From Consultant to Senior Global Operations Manager

How long have you worked at i-Pharm Consulting and what are the main responsibilities of your role?

I have worked at i-Pharm for almost five years now, and I currently head up the Compliance and Contractor Care department, which falls under the Operations Team.

Tell us a bit about the Operations Team

Our team motto is 'get stuff done'. We support the Sales Team in all aspects of compliance, including pre- and post-onboarding of contractors, reviewing terms of business with new clients, conducting credit checks and more. Essentially, we provide assistance with anything that the sales consultants require help with.

How did you get to where you are now?

I started at i-Pharm as a Delivery Consultant on the recruitment side. I spoke with senior management about my desire to move into a non-sales function. Other recruitment companies might have rejected this request, but i-Pharm allowed me to create my own career path, which was really nice and ties into when we say that we allow this kind of career flexibility, it's actually true. I sat down with the ELT and explained what I wanted to do, and they created a new role for me and switched my reporting lines. This allowed me to build on my strengths and pursue my passions, rather than staying in a role that I only partially enjoyed.

What do you enjoy most about working at i-Pharm?

I really enjoy working with my manager, the team as well as the flexibility that we have. For example, being able to attend a spin class after work and possibly finish work slightly earlier is really nice, especially in a sales environment where it's very rare.

What do you think makes the Compliance and Contract Care team a success?

I've always said that success comes from hard work and basically just keeping your head down and not making waves. However, I do think it's a combination of hard work and support, because if I didn't have the support I have from senior management, my team wouldn't be as successful as it is.

What have been your proudest achievements, individually and as a team?

The proudest moment for me was qualifying for the Big Billers Trip this year. In other recruitment companies, these incentive trips are solely for the top billers and I have had that understanding for some time, so it's nice to actually be a non-sales member going on an incentive trip, especially to Cape Town!

The other achievement would be my team, to have a global presence while ensuring that everyone feels like they're part of the same team is really important. Even though I have somebody in Charlotte reporting to me, we have team meetings that are not solely focused on work or targets, and we get to know each other better. I think that the team's culture is an essential element because it can be challenging to maintain a cohesive team spirit when working overseas.

What’s something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know?

I’ve sung in front of 3,000 people before.

What would you do (for a career) if you weren’t in recruitment?

When I was younger, I actually wanted to be a dentist and I did everything, including all the subjects, to get into dentistry. However, I decided completely against it. I feel like I’d probably enjoy doing something that involves working out the answer or challenging myself because that's what I enjoy about my current role. I have a friend who’s a junior detective in the police force and she always talks about the interesting work she does, so possibly that but who knows!

If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you meet?

I would love to meet my dad. He passed away when I was eight and it would be really meaningful to meet him now, because he’s missed out on all the things I have accomplished, including recently getting married. I would enjoy sitting down, even for just five minutes, and talking to my dad to hear what he would say. Hopefully, it would be all good things!

What advice do you have for someone who wants to get into the life sciences industry?

To succeed in your industry, you have to care about it and genuinely believe that you are making a difference, even if you are on the non-sales side. Everything we do supports the sales team, and it all has a domino effect. Personally, I find working in life sciences really enjoyable and worthwhile.

Check out our Careers Site for more information on life at i-Pharm.