Lorraine Gustafsson – Commercial Products Manager, Hovione HE

Education/Background

I always had an interest in the sciences and the world around me. I studied Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Applied Maths as my options for my Leaving Cert. I studied Chemistry and Forensic Science in UCC. It was a really good course, giving advanced knowledge of Chemistry coupled with Forensic investigation and analytical chemistry skills. Following this, I completed a PhD in UCC in Crystallography of Pharmaceutically Relevant Compounds. The PhD took 5.5 years and was tough, but rewarding.

Career/Experience

I began my career in the Pharmaceutical Sector through a Work placement. I took a 3 month placement in Janssen Pharmaceutical Sciences, Little Island Cork in 2014 during my PhD. I loved the work and the investigative side of things. Following this, I returned to UCC to complete my PhD and about 1 year before my thesis was completed, a job became available in Janssen.

My work for Janssen was multifaceted, varied and challenging. I was responsible for a large suite of products and had the role of both Process Specialist/Engineer and Process Chemist. This was ideal as it meant that I retained work both in a lab setting and also in the Manufacturing Plant. No two days are ever the same in this role, which really suited me and kept me interested.

Following on from this role, I moved to take Operations Lead for the internal transfer of manufacturing processes within the site. This gave me both Project Management and Validation experience, it was great growth for me.

After 4.5 years at Janssen, I was faced with the opportunity to move toward management. I was offered the position as Commercial Products Manager at Hovione HE, Loughbeg, Ringaskiddy. Hovione are a CMO, meaning that we manufacture products on behalf of our customers. It’s a very different dynamic to my prior role as the Customer is always right. I now manage a technical support team of 10 process engineers, who act as the Technical Support function for the site. It’s very interesting to now be in management. The people side of things brings its own challenges and facets that were previously not there when I was not a Manager. I do feel that I have a better understanding of the challenges faced by my Team, as I have done their job before. It’s great perspective.

I have now been with Hovione for over 1 year and I am constantly learning. I think that’s what keeps my mind interested. Again it’s a job with great variety.

Typical Day

My typical day starts with Operational Meetings to get the processes moving on the floor. I deal with escalations from my team and take them to the management meetings. I usually then move on to tactical work, dealing with issues that have arisen from the day before and giving advice to my team. I review a lot of documents and participate in root cause problem solving meetings and investigations, but more from a mentoring perspective now. I am also involved in site strategic meetings, planning the production schedule and resourcing. The job is very varied again, so a ‘typical’ day is hard to categorise.

Type of Person

I think you need an inquisitive mind for the role(s) that I have done, as well as strong analytical and problem solving skills. You need to be methodical and have good written communication also.

Overall, the job I do now utilises skills that I have gained through my university studies, PhD and all my previous roles, as well as demanding new and different ways of thinking from me.

Biopharmachem Ireland