data capture (EDC). As EDC is something relatively new to the CRO marketplace, companies are still coming to terms with the regulatory adjustments necessary to accommodate it, resulting in a number of positions here. In Clinical Affairs, niche specialist roles like medical advisory and medical science liaison roles seems to be in constant demand.

Job Seeking

We have also examined how the web-savvy jobseeker who is on the lookout has adapted to these difficulties and market needs. According to our research, almost 70% of people have started to use multiple resourcing techniques, such as direct searches on search engines as opposed to just job boards. There is also a trend toward a more niche targeted jobseeker, with many opting for niche industry job sites and industry specialist portals, such as lifescience.ie. People are using social networks to connect and talk, which inevitably results in people finding jobs here too. LinkedIn, Facebook and twitter (to a lesser extent) are being embraced by the informed jobseeker. Google searches are becoming more popular as internet penetration continues to rise. In a market as tough as this, it pays to have a number of people who are taking a keen interest in any potential opportunities available, which these sites do perfectly. We see this market as continuing to adapt as new and better technologies become available. We would describe the forecast for next year as being cautious but quietly optimistic, although it will very much be governed by decisions by the global players who have made the aforementioned market shifting moves.

DO

Build a great CV. I remember my own CV as a grad – it was pretty horrendous. Here are some tips on writing a good CV:

-Leave out primary and secondary schooling info (save your Leaving Cert results possible – these are really optional).

-University info: as this is your main scientific selling point, you need to elaborate of the key courses and your research project. Convey interest and passion for what you studied, this need to come across in the well-presented CV.

-Put effort into your CV in terms of formatting. The monotone, poorly constructed CV will be overlooked in favour of a similar CV which has been created, structured and is easy to read. Some sample scientific CV templates can be found on our site here.

Network. Yes it’s an over-used cliched term but the value in a market like this is paramount. Find contacts, speak to people in industry. Most people will be more than happy to tell you about their role, and many will know someone who knows someone who might be recruiting. ~70% of all jobs are filled without being advertised! Included in this is http://lifescience.ie/. Although not many are advetising roles for companies in this market, recruiters can be an invaluable resource for inside industry information.

Search cleverly. Use Web 2.0 technologies. Add Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter (to a lesser extent) to your job searching tool. RSS feeds are key – set up a number of these so that the most relevant roles to you are flagged in real-time.

DON’T

Have your CV more than 2 pages long

References are optional

Ramble on about previous summer jobs. If they are relevant give them the requisite space, but for non relevant role, a line will suffice.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES GET YOUR MOTHER TO CALL ON YOUR BEHALF (yes it does happen)!!!!!!!!! No explanation needed I hope!

Get in touch with any comment, or feel free to add additional points underneath.

Brian (brian dot c at lifescience dot ie)

Pharma / Medical Device Sales. My colleague Richard is always on the lookout for superb candidates who have extensive experience in these areas. All of the roles on Sales and Marketing.ie are live and he is always easy to reach at the end of the phone.

In Science / Healthcare, there are a couple of areas attracting interest:

Drug Safety / Pharmacovigilance / Medical Science Liaison: This is an area we are seeing a high level of demand in. We have a number of roles available in different therapeutic areas, some requiring a Medical training, some looking for a nurse and others needing someone with a higher level qualification in the spoecific area.

Microbiology: We currently have 2 Micro lab manager position available, together with some lower level roles for less experienced Microbiologists.

Healthcare: in healthcare currently we have a couple of interesting roles in audiology / hearing aids, together with a Nurse Manager vacancy, both permanent roles with private organisations.

As always, we’re on the end of the phone to give advice, whether it’s help with a CAO form (you’d be surprised!), a graduate looking to assitance with job searching, right up to consuilting with executives looking to take the next step, so get in touch.

NOT in Science: well for me, it’s running. There seems to be a huge amount of people taking to the streets to get fit, which is great. Good luck to everyone training for the Dublin City Marathon on the 26th, for me it’s all about not overexerting myself and staying injury / sickness free until then. I’m looking to quality for Boston in under 3 hr 11 min, pressure is on!

Oh, and of course Google Wave and Dublinbikes, both of which are soooo hot right now!

Brian (brian.c at lifescience.ie)