health specialist

senior research associate

clinical specialist

shift leader

senior scientist

Astellas Pharmaceuticals

I was the maintenance manager for a two/three shift operation.  I would arrive at work before the third shift was over in order to talk with the maintenance techs to find out what had happened during their shift and know current equipment status.  I would then review the Work Order System to assign new work orders and verify status of urgent work orders.  Daily activity was determined by priorities, downed equipment repair was number one priority, then projects and then necessary meetings for production scheduling and other needs.  
Since this was a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility we work under clean room conditions.  The nature of maintenance required the maintenance techs to use extra care and caution when performing normal procedures to the equipment.  In addition to maintaining the production and support equipment our team also performed the majority of calibrations for the site, this averaged to about 650 calibrations per month, we never missed making schedule. 
Upper management was very open to discussion but still demanding schedules were maintained.  Projects were scheduled during site shut downs unless it was a equipment modification that required immediate attention.
My management team was primarily consisted of operations managers, I was the only maintenance manager.  We worked well together covering production and project work making equipment and resource schedules that made everyone's schedule as much as possible.
The hardest part of the job was keeping the right combination of maintenance tech skill sets distributed to each shift during high work rate schedules without hiring additional techs or working excessive overtime.  We went from a five day two shift production schedule to a twenty-four seven day schedule for approximately six months, this was a challenging time for everyone.
I enjoyed seeing the monthly schedules completed early or at least on schedule especially when we had trying situations to overcome in addition to our normal work load.  I also enjoyed seeing a project come to completion weather it was outside contractors or our maintenance techs or a combination of both.  I also enjoyed observing maintenance techs learning new skills and growing their proficiency in all areas of their work assignments.

Corporate culture has significantly changed over the years. Fewer team activities and opportunities to build relationships.  Some departments  told they can't  celebrate "personal events" like birthdays while others have potlucks with each other. Internal and external training opportunities and the ability to attend an annual conference greatly reduced. 

Attempts at globalizing processes and procedures are challenging but very much needed.  Many silos and redundancies.  Frequently changing priorities and management direction.  Partnering with other departments on process improvements can be seen as airing a departments dirty laundry rather than trying to improve compliance and efficiencies.  In Clinical, heavily dependent on CRO processes, procedures and systems to the point you think you are working for the CRO.   In some business units it is important to understand the Japanese culture.

Heavily dependent on contractors in many business units.  Continuity is difficult and learning curves can be long.  Training new staff is an ongoing activity impacting productivity.  This is complicated by the fact that contractors are treated as second class citizens and in some instances can't get the training required and afforded employees.  

Competency of managers vary by business unit.    Management by fear and favoritism is common, especially in Clinical.  Directors can hire friends at their discretion regardless of their skills, credentials or problems caused in one department & can manipulate performance reviews and salary increases for those individuals at the expense of other team members & the supervisor of the business unit.      

Bullying by management  s tolerated even after behavior is documented extensively by multiple individuals, & confirmed by focus groups.  HR is ineffective & protects some classes and individuals while the targeted individual suffers.  More likely to promote out and up than to deal with the harassing and bullying behaviors.

Working in the hospital division at Astellas was largely a positive experience. The company tries to manage downsizing by keeping key positions open but that doesn't mean that layoffs don't happen. 

The hospital division has been struck by a number of issues in recent years including the generic incursion into the cardiovascular market, difficulty getting their anti-infective products for general use.

The management allows the representatives to determine their mix of products for bonus which is one of the reasons you can determine how much money you get as far as payout.

There were a number of compliance issues though which has made the company less flexible in dealing with what comes out of your mouth (even innocently) and keeps the account managers in the dark as to studies outside of those approved which eliminates part of the knowledge base in talking intelligently to physicians because of fear of off label promotion which makes the account managers a bit paranoid in dealing with their accounts as there seems to be a "gotcha" mentality leading to misinterpretation about what could be said. 

Pharma may be a dying industry but there is still a bit of life in Astellas although one has to wonder what will happen when the company loses the patent protection on one of their biggest money makers (Lexiscan) and some of their anti-infective products.

Loved working here at this company. I cant say I liked everyone I ran into. This south city location is a very toxic place to work, the supervisors don’t value their employees. They favor friends and people they have personal connections with.  Seniority means nothing at this company. Expect to be passed up on a full time job offer, cuz someone else is pulling strings tryin got get them on as perm over you. Most likely cuz they know each other. There is a lot of unfairness at this location. Expect to put your best effort forward to then just getting tossed out like you never meant anything to the team. All the gate keepers to get promotions supervisor/managers/site managers, all seem to know each other from working at previous jobs in the past. So if you expect to move up the ladder, it’s gonna be hard making it past those gate keepers. Especially since the supervisor is trying to get all his friends hired on full time with him. Toxic!!! 
Oh and another thing, half the team doesn’t even work or contribute. And the supervisor is completely complacent with this fact. And it has everything to do with the fact they previously worked together at another company. 

So Astellas once made one of the best places to work list. It won't anymore. Some of the folks like JR and GR read books that, regardless of how well someone has d Ne in the recent past, you should routinely lay off 20% bottom of field force so people ar desperate to keep their jobs. I d Not know if they realize it but this is what encourages off label promotin, a lack of loyalty at companies and prev nuts the recruitment of the best people. It damages the company's health long term at the expense of immediate gain that often will lead to a decline st a company. I've been here 7 years and what a vet seen lately does not inspire faith or n any leadership much less that they are being as transparent as possible. I know people who won awards for 2016 and 2015 who are actively looking because of this short sighted philosophy.

	Formulate, direct and coordinate marketing activities to promote products and services.
	Identify, develop, or evaluate marketing strategies, based upon knowledge of established objectives, market characteristics, and cost and markup factors.
	Visit regular and prospective customers on a weekly basis  the benefits of the products I sell for their patients. 
	Provide clients with product samples, catalogs, answer questions and follow-through of product.
	Monitor market conditions, product innovations, and competitor’s products, prices, and sales.
	Perform administrative duties such as preparing sales budgets, and reports, keeping sales records, and filing expense account reports. 


Astellas did an excellent job educating its workforce and was on the forefront of both environmental and social consciousness, Unlike some companies within the pharmaceutical industry, Astellas always demanded each employee maintain the highest ethical standards in all aspects of their work.

Astellas stressed both being involved in the community and service to others. Each employee was offered one week with pay to do volunteer work with in our communities. I very much enjoy working with wounded veterans and had significant opportunity to do so during my time with them.

I highly recommend Astellas as top notch company with which to work.

Astellas has become a large corporation, everyone is a number and because of the current economic situation in the United States people have become cut-throat and pathetic human beings.  Remember the sandbox as kids--we had the kids who played by themselves and didn't care what was going on around them, the bullies who through sand in everyone's face, the kids who followed the bullies to make them feel cool, and the one who helped the underdogs when in trouble.  Well that is me!  The one who fights for ethics and principles!  Didn't our parents teach us to be honest, help others, be nice, etc.  Why does all that go out the door in corporations...pretty sad!

Was part of a very knowledgeable and experienced global team, which actually enjoyed the work delivered.
Was part of a global culture (EEA and Japan).  Previous experience with colleagues from UK, Netherlands and Germany.  First experience with Japanese regulations.
Position was a virtual one - very difficult to establish personal relationships "over the phone".
Very impressed by the knowledge base (both academic and hands-on experience) within our team and in other global teams with whom we interacted.
Would highly recommend Astellas to anyone having the opportunity to join the orgnaziation

What is wrong with the women in HR?  It is the most negative anti-employee discrimination especially if you're an attractive in shape human figure.  Look out you're never going to be given a raise or promoted!  There is so much negativity and a huge disconnect between the upper management, all the tracking or trackers to track what they have access to in salesforce.  There are some extremely incompetent managers and RSM in the Midwest territory.  Of course your partners are great because we shared a common bond over the mistreatment by HR and Management.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Health specialist 114 salaries reported	$104,796 per year
Senior research associate 29 salaries reported	$91,728 per year
Clinical specialist 58 salaries reported	$98,210 per year
Shift leader 42 salaries reported	$200,378 per year
Senior scientist 25 salaries reported	$132,179 per year

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