Industrial Careers Expo
University of Sheffield
Dr Heather Bryson
10 October 2012
Project Leader, Director
New Opportunities iMED, AstraZeneca
• Key Deliverables
- Lead R&D projects from Lead Optimisation Investment Decision to End of Phase
2 Development
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Responsible for project strategy, TPP and delivery
Ensuring alignment with the project strategy to the disease area strategy
Interfacing and positioning of project within the broader business context
Pro-active in cross project and disease area learnings
Ensure appropriate resourcing of international project teams
- Seek and apply best practices in processes, data analysis, and decision-making
in the project team
- Ensure that assets of the project are developed, managed and protected
- Ensure that the project team is appropriately resourced; ensure resources from
functions are managed effectively in the project team
- Ensure that there are robust processes, plans and data to enable Governance
Bodies to make investment decisions and prioritise projects across the portfolio
- Accountable for the delivery of project according to quality, time, budgets and
resources
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H Bryson | 12 Oct 2012
Project Leader, Director
New Opportunities iMED, AstraZeneca
• Culture
- Create a vibrant, entrepreneurial and externally facing team focused on the
delivery of successful PoCs that supports courageous leadership, innovation
and collaboration, such that the Project team is open to challenge, new ideas,
innovative ways of working, and where continuous learning and improvements
are driven
- Collaboration to embed best practice
• Talent Management & Development
- Provide feedback and coaching to deployed reports and mentor key talent in the
organization
• Contributions:
- Support development of a winning disease area strategy, driving portfolio value
- Share responsibility for iMed DA strategy, and the delivery of successful
POP/POC, demonstrating therapeutic relevance, with high probability of
successful market access and delivery of valuable new medicines
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H Bryson | 12 Oct 2012
Project Leader, Director
A Day in the Life.....
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H Bryson | 12 Oct 2012
Project Leader, Director
A Day in the Life.....
• Finalization of slides for presentation to leadership team (Project A)
• Agree strategy and items for endorsement
• Review of development strategy with Project Team (Project B)
• Recommendation to progress lead CD vs. back-up
- Meet with clinical team (Project C) for ongoing study recruitment update
- Cross iMED meeting - repositioning assets & DA strategy
• Parallel development strategy; target indications & benefit:risk
assessment
- Review and discussion of external opportunity
• Development of business case – TPP and financials
- 1:1 Project Team interactions
• Project updates; issues to be addressed
- External KOL discussion (Project D)
• Scientific rationale and potential clinical development plan
- Inevitable late call from US colleagues….change in strategy/additional
development options for consideration (Project A)
• Re-visit leadership team presentation…..
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H Bryson | 12 Oct 2012
Project Leader, Director
Minimum Requirements – Education and Experience
• Education
• Advanced degree in life sciences, MD and/or PhD or equivalent
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Experience
5-10 years of work experience in discovery or development settings
Experience of working with projects in discovery and development setting
Experience of decision making and leadership in a crossdisciplinary/functional, cross-cultural environment
Experience in either science, clinical or drug development
Awareness of scientific as well as commercial/payer, regulatory and broader
strategic aspects
Practical experience in working on teams in the discovery and development
settings
Strong project management expertise
Proven leadership skills in managing projects
H Bryson | 12 Oct 2012
Project Leader, Director
Skills and Capabilities
• Passion for Customers
- Manage multiple customer needs
- Apply long-term customer insight
• Think Strategically
- Develop appropriate plans
• Act Decisively
- Create clarity for others to make decisions and demonstrate courage to support
decisions
• Drive Performance
- Anticipate and remove obstacles for others
- Generate step change in performance of team
• Work Collaboratively
- Create shared purpose across boundaries
- Address blockers to effective collaboration
• Develop People and Organisation
- Build organisational capability
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H Bryson | 12 Oct 2012
Ph.D. Research
Skills & Capabilities
• Strategic thinking
- Plans to address a scientific question
- PhD research proposal
• Spoken and Written Communication
- Scientific presentations and publications
• Decision Making
• Time management and prioritisation
• Global network
- Collaborations/interactions
• Review and interpretation of scientific literature
• Analytical skills
• Requirement for innovation due to limited funds available
• Review of options (pros and cons/ answering key questions)
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H Bryson | 12 Oct 2012
Pharmaceutical Career vs. Academic Research
Pros and Cons
• Potential to develop broader expertise
- Application of knowledge and skills to broader areas
• Unmet medical need & interesting science vs. real; world hurdles
- Appreciation of regulatory, pricing and reimbursement environments driving
business decisions
• Limited chance of seeing development through to market
• Changes in DA strategy with impact on projects/targets
- Managing upwards/securing resource/changing the paradigm
• Limited funding – pharmaceutical and academic
• Broader network of expertise
• Increased scope for change to career path
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H Bryson | 12 Oct 2012
Career Path & Career Progression
• Wide range of career paths/options available
- Bench scientist vs office environment
• “Virtual” working model….
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Clinical Operations
CRA
Clinical Pharmacology and Drug Metabolism & PharmacoKinetics
Project Management
Project Leadership
Bioanalytics
Regulatory
SB/GSK – Clinical Development Director (10 yrs)
Commercial
Eisai – Clinical Development Director (1 yr)
Sales and Marketing
AstraZeneca – Director, Project Leader (3 yrs)
Payer Evidence
Safety Assessment
Pharmacovigilance
Translational Science
PHC
…..to name a few
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H Bryson | 12 Oct 2012
Confidentiality Notice
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disclosure of the contents of this file is not permitted and may be unlawful. AstraZeneca PLC, 2 Kingdom Street, London, W2 6BD, UK,
T: +44(0)20 7604 8000, F: +44 (0)20 7604 8151, www.astrazeneca.com
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H Bryson | 12 Oct 2012