Your Quality Assurance

Career Guide:
Where will your QA career take you?
For pharmaceutical and biotech companies across the globe,
the cost of quality can be huge – and it’s only set to expand.
As more businesses appreciate the potential impact level of a
quality breach, the demand for Quality Assurance professionals
will only continue to grow.
But with demand increasing on a global scale, QA professionals within the
market need to understand how best to position themselves. The world
of Quality Assurance offers many avenues when it comes to evolving your
career, such as audits, complaints handling, and release of drug products
for distribution.
In this first instalment of our Quality Assurance career guide, we are
exploring the landscape of the marketplace for QA professionals – when it
comes to defining the direction of your career, how do you know which route
is right for you? We’ll look into the following:

• Drivers towards an increase in quality assurance

• An overview of the Quality Assurance landscape
• Benefits of working in contract and permanent markets in QA
• Advice on taking your QA career to the next level
Why are more companies than ever
before investing in quality?
Reputational damage
News of a quality breach within a pharmaceutical company will likely have
a negative impact on its reputation; brands can face significant damage
and consumers can really lose faith in the organisation. It’s crucial for
pharmaceutical companies to establish a strong sense of trust, and it only
takes one small breach to do a great deal of damage. It could also put
skilled professionals off working with the company as they don’t want to be
associated with a potentially damaged brand.

Cost of cure
The reputational and financial costs of dealing with quality issues can be
drastic. If there’s been a quality breach, or a company hasn’t sufficiently
invested in quality control from the outset of development, the clean-up is
costly, yet extremely necessary. The cost and effort of cure is much greater
than that of prevention.

Loss of income
Global regulating bodies, such as MHRA or FDA, are in place to ensure
the safety of all pharmaceutical products that enter the public domain. If
any issues are found this can result in a host of problems – significant fines
could be inflicted and in extreme cases manufacturing could be stopped –
resulting in even more money being lost for the organisation.
With issues becoming more widespread, many pharmaceutical companies
are taking steps to increase their Quality Assurance investment from
the outset, leading to an increase in the demand of Quality Assurance
professionals across the board.
With demand so high and so many opportunities on offer, are you making
the right choices for your QA career?
Your Quality Assurance career – permanent or contract?

Benefits of permanent Benefits of contract

Job security Structured Excellent Increased Higher pay rate Role variety
lifestyle learning flexibility
environment
What does the career landscape
look like for Quality Assurance
professionals?
Quality Assurance offers a diverse range of contract and permanent
opportunities with massive potential for progression. So how does the
world of QA look for professionals within the market?

Permanent and contract QA professionals offer different things

Contractors with varied industry knowledge are often brought in to work on
niche, complex projects and solve difficult problems. However, permanent
employees who deeply understand the internal processes of an organisation
provide huge stability. While permanent professionals are highly valuable,
they’re scarce due to the rising popularity of contract work.

There’s a rising demand for companies to hire permanent

QA professionals
Many QA professionals are enticed by the lucrative and flexible nature
of contract work, but while it is true that the pharmaceutical and biotech
industry is heading in a contract-focused direction, we are still being
met with a large demand for more permanent QA professionals – with a
particular requirement for permanent QPs (Qualified Person).
When you consider the responsibilities of permanent employees within QA,
it’s not hard to appreciate where this demand stems from. QA professionals
in a permanent environment are working on the day to day quality assurance
of a drug – giving them deep insight into the precise activities of that specific
organisation and their drug development procedures. This knowledge of a
company’s processes inside out holds undeniable value.
If you have niche skills, you’ll be able to move into the contract world faster
Typically, the natural career path for most QA professionals within pharma and biotech involves carving
out a career in a permanent position before advancing into a contract role once they’ve developed
the necessary skills. Due to the complex nature of contract QA roles, it’s highly unlikely that a junior
professional would start their QA career in the contract world. However, the permanent experience
required before the move will likely differ depending on the area of speciality.
For example, someone who specialises in gene therapy will likely be able to progress to contract in a
shorter space of time than someone working in the chemical market. The demand for talent within the
therapy area really will drive the level of experience contract hiring managers will be looking for.

Permanent QA experience is an excellent grounding for your career

Whether you’re looking to advance your QA career in the permanent or contract space, learning your
craft within a permanent QA environment allows you to acquire a library of highly desirable skills that
managers looking to make senior appointments will find appealing. A good permanent grounding
within QA gives you the space to grow and develop as a professional, working on a variety of different
technical aspects can also offer real clarity and help to inform big decisions about career direction and
specialisation areas.

QA offers a world of diverse opportunities!

One of the most exciting things about the QA space is the amount of varied opportunities available
across all levels of seniority. Whether you are looking for a role as a CAPA expert, auditor, validation
specialist or QA manager – there is a diverse range of positions available within a QA department.

For hiring managers, trust is key

Above all else, the make-up of an excellent QA professional is trust and reliability. Once you’ve
established a strong grounding within a permanent environment, you’ve laid the foundations for a
successful QA career within the pharma and biotech space. This experience, matched with the proof
that you’re a reliable professional, will give you the tools to reach the next level of your career - whether
that’s in a permanent or contract environment.
Advancing your Quality
Assurance career
Whether you want to advance you career within a permanent or contract
environment, it’s important for you to have a clear plan in place to achieve
your goals.
And there are key things to consider when looking at development across
both permanent and contract markets.

Going to the next level in the permanent world

For the pharmaceutical industry to flourish, it’s essential that companies
have numerous Quality Assurance professionals in place on a permanent
basis. A healthy balance of contractors with niche knowledge and
permanent employees with a clear oversight of how an organisation
functions makes for the perfect combination.
There are numerous opportunities for professionals to advance into senior
positions in a permanent Quality Assurance environment, but it is important
you have a full understanding of all the opportunities available to you before
taking the next steps.
There’s no blueprint for identifying the type of pharmaceutical companies
that offer the most exclusive opportunities for permanent development – it
really depends on how each business is set up. From a big pharmaceutical
entity to a small consultancy – organisations at every cornerstone of the
pharmaceutical and biotech landscape have a need for permanent senior
QAs. But it’s important to determine which companies offer the best
opportunities that are in line with your career plan.
If you see your career developing in a permanent environment, take a
careful look at the companies you’re considering sticking with on a long-
term basis. Make sure that you are choosing a company that offers room
for progression and a route for you to really excel. If you don’t see a clear
progression path in your current company, perhaps it could be time to
explore your options.
Moving into contract QA
If you’re seriously considering moving into the world of contract, how do
you know that contract hiring managers will view you as being ready to
make the transition?
It’s a big thing to consider, but asking yourself the following questions may
help to determine whether it’s something you should seriously consider:

Do you have strong business analysis skills?

Having an appreciation of wider business implications is key in the contract
world. You’re more likely to be reporting directly to senior stakeholders, so
being able to balance a technical understanding with overarching business
demands is key. Good communication is also a crucial trait for
QA contractors.

How varied is your technical knowledge?

Due to the complex nature of the projects you’ll be working on, and the
stark variations in your day-to-day tasks, varied technical knowledge is key.
Quality experience across a range of products within both a sterile and non-
sterile manufacturing environment, such as solid doses, creams, ointments,
liquids and injectables, will demonstrate real versatility to a hiring manager.

How loyal does your CV look?

If you’ve stayed at a company for several years it shows that you’ve
established a strong understanding of company processes and protocols.
Depending on your responsibilities, it also demonstrates that you’ve
obtained a variety of skills and are ready to take the next challenge.
What are your specialist skills?
Depending on your skillset, you may be able to make a quicker transition
into the contract world. Across the board, biotech companies are struggling
to find professionals with competence in the areas of ATMPs, gene therapy,
cell therapy, and Biologics. Hiring managers looking for professionals
with these in demand skills are likely to consider professionals with less
experience on their CV.

Above all else, it is important to ensure that the move to contract is right for
you on both a personal and professional level. While the increased flexibility
and pay rate can seem attractive, it is also important to remember the
variables when it comes to working in changing locations, because it could
lead to a huge shift in your lifestyle. Contract work comes with massive
positives for QA professionals, but take the time to consider everything
before you seriously start to consider your choices.

Contractor models
With so many avenues to set yourself up as a contractor, knowing where to
start can often be confusing. At Real Life Sciences, we offer support when
it comes to global contractor models and have expertise surrounding all the
regional variances of contracting. It’s important to pick the option that works
for you and your career, and that’s why we’re here to help you make the
right decision for your career.
As your global partners in Life Sciences recruitment, we can offer you the best
opportunities with leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies across the world.
Over the past year, we’ve placed over 1,000 professionals in Quality Assurance
positions across the globe, and 700 of those roles were in Europe.

United Kingdom
Netherlands
& Ireland

228 57

Belgium Germany

71 141

France Switzerland

169 36
At Real Life Sciences, we call our approach ‘Inspired By You’ – and that’s
because we’re truly inspired by the work being done across the Life Sciences.
As partners in Life Sciences recruitment, we have a responsibility to ensure that
we’re making a positive impact towards the contribution of an industry impacts
so many people.

Working in Quality Assurance, your role really does change lives and it’s
important you feel satisfied and fulfilled every day. In a field with so many diverse
opportunities, it can often be overwhelming to decide which path to follow and
what the next steps should be. Our consultants don’t just place candidates in
roles, we really get to know you. By understanding who you are, we’re able to
provide tailored advice and help to determine what the next best step is for your
career. We take everything into account so that you can work in an environment
that really allows you to thrive and make a real difference.

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