Lab Head and Scientific Technical Leader | Cambridge, MA | Apr 10, 2019
Very good place to work depending on your specific manager, unit, and department
I worked at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) in Cambridge, MA as a PhD-level scientist for over five years.
I was impressed by the quality of the scientists and the innovative, well-structured, drug discovery process (from early-phase/exploratory to clinical proof-of-concept and safety studies in humans). I was also very impressed with the collaborative work-flow and the ability to start a project from scratch and test molecules in animals for mechanism of action and/or proof-of-concept within a relatively short period of time (like 4-6 months). I was impressed with the cutting-edge technology available, the freedom to operate with purchasing the necessary reagents, tools, and equipment to maximize efficiency, and the quality of many of the external CROs.
The biggest thing I learned was how to navigate research in a large, multi-disciplinary, collaborative environment. Workplace culture was highly variable and pretty much 100% dependent on the department head and departmental management (Directors, Unit Heads, etc). The culture was improving in my department prior to my departure.... There was more emphasis on employee happiness, growth, support, and inclusion.
The thing I disliked the most were, 1) Beginning-of-year objective setting (because priorities and objectives changed weekly and it seemed like a-bit too much misplaced effort), 2) Mid-year and end-year evaluations and promotions (process was non-transparent and confusing, meetings were o
Productive,fun place to work, learning experience, involved in Philanthrophy and community service
Novartis is a wonderful place to work and it is a company that encourage their employees to move up to the next level in their careers. They provide tuition reimbursement, on site classes, seminars, workshops, health fairs, competitive sports where employees from different dept compete against each other . If you want to know more about the products, patents or drug launches, Novartis will make arrangements for someone from that area to do a presentation so we will understand how it works. Novartis encourage their employees to get involve with projects outside of their normal skill set. They are very community focus. The most enjoyable part of the job was traveling to other Novartis companies like when the contracting department went to Atlantic to help Novartis Opthalmic division close their facility. It truly was a wonderful experience. Also, on site visits to our trading partners businesses were great..the forcast of both companies led to a better understanding of the pro and con we all struggled with when issuing credits and how the process of one company can impact the other. During those visits we learned how to transistion our claim better with positive results. The hardest part of my job was trying to get the wholesalers to pay back deductions taken on a claim. My co-workers were like my family we got along very well and learned to work together for a common goal and that was positive results. Novartis is a fair company and was voted as one of the best companies to wo
Prosaffinity group, education, community service, salary and benefits
An unhealthy place to work with no respect for its employees
Due to a restructuring exercise at my previous employer, I was looking for work and was hired by Sandoz, Broomfield. I honestly considered the interview as a "practice interview" and was surprised when they offered me the position. I believe that's more indicative of their desperation and inability to find qualified people than my shining interview skills. I got a significant pay cut, but figured it was acceptable as I'd have the opportunity to learn new job skills and it was adequate to make ends meet. Once hired, I found a condescending culture that trivialized the humanity of he employees. Production workers were regularly working mandatory overtime on weekends with only 3 days off per month. Professional employees were treated like pawns who were assigned to tasks outside their skill areas and expected to perform at a high level despite lacking the background. Work weeks were 50 hours or more with mandatory on-call. Every technical worker was issued a company cell phone which they were expected to answer 24/7, even on vacations. Responding to e-mails on the company laptop or coming in at off-hours was routine. Even with all that insanity, I had it better than most. This past year, performance reviews were horrible for the vast majority of the staff. Many co-workers I considered exceptional performers were rated poorly (i.e., "needs improvement") despite putting in long hours and delivering results to meet unrealistic schedules. This poor reviews appeared to b
A fun and great place to work, the people were amazing
1) On a typical day what I did was answer the telephone and take messages. I also entered contracts into the company's database in order to keep track of all the records and I helped maintain the physical copies of all the contracts in the file room. Another task I was responsible for during most days were help index boxes with files that needed to be sent offsite for offsite storage. I also helped make copies of documents whenever necessary. I also helped put together binders, packages, and various handouts upcoming meetings and or cases (whenever necessary)
2) During my time at this job I learned many things, the first and the most important thing I learned was how be a more responsible person in terms of being able to manage my time wisely in order to meet deadlines for the various projects assigned to me. the second thing learned was how to properly keep track of important records. I also learned how to use new database systems that I was not aware of prior to being hired for the job. I learned how to use database system called E-Counsel/Data Cert.
3) Management was pretty good. I like how smoothly the department ran. There's not much I can complain about.
4) My co-workers the people were extremely nice and friendly. They took care of one another as if they were one great big family. I can definitely say that they took care of me during the time I worked with them/for them. Everyone was always willing to lend a helping hand.
5) I can't think of a single thing
ProsNice and friendly staff, great working environment, great learning experience
- Develop annual strategic marketing/operational plan outlining key activities and marketing programs to address the Critical Success Factors and implement approved strategies within agreed budgets.
- Ensure plans/strategies accommodate the changes taking place in the market and respond to customer need.
- Produce short to medium term market share/growth grids for individual products
- Implement the tactical plan in line with corporate strategic product objectives.
- Develop and maintain strong working relationships with key customers to support current and future objectives.
- Monitor the product’s perceived functional performance and adjust plans accordingly.
- Communicate effectively within the organization to ensure the motivation and alignment of sales force and other key people in the achievement of product objectives.
- Be consider 'The Product Leader' by developing and continuously updating knowledge of therapy, product and market.
- Be responsible for developing/adapting promotional material for the local market.
- Anticipate current & future trends in disease management and market environment which are likely to affect the performance and potential of the product including Competitor activity
- Work with Latin America Marketing teams to ensure appropriate communication, alignment and extensive utilization of availabl
ProsLaunch
ConsHealth Care
4.0
Document Control Clerk | Lincoln, NE | Dec 3, 2012
People there are wonderful, the atmosphere of co-workers was much better than the overall plant atmosphere, very busy and productive.
Issued Manufacturing and Packaging tickets to the floor, updated Master Manufacturing Orders, back up for Policies and Procedures, filed completed orders, pulled orders/tickets for customers, responsible for 10 temporaries while they worked on a project required by management with results for the FDA. I learned different aspects of a pharmaceutical company. I worked in Packaging, Manufacturing, Manager Trainee for the floor, learned the cycle of documentation for the plant to meet schedule deadlines, and learned different aspects of the quality assurance of the company. Management appeared to turn a blind eye to concerns going on in the plant. Their concern was to get product out the door as fast as possible. There was alot of favortism in promotions, etc. not necessarily the person's skill level but, how well the person got along with the management. The department I worked in had an excellent group of people. They were very hard working, helped each other, great ideas, willing to go the extra mile, and got along really well for the most part. The hardest part of my job was when I had a boss that didn't support me due to people I was friends with. The expectations at the time were not realistic. The most enjoyable part of my job was all of the skills I learned on the computer, my coworkers and other friendships I developed there.
Proscoworkers, benefits, pay, and my department was pretty flexible for unforseen circumstances (personal).
Consopportunity to be promoted, management not listen to concerns of employees
Great until they decide they are downsizing and then the PIP comes out
Yes, the PIP. What is a PIP, you ask? Well, I had the same question when a bunch of us were given them. Performance Improvement Plan. You get a raise and great score on your performance review then less than 3 months later you get a PIP without any warning from your manager! I bet you don't believe me while you're reading this and I would have thought the same thing but yet it happened.
They put you on the PIP, give you 15 pages of things you need to do that the other employees aren't required to do and then they set you up to be fired in 30-60 days if you don't meet it. Now you really think I'm lying but trust me, I'm not. I know you think they couldn't require you to do anything that other employees don't have to do...but you're wrong. I'll wait while you google it because you can't believe that. I know because I didn't either. I even got legal advice. Turns out they can do whatever they want to because your employment is at-will.
Interestingly enough, if you do some research they are known to use this PIP tactic about 6-12 months before they go through a major downsizing and lay-off and in this case they decided to use contract nurses instead of their own team. The Nurse Educators (Patient Services Liaisons then changed to Patient Services Consultants) were laid off June 2018. PIPs started in April of 2017 and I hear ran until early 2018...I'm just saying, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck....It is usually a duck!
ProsGreat benefits, competitive salary, time off was good plus additional week off over Christmas/New Year.
ConsBAD MANAGERS who agree to write their employees up for company to save money
this was a very seriouse place to work in but really had the worthys of the job as well.
I was pretty happy working there because it was a very good job that would provide me the ability to provide for my family, and really this job was a family oriented place where you knew you were making the difference in this patients that really need the help ,every day I would head home in the mornings feeling almost like some one sacrate, just because I knew I worked all knight doing the drugs that these patients really needed it.
From this job I learned that no matter what you do just enjoy what you do..in another word just do everything you do with lots of love and honesty, just like if that's the last thing you do.
The management staff needed just a little more openness towards the staff, I think that they were a bit to themselves so they would not distract any of the employees.
My co- workers were like my other family .We would see each other more then our own families just because it was many many hours of work especially, if we had lots of requests from the hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and or stores...
The hardest part of my job was that it would require lots of hours over my family, but yet it was basically a bitter sweet at the end just because I knew my family was health wise healthy and ok and second I had to work over to make these drugs that these patients needed so bad.
The most enjoyable part of my job was that I was helping out these patients that needed this kind of help.
ProsI really like the fact that the company, manegers, supervisiors, leads always on the holidays they would provide a fiest especially Thanks Giving Day.
Excellent work environment with strong emphasis on work/life balance; great culture, great pay and excellent benefits
Excellent company to work for, I am leaving only due to relocation of my family from NJ to Indiana.
I have worked with some of the most talented and gifted professionals in the pharmaceutical industry. This company truly cares about putting the patient first and about helping the quality of life of those with medical conditions requiring medication. In the Oncology Business Unit where I am working, the desire of the professionals with whom I work to help patients living with cancer have a better quality of life or to extend their lives as much as possible is awe inspiring. A truly excellent employment experience.
My managers have always been fully supportive of any ideas or suggestions, they take in to account all aspects of solving problems or making work easier, and not 'reinventing the wheel'. Innovative and creative is a great way to describe the culture.
Working in Human Resources, I believe the hardest part of the job I experience is when someone leaves the company involuntarily. I know they have families and people who depend on them and it does cause some uneasiness but I know it's the right thing for the company and we do everything we can to help them find a new job.
I have learned to always bring my "A" game to my job, people depend on me to be my best and bring my best. One never knows what will happen on any given day, so being prepared for every possibility is the best option.
ProsSummer Fridays, Free Ice Cream Wednesdays, Company Shut down between Christmas & New Years Day
A challenging yet rewarding experience with a top-tier industry leading pharmaceutical company.
A typical day at Novartis involved direct sales promoting pharmaceutical products for a variety of disease states that included Hypertension/Heart Failure, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Osteoporosis and Alzheimer's Disease.
In addition to Internal Medicine and Primary Care physicians, the drugs I sold required calling heavily upon specialists that included Cardiologists, Endocrinologists, Nephrologists, Neurologists, Gastroenterologists and Rheumatologists.
At Novartis I learned the value of teamwork and working together with counterparts overlapping in the same territory with some of the same physicians.
However, in some instances this could also be the most challenging part of the job. Novartis was unique in that at one time the sales force promoted three antihypertensive drugs simultaneously, which in some instances created some confusion in the minds of the physicians as to which antihypertensive they should prescribe despite our laser focus on explaining how each drug was a different class and for a different type of hypertensive patient.
The most enjoyable part of my job was promoting market-leading drugs like Diovan for hypertension and Zelnorm for Irritable Bowel Disease and calling upon the wide range of specialists listed above in the second paragraph. In addition, I enjoyed working for an industry-leading company whose representatives were consistently ranked as some of the most beneficial in the industry in yearly polls of physicians.
4.0
Analista Regualtorio ICRO | Lima, Lima | Aug 20, 2015
Novartis Biosciences S. A.
Novartis es una buena empresa transnacional, el cual contiene buenos valores de trabajo.
Mi día típico de trabajo es revisar siempre mis correos por la nueva información que pueda llegar, asimismo revisar mis pendientes para los estudios, y desarrollar planes para poder realizarlos, me encargo de iniciar las comunicaciones con los centros de investigación de un estudio nuevo, o para los estudios que ya están caminando o en desarrollo, asimismo solicitar a los centros que puedan iniciar las comunicaciones con sus respectivos Comités de Ética para poder obtener sus aprobaciones y si fuera necesario me comunico con los Comités de Éticas, para poder saber de estas aprobaciones u observaciones y poder tener los documentos de manera pronta.
Ante el INS: Someter los expedientes y estar al pendiente de las observaciones si las tuviera o aprobaciones. Si necesitamos reunirnos con el INS solicito puedan darnos la cita lo más pronto posible para no alargar los tiempos de aprobaciones y así poder resolver y obtener las aprobaciones del INS, asimismo con DIGEMID. Con ambas instituciones tengo una comunicación fluida y que en la actualidad tengo la facilidad que ante algunas observaciones el INS o DIGEMID se sea comunicado antes, También resaltar que el INS se comunica conmigo para poder coordinar alguno reuniones o inspecciones con los centros.
He aprendido un mejor manejo del ambiente regulatorio y poder conocer y obtener aprobaciones mas rápidas para poder así tener mejores tiem
ProsSerugo Medico pagado por la Empresa, pagado el almuerzo, cuento con una tarjeta para consumo inteno de la oficina, osea cafe, golosinas o frutas, entre otros
ConsLa parte de Remuneración no esta acorde al mercado de investigación clinica
Manufacturing process transfer of all the products assigned to the site by thoroughly planning so as to meet the needs of the business and supply chain strategies thereby contributing to the development & implementation of launch plans within the manufacturing operations.
Direct late stage formulation development, scale-up and technology transfer for new formulations to the production site.
Capable of partnering in the building of the Tech Ops and development strategy ensuring alignment with the launch plans and aligning Tech Ops work plans accordingly.
Leading, participate and act as an ambassador for Tech Ops and development centre.
As a point of contact working with R&D and tech-ops, played a key role in the planning of Dossier batches, scale up batches and the launch batches.
Evaluate alternative solutions to ensure that product designs are easy to manufacture, optimally & cost effectively sourced and are consistent with quality & margin targets, Tech Ops & business strategies
Acting as technical point of contact during new product introduction execution phase, and other business initiatives, representing the needs of both the sides, providing overall continuity and ensuring that new manufacturing technology is successfully started up and meets agreed standards
Identifying and developing new manufacturing (with R&D) to support new product developments, as well as breakthroughs in supply chain performance and cost (Ex. late stage differentiation)
To play
Ambiente de trabajo agradable, vanguardista y profesional.
Un día típico de trabajo era visitar una vez al día el hospital y centros de salud, después farmacias para posteriormente iniciar con la visita medica que constaba de 11 visitas. El reporte se realizaba por medio de tarjetas.
Como fue mi primer laboratorio aprendí a:
* Tener buena presentación.
* Como dirigirme a los médicos.
* Poner en practica los cursos sobre técnica de ventas y relaciones humanas
* Manejar DDD y ATV.
* Trabajar en equipo y con gente nueva.
* Usar nuevas herramientas para trabajar.
* A través de los años aprendí como tener una mejor relación laboral y personal con el cliente para cubrir los objetivos de la empresa.
Con el paso de los años tuve diferentes gerentes, aprendí de cada uno de ellos manteniendo una buena relación que me ayudó a desarrollarme laboral y personalmente.
Con el paso de los años pertenecí a diferentes grupos dentro de la empresa, en los cuales hubo buena integración laboral y personal con cada uno de ellos.
La parte más difícil fue aprender a trabajar en el área de ventas como representante medico.
Lo que mas te gustó fueron: los logros personales y laborales que tuve de inmediato al formar parte de la empresa como:
*Estar en los primeros lugares de ventas a nivel nacional con VOLTAREN y posteriormente con otros productos como ZURCAL, FLOTAC, DIOVAN Y CO-DIOVAN.
*Viajar a convenciones a nivel internacional.
Los cursos constantes que la empresa ofrecía para crecer laboral y personalmente.
El desarrollo que
ProsSeguro de gastos mayores, vales de despensa, caja de ahorro, vales de gasolina, premios por ventas, automóvil, herramientas para trabajar, incentivos.
ConsModificación drástica en la forma de pago de incentivos, reducción de grupos de trabajo, reducción de productos en la parrilla promocional y eliminacion de lineas especialies
Great workplace, very good working working environment
Novartis Southern Africa Country Group is housed at the Novartis South Africa CPO office in Midrand in Johannesburg but looks after Southern African Countries.
Typical day at work consist of cross functional meetings, aligning with commercial and franchise head on key tactical plans and activities update in all the 13 countries we look after. This is coupled with field trips for key activities on the ground in the various Southern Africa countries.
Learned a lot at Novartis being my first Pharma jobs mainly how different cross functional divisions come together to deliver and win for patients. Also learnt how to operate and adapt in the different markets across Southern Africa as they pose different issues and also require market specific solutions that are tailor made for the specific countries.
The management is very accommodating and nurturing and actively take interest in your career development also coupled with the fantastic and very collaborative and helpful co-workers.
The most enjoyable part of the job is bringing innovative medicines to the rest of Southern Africa and improving patient outcomes through collaborative partnerships which is very fulfilling as we make a difference for a lot of patients in need in Africa.
The hard part was the gap in knowledge and also the delayed registration of medicines in Africa that made products available very late for African populations at times 10 years back so those products would lack a lot of Global support si
ProsGreat working environment, clear development plans. great coaching and mentoring
ConsOperating in politically and economically volatile environments a big challange
This company was great in the past.
I am working here since more than 10 years, and as trainer I have a good overview of the company and its departments.
I am simply shocked how this company changed within the last years.
Novartis externalize all services to save money.
Very US driven, not at all a Swiss culter company anymore. They don‘t care about you, only about your performance.
The managers are poorly trained and only interested into their carreer plans. Completely lost in conflict management.
Communication is poor and there is a difference for internals and externals too.
Externals are treated very bad. No benefits, no gifts, no paid vacation, they pay more in the cantine, not allowed to use the gym, not allowed to participate into training sessions, the welcome day is 1 hour! For internals 1.5 days.
You are there to work and that‘s it. Your contract is extended at the very last day, maybe with less money (kate it or we call the next one culture)
The colleagues are mostly great. Just due to the working hours they do not integrated into the Swiss life at all. They know nothing about Basel, the culture and how we use to treat each other.
They hide on campus and complain that Switerland is too expensive so they all go to shop in DE or FR. They do not understand that the system only functions if we do not only take profit out of everything.
But as the company only looks at their advantages, I do not wonder that the employees do the same.
Culture h
ProsInternals have all benefits and higher salary for the same job
ConsExternals are treated bad here, earn less and feel like „working bees“
Questions And Answers about Novartis
On average, how many hours do you work a day at Novartis?
Asked Jan 22, 2017
10-13 Work not organized in the right way, constant downsizing of employees
Answered Oct 17, 2019
7.5 in office and another 2 hours at home. Its a 37.5 hour work week.
Answered Apr 11, 2019
How would you describe the pace of work at Novartis?
Asked Oct 28, 2016
Very fast paced urgent driven environment
Answered Mar 30, 2020
Very fast paced urgent driven environment
Answered Mar 30, 2020
What is the vacation policy like at Novartis? How many vacation days do you get per year?
