Been in industry for about 7 years, with experience on the bench, project management, commercial, and portfolio strategy. Although I have an MBA, I have a lowly BS in a life sciences discipline. Something I still can’t wrap my head around is the job gating for PhDs for non research specific roles.

External/internal innovation, search & evaluation, new product planning, corp VC, institutional VC, R&D strategy, and even the more finance or generalist roles like Biz Ops even require PhDs at many biotechs. At least in the JD.

Then I’ll look on workday (at the big pharma at work at) or on LinkedIn and they’ll have a PhD in like Engineering or Physical Chemistry and be on the S&E team for Immunology. Half of the CVC team at my company have non-life sciences PhDs, but they do all have a PhD. Is this just an arbitrary academic gate?

Hi everyone! I'm the recent chemistry grad (B.S., May 2026) who posted last week about my first interview for an entry-level Associate Scientist role in process R&D. Thanks again for all the advice, it really helped.

Quick update: a couple of days after my video interview with a scientist on the team, the company's talent acquisition team reached out for a 30-minute phone screen, which I had today. It was short and friendly:

-Work authorization: she asked whether I'd need sponsorship now or in the future. I don't.

-Salary: the posted range was $70–80K. I said I was comfortable in the mid-to-upper part of the range, and when she asked for a specific number, I said $76K. She said that was "absolutely doable."

-Availability: she asked when I could come in for an on-site visit, and I said I'm free all week.

-Next step: a 3-hour on-site visit with a tour and meetings with the managers. She's lining up everyone's schedules and will get back to me with a date.

My questions:

-What usually happens during a 3-hour on-site for an entry-level process chemistry role? One-on-ones, a lab tour, technical questions, a presentation, lunch?

-Should I be ready to present my research again, even if they didn't ask?

-What kinds of questions do managers usually ask at this stage, technical or behavioral?

-Was $76K a reasonable number for an entry-level Associate Scientist in the Boston area, or did I leave money on the table?

-Any tips on what to wear, what to bring, or questions to ask the managers?

If anyone has been through a process like this, I'd love to hear how it went. Thanks

When interviewing for a scientist job at a small biotech, what questions should you ask the interview panel that are most informative outside of runway time, exit strategy, and next funding milestones?

To find out things like: Is the science realistic? Are they doing something other companies cant do? Do they put resources in the right areas? Does the C-suite make things difficult? Are a few personalities ruining things for everyone else?

I was wondering what everyone’s thoughts were about the new ngs tech Roche came out with last year. It got a good amount of news coverage, but since then there hasn’t been any news. How does it compare to its competitors?

Would it be a good idea to apply to join / make a move from a competitor/start up company?

Represents about 20% of PDAC.

I was interviewing for AD Data position at Novartis and went thru several round of interviews and finally met with the Executive Director in the final round. I believe the interview went 7/10 but I felt the ED was genuinely interested for instance they mentioned to reach out via email if I have any question related to role or team anytime.

The call was on last Tuesday, from my experience (switched 3 jobs in 10 years) I have always gotten a call from HR very next day for all the jobs I have secured in the past, for this one though it will be almost a week tomorrow but no communication from HR.

Should I stop thinking or expecting about this job? It’s been really tough to just ignore and focus on other things as I really want this role.

I don’t want to reach out to Project Coordinator or the HR right now or at least by end of this week.

Asking for your opinion if you’ve interviewed with Novartis recently, how long is their decision making process! How long cbefore they reach out to you if you secured the job?

For some context I got hired as a CW last spring after I got my degree in Biology and started off in glasswash/autoclave. Got bored of it so I went into production support (buffer solutions and media) and got my full time which I liked it at first. Now due to my company being bought out, many changes have been put in place that there seems to be no chance at growth or transfer to other departments (I’m also working nights so there’s no networking with QC/MSAT/MicroQC face to face). I worked hard to learn and be trained in my department just to be told no promotions for anyone this year. Job isn’t hard but there’s no reason to stay since they’re not offering reasonable growth within manufacturing unless I transfer somewhere else. Maybe im wrong to want to be out and/or it’s just the company, but i dont want to be stuck at this job with no guarantee for promotion or chance for better opportunities. I wanna give the industry another chance but most likely not at this company as long as they stay on the path they’re on. I wanna know do i stick in manufacturing at different company, transfer departments within my company, try to go into R&D (originally what I wanted but my site doesn’t have it), etc

I’ve read and watched what I can regarding Elizabeth Holmes and theranos, and what I don’t understand is that her tech proposal was self evidently not possible. At least from what I’ve read, her earliest concepts were shut down due to a basic lack of understanding of how blood testing works.

We all understand how she misled investors and venture capitalist, but theranos had well respected scientists and chemists etc on the payroll for a good period of its lifetime. I know Ian Gibson tried very hard eventually to raise his concerns about the Edison prototype, but what I don’t understand is how there was ever any period he thought this could work. Like he knew what the Edison was trying to achieve and for whatever reason didn’t see it as impossible (to begin with).

The same goes for all of the technical and scientific employees at Theranos - again I understand to some degree that the corp worked in its own vagueness, but I’m not sure I understand how there was any period of time with so many learned people were willing to invest their efforts into something that apparently just has no scientific basis

I hope my question makes sense-it was one of the things I watched the TV series to try to understand better but it actually made me more confused. The show is very clear in explicating that Holmes is just not operating in the real world from the beginning. As in, the fundamentals of chemistry weren’t there.

Again, I don’t ask this to criticise anybody who was involved in that process who wasn’t actively defrauding people, but rather me trying to understand I suppose the specifics of where Thanos stopped being viable versus being a complete fabrication from the beginning

I'll be looking for employment soon, and I'd like to hear some perspectives on industry roles and environments where I could reasonably expect to be competitive. I'm particularly interested in

• The Swiss biotech/medtech ecosystem
• The US biotech/medtech ecosystem (although I'm not a fan of the employment culture and I don't feel totally safe moving there with the current political situation)
• Advice on how to pitch my background for different roles
• What level I could likely break in at
• Suggestions on companies that might be a good fit

About Me:
I'm Canadian, and I'll soon be defending my PhD in Computer Science at a top-tier Canadian university. My dissertation focuses on medical applications of AI, and not in a soft way--I'm doing real math and building original AI/ML frameworks from scratch. Here's the neat thing, though: my background is immunology, and I have 8 years of prior experience in the medical field between an MSc in Medicine and five years as a research associate, doing transcriptomics and statistical machine learning. I published more than 10 journal papers in that time, and countless more conference abstracts, and my research was the foundation for diagnostic platforms that are now commercially available in the US and Europe. I consider myself early to mid-career, but what do you think?

My Career Objective:
I want to stay at the intersection of AI and medicine. I have deep experience in both, and I'm fluent in their languages. I see myself in a role where I can take the lead on working out solutions to challenging problems in medicine, and think strategically. I'm targeting industry, not academia. I do not intend to post-doc.

Looking forward to hearing your perspectives and advice!

Has anyone here ever worked at aura biosciences based out of Boston? I'm considering applying to an associate director position they just listed but can't find many reviews.

So my last job was QC, small group in a medium-sized facility. My department got along really well, but thats not to say we didnt have our pet peeves or moments of complaining about each other. We did, but ultimately we were a tight-knit group.

My current job is R&D at a small start-up and we’re all in the same open-concept office. There is so much whispering in this place. I have not experience the amount of whispering in my entire life, including middle and high school! It feels like such a hostile atmosphere. Like, someone can be talking shit literally behind ur back.

I want to clarify i’m not saying talking about others is inherently bad, we’re human, i get it. At my last place we did gossip and complain about others, but at least it happened in a place removed from the individual. I feel like whispering about ppl in an open-concept office is just so weird and disrespectful. I understand that this is only my point of view, so the whole picture could be different. I’m posting bcuz i just feel so paranoid all the time at work. Am i just being too sensitive? Please be real with me, did i have it extremely lucky at my last place?

I am a scientist at a small biotech, trying to decide where to take my career next.

My background is mainly in pharmacology - in vivo safety/efficacy, CRO oversight, and leading research programs across several therapeutic areas.

Over time, I’ve taken on more clinical work, including clinical data analysis and review through EDC systems, regulatory submissions, PI discussions, and clinical publications. I’m now the go-to person with detailed questions about our clinical data.

I could keep building on my preclinical/translational background (I know there is still a lot more I can do there) or pursue clinical science and clinical development more deliberately, with greater involvement in trial design, strategy and work closely with CMC. I would like to hear from people who have worked in both areas, made a similar move, or hired for these roles.

1. How do the two paths compare in terms of long term opportunities and career flexibility for someone with my background?
2. What experience would be most useful to gain now if I wanted to move further into clinical? Is not having MD or other related degrees a downside?
3. If you made this transition, what do you wish you had known beforehand?

I would appreciate candid advice from anyone who considered or made the move.

I am in the US - at one of the biotech hubs, if that matters. Thanks!

Coming from clinical practice (PharmD) and have an initial phone screen scheduled for this role. No salary range in the listing. Any insight? My understanding is the role’s activities and culture will depend heavily on the sponsor you are put with? Thanks!

I defended my PhD in chemistry a little over a year ago and managed to secure a role at an instrument vendor tangentially related to pharma/biotech. However, the experience that I’ve gained there doesn’t seem to have helped my prospects for pharma/biotech and I’m worried about ending up siloed and stuck working in an area I hate (Oil & Gas/Environmental) while the actual life science skills I gained from the PhD atrophy. I did have 2.5 years of industry experience in materials/medical device work prior to the PhD which helped land the role after my PhD and helped get a few interviews in big pharma so far but even with referrals I’ve had better luck with vendors indirectly related to pharma (Agilent, DuPont, Cytiva etc.)

I know that postdocs aren’t a requirement for industry and often times don’t count as experience but I was curious if a postdoc at the FDA would be different since it would be at the main regulatory agency for the industry? I have an offer from a group at FDA and am also waiting to hear back on two offers for application scientist roles at major vendors for biopharma and a third with a CRO so I was curious if an FDA postdoc would be worth the lower pay out of those options if my long term goal is pharma?

Thanks for any insights.

Canadian speciality pharma sales rep with 11 years of experience working in big pharma. I’m at my 3rd big pharma company at this point in my career. I have diverse functional experience from commercial to medical affairs. Currently at $160K base plus 22% target bonus (but only got gross 7k bonus this year for H1 because we were at 70% to forecast so bonus was really sad). Total comp includes access to company car and all associated car expenses. Job requires a lot of travel and some weekend work.

Sometimes I feel like I’m behind in my base salary given number of years in the industry and advanced degree. Am I out of touch or have I just been reading too many American pharma subreddits? Haha

Putting aside all the pessimism about the job market, I’m curious how people gain more ownership and broader experience in biotech in a normal-ish market.
I have a PhD in life sciences and am relatively early in my industry career. My current role has a pretty limited scope, and I've tried to learn more about the business and product side of things, but haven't had much luck. Internal mobility is also limited.
I’ve started looking at external opportunities, but I’m worried about ending up in another role where I’m just doing narrowly defined technical work.
For those who’ve managed to gain more ownership or move into more strategic or product-facing roles, how did you do it? What kinds of positions should I look for, and what should I ask during interviews to gauge opportunities for growth?
I'm not expecting to make high-level decisions right away. I just want to be in a role where I can develop a broader skill set, learn more about different aspects of the industry, and have room to grow.

​

I’m interested in hearing the views of people currently working in the pharmaceutical industry in Europe, particularly in Belgium, Italy, Germany, and the UK, or other European countries.

Since Emma Walmsley’s departure as GSK CEO in September 2025, I’ve become increasingly concerned about what appears to be happening within the company.

Starting around October 2025, I personally became aware of numerous employees (500+) leaving GSK, some apparently through formal performance-management processes and others in the context of organisational changes. I’ve also heard of additional cases through professional contacts.

More recently, GSK has announced plans to cut approximately 1,225 positions, according to reports I’ve seen. There have also been major changes involving sites, including the closure of the Gembloux site in France ( many many people are laid off) and Dresden (site is shutdown) in Germany.

Looking at these developments together, I’m concerned about the future of some of GSK’s European manufacturing and R&D operations, particularly in Belgium and Italy. There is speculation among people in the industry about possible site sales, further restructuring, or closures, although I don’t know which of these possibilities will actually materialise.

GSK bad performance is partly rooted to the poor quality of science in GSK vaccine, too many employees, incapable scientific leadership team hailing from Belgium and Italy, and laid back culture. I totally get why GSK vaccine performance has been so bad. And on the top GSK is competing with giants like Merck and Pfizer and Sanofi.

What concerns me most is not just GSK itself, but whether this reflects a broader trend across the European pharmaceutical industry. Are companies increasingly reducing their European workforce, moving activities to other regions, consolidating manufacturing, or using performance-management processes as part of workforce reductions?

I’d particularly like to hear from people working in pharma in Europe:

- Are you seeing similar restructuring and redundancies at your companies?

- Are Belgium and other established European pharmaceutical hubs becoming less attractive for investment and manufacturing?

- Are companies shifting more R&D, process development, or manufacturing activities to the US, China, India, or other lower-cost locations?

- For experienced professionals in CMC, process development, MSAT, and manufacturing, how does the job market look at the moment?

I’m interested in hearing genuine experiences from people working in the industry, rather than speculation or company-bashing. I’d like to understand whether what I’m observing at GSK is an isolated situation or part of a much larger change in the European pharmaceutical landscape.

Hello fellow bioprogrammers, how would you approach validation of robot arm inside aseptic environment? Does anyone have experience with this, I have not found any relevant info about this topic (other than "we just rely on some prevalidation package by robot manufacturer", which does not sound right to me). Thanks!

If it wasn’t for that Wall Street journal article/ journalist, how long do you think Thernos could’ve fooled investors/ medical sanctions. I mean it goes without saying that the bad publicity might have had a role to play in its downfall. I mean OBVIOUSLY the technology doesn’t exist, but how long could she have held up the gig?