Life Sciences Strategy Consultant at Cambridge Healthcare Research (CHR)

Dr Oliver Hemmings has a PhD in Immunology from King’s College London, and now works as a Senior Associate Consultant at Cambridge Healthcare Research.

We asked Oliver to tell us about his current role, his career journey, challenges of the transition from academia to industry and about any useful tips for researchers wanting to pursue a similar career. 

Tell us about your current role and organisation.

I am a recently promoted senior associate consultant at Cambridge Healthcare Research, a life science consultancy firm based out of Cambridge, with a large office in London. We provide strategic support for a range of clients in the Pharma industry, largely based on analysis of market dynamics and the competitive landscape. We support a whole host of projects including early and late-stage development, lifecycle management and market access. As a senior associate, I am a team member/team lead/project manager across multiple longer-term projects, with opportunities to dip in and out of competitor simulation workshops, and one-off deep dives, that provide clients with a snapshot of the current market.

How did you move from academia to your current role?

Throughout my PhD, despite thoroughly enjoying the topic area and being at the forefront of research, I realised that the lab environment was not for me. I spoke to a careers professional within my university and started to pinpoint my transferable skills and what I excelled in. I decided, the analytical, problem solving, and communication/presenting aspects of my PhD were what I enjoyed most, and consulting became a potential option. I looked for ‘pro-bono’ consultancy opportunities in and around London, where young professionals with limited experience can help support consulting projects. This both confirmed my interest in the profession, as well as supplemented my CV for future applications. I decided to direct my job search towards the more boutique life science consulting firms, as opposed to the larger firms, as I liked the idea of having a range of different projects initially, to help me understand what specific areas of life science consulting I was best suited to. I applied to a couple companies originally, and was fortunate to be offered a role at my preferred choice, Cambridge Healthcare Research. 

What have the main challenges been in the transition from academia to industry?

I would say there have been two main challenges since transitioning from academia to industry. Firstly, is the understanding and consideration of commercial aspects of life sciences. As academics, we are used to solely focussing on the science behind medicine. This is not always the most important aspect in practice. For example, efficacy of a new drug isn’t always the major consideration, but production, marketing, licensing, cost (e.g., reimbursement) and timing, to name a few, all play key roles in its success. Taking the time to appreciate and understand all these factors is imperative to your success but is often overlooked for academics looking to enter consulting. 

Secondly, my time management and organisation have had to improve. As a PhD student, you are often working on your own project, with little impact to others when “things don’t go to plan”. This is not the case in consulting, where we work in small project teams, and often across multiple projects simultaneously. Without sufficient planning, a knock-on effect is often incurred across projects, and when clients expect delivery by a particular deadline, often leads to unnecessary pressure applied to other team members. Getting on top of this early can be a challenge, but is important for delivering high-quality work punctually.

What are the best things about working in your role?

Personally, I love seeing the impact my ‘day to day’ work is having on the strategy and planning for global corporations. This is something often absent in academic research, but is very obvious in my current role. Clients are ultimately paying to help you inform their decisions, and this can be highly rewarding. Additionally, as a former PhD student, learning is one of my main motivators. This is something I do everyday in my current role and does not appear to be stopping any time soon. I am exposed to a variety of projects, all with different aims, and require understanding across different areas. If you enjoy a fast-paced, learning environment, where tangible impact can be provided on a day-to-day basis, I would consider consulting as a future career. 

Is a PhD essential for your role? If not, did you find your PhD experience nevertheless useful? 

No, a PhD is not essential for my role. However, I do believe pursing a PhD has been very helpful in gaining the transferrable skills, that have set me up for a career in life science consulting. I particularly enjoyed the initial analytical and subsequent problem-solving aspects of my research, alongside being given the freedom to pioneer new processes to help tackle the most convoluted challenges. The ability to digest complex concepts, in a short amount of time, and be pro-active in coming up with solutions, is something I developed throughout my PhD, and has since become invaluable in my current role. Specifically, for example, being able to quickly read scientific publications, clinical trial designs and company investor relations, to form an understanding of complex market dynamics, is very useful in my current role, and I feel my ability here has benefitted from the skills that were developed over the 3-4 years of my PhD.

What’s the career progression like in consultancy?

Within my company, there are great opportunities to progress your career, and these can be done so in a short time frame for driven individuals. Often within consulting, career progression is fairly linear, and it is always very clear what competencies you need to have developed in order to progress to the next stage of your career. Currently, I have regular meetings with my line manager, in which we clearly highlight areas of improvement alongside accomplishments, as well as always look to identify opportunities to grow my skillset, in order to progress to the next stage. After working hard over my first year at the company, I was recently promoted to Senior Associate, and feel I am well aware of my targets over the next stage of my career in order to progress again. 

What top tips would you pass on to a researcher interested in this type of work?

The main tips I could give to budding consultants, is to make sure you enjoy the problem-solving aspects of your current research and are happy to persevere and be resilient in your approach. Also be prepared, especially if coming from a PhD background, to realise that knowing everything about your topic is not the goal, but being able to identify the important aspects and use these appropriately to develop your understanding and formulate a strategy going forward is likely going to be your new aim. 

If possible, I would strongly suggest looking for some pro-bono consulting experience, for example your university consulting clubs or third-party companies that take volunteer consultants, so that your able to get a taste of consulting workstreams and learn to work in a team environment on these sorts of projects. 

Additionally, I suggest using websites such as “preplounge”, to practice case studies, and again to understand whether you enjoy the analytical and problem-solving aspects required to be successful in this industry. 

Finally… network! Reach out to former university alumni, or perhaps friends, former colleagues or even complete strangers, who are currently in a role that you are pursuing, - try and pick up on first-hand experience from individuals in this role. Not only will this benefit your comprehension of the role and its required skills, but also will help develop your communication and getting you ‘out of your comfort zone’, again two major skills needed for this career!