Apsida Life Science | Women in Leadership Guide 2023

WOMEN IN

LEADERSHIP LEAD BY: ETHAN CORTESE PRODUCED BY: CHARLOTTE PHILLIPS & CLAIRE STAPLEY

FEATURING.

MARTINE ZIMMERMAN

AZIZA JOHNSON

NEILA BENABADJI

TANIA THOMAS

THE CONTENT 1.

INTRODUCTION

3.

SPOTLIGHT PROFILES

7.

NETWORKING

9.

EVENTS

10.

MENTORSHIP

14.

FEMALE LEADERSHIP

15.

ESTABLISHING WORK/LIFE BALANCE

17.

ADVANCING TECHNICALLY

19.

LANGUAGE BARRIERS

20.

BUILDING YOUR CONFIDENCE

SUPPORTING WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP: 21.

ORGANISATIONS

22.

CANDIDATES

23.

CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION ETHAN CORTESE | BUSINESS MANAGER, REGULATORY AFFAIRS

Within recruitment, you have a responsibility to your clients and candidates to provide a service that is fair, equitable, and inclusive. We have learned so much over the past 4 years on how to impact not only our clients but also the wider Life Sciences industry from a DEI perspective.

Launching the Women in Leadership series was a natural progression for us, and I volunteered to help kick-start a necessary conversation that I was seeing within Regulatory Affairs.

I’ve worked as a recruiter in this market for nearly 8 years, and I’ve seen a lot of change as well as worked with an array of clients and candidates in that time.

At Apsida Life Science, we have worked incredibly hard over the past 4 years to build a team and organisation that we are proud of. Diversity and Inclusion were important building blocks of our business, but we also want to ensure that we are raising awareness externally to support our clients and candidates.

I noticed (post-COVID) that there were a lot more women breaking into leadership roles (Director to VP, and VP to exec) across all specialisms within Life Sciences, but in particular Regulatory Affairs.

After speaking with various female regulatory professionals who are aspiring leaders, I noticed that Regulatory Affairs despite its positives - has its flaws and barriers for women to access the “next level” of seniority.

1.

imbalance

there is still a considerable within the world of Life Sciences.

I also attended a high-profile conference this year in Switzerland, which consisted of a panel talk discussing Innovation in Europe. In our eyes, innovation should encompass Diversity and Inclusion, and the panel was all white men - which I found ironic! Fitting into that category myself, it reconfirmed for me that there is still a considerable imbalance within the world of Life Sciences.

This inspired me to give women within regulatory affairs an opportunity to share their knowledge and inspire the next generation of leaders. The professional world should be a fair playing field for all, regardless of gender, socioeconomic background, or education, and our industry must continue to evolve based on skill and equal opportunity, instead of potential biases.

My hope with the series was to offer a direct insight into the barriers and challenges that women face when attempting to progress into senior positions, and also how specific leaders have overcome those challenges.

I also hope it gives executive leadership teams across various organisations valuable reading material to get them to think about the importance of diversity within their leadership team - particularly gender diversity, which we are still struggling with.

My team and I are incredibly passionate about D&I and educating our clients on how to hire more inclusively, whether this is on a search or contingent basis. Should you wish to know more about our services or learn more about this series, please contact me directly.

ETHAN CORTESE Business Manager | Regulatory Affairs

+44(0) 203 854 4606 Ethan.Cortese@apsida.co.uk

2.

SPOTLIGHT PROFILES

TANIA THOMAS VP AND HEAD OF GLOBAL REGULATORY AND MEDICAL AFFAIRS AT HALOZYME

CAREER JOURNEY HALOZYME, INC. - PRESENT - USA OPIANT PHARMACEUTICALS - USA GSK - USA PFIZER - GREECE, DUBAI & NEW YORK

Tania has had an incredible career trajectory so far, starting as a Pharmacist before progressing into the field of regulatory affairs immediately. With organisations such as Pfizer, GSK, and the MHRA under her belt, we felt that her professional experience as well as exposure to big pharma was key for our series. When we interviewed Tania, she was the Vice President, Head of Global Regulatory & Medical Affairs at Opiant Pharmaceuticals in Santa Monica. We unpacked not only working within a Big Pharma environment but also her motivations in taking a different direction and working for Opiant. Having held a variety of leadership roles throughout her career and immediately starting her career journey as a junior in Regulatory Affairs, we thought her insights would offer a lot of value to our current Regulatory audience.

3.

SPOTLIGHT PROFILES

AZIZA JOHNSON GLOBAL HEAD REGULATORY & PATIENT SAFETY RD AT RECORDATI RARE DISEASES

Member the Boardroom

Aziza was our first guest on the Women in Leadership series and enabled us to kickstart incredible conversations over the coming months. We interviewed her as she was finishing her time with Covis, where she spent 11 years of her career as the Executive VP of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs. She is an instrumental female leader in the regulatory space, being active across many boards and groups for women in Life Sciences, so her insights were invaluable. Aziza delved into inclusivity and the importance of networking in her interview, and shared valuable pieces of advice that would be applicable to all in the Regulatory space, not just women. Her mindset and outlook on leadership were thought-provoking, and we were grateful to be able to share her experience with our wider Regulatory networks.

CAREER JOURNEY RECORDATI RARE DISEASE - PRESENT - SWITZERLAND COVIS PHARMA - SWITZERLAND VIFOR - SWITZERLAND PFIZER - UK

4.

SPOTLIGHT PROFILES

MARTINE ZIMMERMAN SVP, HEAD OF GLOBAL REGULATORY AFFAIRS AND R&D QUALITY AT IPSEN

CAREER JOURNEY ISPEN - PRESENT - FRANCE ALEXION - SWITZERLAND & IRELAND LUNDBECK - FRANCE SERVIER - FRANCE

Martine has had a notable career, starting her journey in Japan at Daiichi Sankyo as a Research Scientist, and then working her way through the ranks within Regulatory Affairs. She has successfully built high-performing teams globally and has been involved in multiple regulatory approvals throughout her impressive career. We took so much value from Martine’s interview - from her advice on how to balance raising a family and building a career, to techniques on how Regulatory professionals can expand their careers and work on a global scale.

Finding balance was a common theme we explored with Martine, and she encapsulated so many elements of work and personal life that we thought would resonate with our Regulatory network.

5.

SPOTLIGHT PROFILES

NEILA BENABADJI ASSOCIATE VP OF GLOBAL REGULATORY AFFAIRS AT REATA PHARMACEUTICALS

Neila was an incredible guest on our Women in Leadership series, and has worked for some of the biggest players in Life Sciences such as Novartis, Ipsen, Bayer and Pfizer. Neila gave detailed, practical advice that spanned from how to advance yourself technically as well as the importance of diversity and how female leadership plays a key part in this. Her ability to dissect her own experiences whilst also providing balanced advice to the “New Gen” of Regulatory talent gave us a lot of food for thought, and ultimately gave us the initial platform to starting our Women in Leadership series.

CAREER JOURNEY REATA PHARMACEUTICALS - PRESENT - SWITZERLAND NOVARITS - SWITZERLAND ISPEN - SWITZERLAND BAYER

HEALTHCARE - SWITZERLAND

6.

KEY INSIGHTS Networking

Although networking should be a key part of every working professional's life, knowing how to network successfully and also understanding its value doesn’t always come naturally. Particularly for women in leadership, networking was a common theme that came up throughout the whole series.

7.

Director, Michael Georgiadis Head of Marketing, Charlotte Phillips

Community Building Building community enables you to network as a by-product, and vice versa. Whether it’s a community to share advice, or simply to have friends within the industry - it’s a crucial social element that you need when wanting to advance your career. Every single interviewee highlighted that networking and understanding how to build a community enabled them to grow professionally and personally.

“Being able to integrate and build your own ‘community’ of people inside and outside of work can enable you to carve a successful career for yourself.”

Building a community doesn’t have to look or feel extravagant, either. Having a handful of peers within your community is enough to share ideas and help each other out. Within Life Sciences, it’s obvious that community is valued, but it can often be difficult for juniors or new managers to cultivate that without having the right tools or encouragement available.

| Tania Thomas 8.

VP North America, Jon Orsbourn Talent Acquisition, Collette Cardy

ISPOR, MA | 2023

KEY INSIGHTS Events

Another piece of advice that sat under the ‘networking’ umbrella was events.

Networking can look like joining online groups or having virtual coffee meetings, but it should also consist of in-person events. Despite working in a digital world, we can’t deny the importance of nurturing face-to-face connections and events are a great way to put yourself out there, expand your knowledge, and push yourself outside of your comfort zone.

As an organisation, we spend a portion of our time each year attending events, whether we are attendees or hosting our own stand.

There can often be a misconception that events are only geared towards businesses or senior/c-suite professionals. Instead, you should view events as a valuable way to network with these individuals whilst also enriching your knowledge in a different setting. This form of networking can feel more organic, despite it potentially being more daunting in its first instance!

9.

Network and speak up!

It’s worth its weight in gold.

It doesn’t just have to be in pharma, I work in women’s groups in fintech, all over the place, I get to hear different perspectives and I always wonder how I can use that for myself. Networking enables you to expand your knowledge and learn other ways of dealing with things, you never know everything! You can’t be shy, you have to jump out of your comfort zone, say “hey” and engage in that small talk.

Aziza Johnson

10.

Mentorship Finally, mentorship is a key part of networking, too. In fact, mentorship can be your first stepping stone into networking at larger events or becoming a part of communities or groups. One-on-one mentorship can come internally from the organisation you currently work in, whether it’s an assigned buddy system or you reach out to someone for them to mentor you. Equally, you could also look at mentorship outside of your organisation, which could be a paid coach or a peer in the space.

Network and don’t forget to ask for help, everyone needs help.

Work on your relationships and support your co-workers. | Neila Benabadji

Regulatory Affairs & CMC Specialist Geneva Jones

11.

KEY INSIGHTS Female Leadership

Every woman we spoke to throughout this series highlighted the responsibility they have as leaders to embrace diversity, establish boundaries, and not be afraid of failure. Being a woman in leadership comes with its differences, and it’s important to recognise this. Women face different challenges in the workplace, and each interviewee touched on this in their pieces.

12.

Establishing work/life balance from the offset is important.

Although it won’t always be possible, you want to ensure that you establish clear boundaries between your work life and personal life, especially if you know that you’re susceptible to blurring those lines.

It’s also important to work for an organisation that encourages clear boundaries and healthy working practices. Particularly as a leader regardless of gender - you want to be able to lead by example but also ensure that you’re able to show up for your team, instead of being burnt out.

“Something I’m strict on is prioritising quality time over quantity of time and being very present in those moments. For example, family time is family time. I don’t think about work and I make a conscious effort to switch off so I can have that presence - not just because it’s important for my family, but it’s also important for my own well-being.” | Neila Benabadji

Quality & Business Development Specialist Sophie Walker

YOU CAN HAVE BOTH A FAMILY AND A CAREER. Every interviewee that we spoke to highlighted that they’ve still been able to balance a family life and a career, and that there are two elements to consider: mindset and work ethic. There is no denial that balancing both is difficult, but having the right outlook and support system is key to being able to achieve a family and a career.

It goes back to our earlier point of ensuring that you work for an employer that supports you as a professional. Equally, it’s also about understanding the sacrifices that you’ll have to make - and accepting that perfection in your personal and professional life may never be attainable, and that’s OK!

“As a mum, you have to let go of feeling guilty. For example, I’m not always going to have two hours every evening to cook a beautiful meal from scratch, sometimes it’s a quick dish, but it’s the time spent with my children that counts: quality over quantity.”

Martine Zimmerman

“It should be rolebased where the role gets the same pay - not necessarily just giving the candidates what they want” Aziza Johnson

DON’T LOSE YOUR VOICE A big barrier for women in senior leadership roles is not having clear visibility on the gender pay-gap and how much their male counterparts are being paid in the same role.

This can be magnified when working within organisations or locations where there are restrictions on talking about pay, or even having access to salary data that will enable you to negotiate with evidence to back up what you’re asking for.

A solution, unfortunately, can be more complex than organisations simply making pay rates “fair” - particularly in organisations where the infrastructure isn’t as strong and reviewing pay rates doesn’t happen regularly.

However, it is within your right to ask outside of your organisation and network with peers to compare salaries and ensure that you’re being remunerated well.

Another way of doing this is through using a recruitment partner - whether that’s requesting salary survey data or having them research on your behalf to secure you the best offer.

14.

KEY INSIGHTS Advancing Technically We are always learning, even the most senior, well-respected CEO’s and business owners are learning. Each interviewee highlighted that your career progression never truly stops, it steadily improves day by day. Particularly within Regulatory Affairs, the industry is varied with lots of moving parts and depending on your location, seniority, and organisation size - there are continuous changes that you must be up-to-date with.

15.

LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN IN YOUR CAREER JOURNEY This may go without saying, but always be open to learning, even if it’s from someone who is in a more junior position than you. The beauty of diversity within teams is that ideas can be shared, and different perspectives can be listened to. If you adopt a mindset of “always learning”, then you’ll go much further in your career.

Having adaptability whilst learning is one of the core building blocks to being a strong leader, so take a look at how your leaders listen and improve themselves technically, and use them as real-life examples that you can learn from.

“Be adaptable, learn as much as you can, keep the big picture in mind!” | Neila Benabadji 16.

Don’t allow language to be a “barrier” As highlighted by Martine, the world of Regulatory Affairs is incredibly diverse. We are so lucky as an agency and as a team to be able to work with Regulatory professionals all over the world! With global talent, there can sometimes be worries or anxieties when moving roles or relocating altogether.

Don’t allow your language barrier to hold you back, as it’s important to recognise that the majority of the time you’ll be working with an international team! Particularly for women in leadership, there can be further pressures if entering a team or environment where there’s little representation for us. During those moments, it’s important to acknowledge that we are the representation and that we deserve a seat at the table just as much as anybody else does.

“Overcoming a language barrier is all about daring to say something. It’s about having selfconfidence and also gaining experience. I also think I was lucky in instances - I had some great successes in my career that have helped me to build that confidence, something I like to call my “confidence muscle” - even with my strong French accent! However, it’s important to be self-aware and understand your strengths and weaknesses - If you fail, you fail! There is no success without failure.” | Martine Zimmerman 17.

“It is not my intention to sound too binary when I say this as I don’t think it’s that clear-cut, but I do think it’s harder for women to build selfconfidence in comparison. But, regardless, man or woman, you need to surround yourself with supportive bosses, the right community and people who say “OK, you can do it!”

Martine Zimmerman

Confidence is a muscle Confidence is key to being a leader, and building confidence was a key takeaway throughout the whole series. It can be difficult to build confidence, and a “fake it ‘til you make it” approach is what a lot of us can end up doing. However, it’s important to note that a lot of people end up doing this - and you aren’t alone! Confidence is something that builds over time, but you have to put yourself out of your comfort zone to achieve this. Some self-belief, and maybe some delusional courage can be a great way to kick-start yourself, especially if leadership is the goal long-term.

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP? ORGANISATIONS You must support everybody entering your organisation, particularly demographics that are considered marginalised within your teams. Diversity and Inclusion are incredibly complex, and attempting to target multiple demographics and roll out D&I campaigns won’t fix the issues overnight. Instead, focusing on one core area of D&I at a time is a great starting point. You’ll see in this series we’ve focused on gender diversity, and as time progresses we will look at other areas of diversity within the regulatory space.

19.

WHAT CAN ORGANISATIONS START DOING ?

ASSESS YOUR CAREER PATHS: Are your progression frameworks gender-neutral, or do they cater to a specific gender more than another? If there is a certain point in a career path that a lot of women (or men) struggle to get to, or where there may be gender gaps within your organisation, it’s time to look at the reasons why.

WORK WITH A RECRUITER WHO UNDERSTANDS GENDER DIVERSITY: An external recruiter who understands gender diversity and has experience of hiring alongside D&I requirements can add value to your organisational framework.

MENTORSHIP: Junior regulatory professionals should have the opportunity to be mentored internally, especially if leadership is the long-term goal.

Remember that representation is important, so try to create mentorship programmes that allow female leaders to mentor other females to inspire them to take the leadership route.

EQUAL PAY: Are the women in your organisation being remunerated the same as men?

It’s also important to look over your maternity and paternity pay.

20.

WHAT CAN

Candidates DO ?

Work with a recruiter who understands gender diversity: If you have a recruiter representing you, especially for a leadership role - you want to ensure that they have an understanding of your circumstances and expectations, especially as a woman! Working with a recruiter who understands gender diversity (as well as D&I overall) usually means that their clients are clued-up and educated on this from a hiring perspective too.

Interview your employer: When interviewing for a new opportunity, it’s important to interview the potential employer just as much as they’re interviewing you. Ask the crucial questions related to diversity and what your experience could be like as a woman within their organisation. You have control of your career and who you choose to invest your time in, so don’t be afraid to ask difficult questions so you have all of the facts before accepting a role.

Push for promotions: Exercise that confidence muscle! If you’re a woman in Regulatory affairs and your goal is leadership, then you need to push for promotions, and responsibility to ensure that you have a seat at the table. Unfortunately, unconscious bias can lead a lot of us to assume, and one of those assumptions could be that you won’t be a leader, or that leadership isn’t for you.

It’s important to push yourself for promotions instead of waiting for things to happen - take control of your career.

Our Women in Leadership series for the Regulatory Affairs space has inspired us to go beyond gender diversity and look closer at diversifying leadership as a whole. We will be back in 2024 with a brand new diversity series, which you can click here to subscribe to.

We are also working with a number of clients on their DEI strategies and how we can support them as an agency to make a true difference to their hiring.

To learn how Apsida can support you or your organisation, please click here.

ETHAN CORTESE Business Manager | Regulatory Affairs +44(0) 203 854 4606 Ethan.Cortese@apsida.co.uk

READ THEIR CONVERSATIONS

MARTINE ZIMMERMAN

AZIZA JOHNSON

NEILA BENABADJI

TANIA THOMAS

22.