NIBRT careers fair
NIBRT Careers in Biopharma event. Image: Connor McKenna

Want to work in biopharma? Here’s what the top companies want

17 Apr 2018

Some of the top companies in the biopharma industry recently gathered at NIBRT to find top talent. We found out exactly what they’re looking for.

Do you want to work in the rapidly growing biopharma industry? Do you know who the biotech and pharma giants are? Have you any idea about the type of roles they have available or the kind of people they want?

Because of the regulatory nature around biopharma, there isn’t as much information out there about the top companies in comparison to the Silicon Valley behemoths.

Don’t worry, though. We headed down to the National Institute of Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) on 14 April to talk to some of the biggest companies at an annual biopharma careers event.

Now in its fifth year, the NIBRT Careers in Biopharma event hosted a variety of the biggest names in industry as they sought to attract top talent and spread brand awareness.

NIBRT’s director of projects, Killian O’Driscoll, told Siliconrepublic.com that events such as this are so important because of the rapid growth in the industry in Ireland over the past 10 years.

“There’s been over €10bn of capital investment and there’s predicted to be nearly 9,000 new jobs by the year 2020,” he said.

Laboratory testing company Eurofins was in attendance because it is currently in expansion mode. HR recruitment specialist Kate Brennan said: “We’re due to complete our new build in autumn of this year and that will double our capacity.” Eurofins is looking for both graduates and experienced hires.

Amgen’s Kevin Gordon said the pharma giant is looking for a variety of roles in the areas of quality assurance, quality control and manufacturing as well as automation engineering.

With a new facility in the works and hundreds of jobs announced earlier this year, it’s no surprise that MSD was in attendance seeking to hire in a number of roles, including in the areas of quality, technology and operations.

With so much investment in the industry, MSD isn’t the only giant with a new site. Takeda’s Paul Keogh said his team members were there to let people know they are building a new facility. “We’re looking for experienced candidates who have experience in aseptic processing, hopefully as well in stem cell manufacturing,” he said.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) is also continuing to populate its Cruiserath facility. Conor Hughes, manufacturing technology engineer, said: “We’re looking for a range of candidates that are eager to get stuck into work and excited to join BMS.”

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Jenny Darmody
By Jenny Darmody

Jenny Darmody became the editor of Silicon Republic in 2023, having worked as the deputy editor since February 2020. When she’s not writing about the science and tech industry, she’s writing short stories and attempting novels. She continuously buys more books than she can read in a lifetime and pretty stationery is her kryptonite. She also believes seagulls to be the root of all evil and her baking is the stuff of legends.

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