Adrian Hurry works within Quotient Sciences' Environmental, Health & safety (EHS) department in Nottingham, UK. He discusses his carer with the company and what he enjoys the most about his role.

I’ve worked for Quotient Sciences for almost 20 years. I started as a Clinical Technician and always felt the opportunities are there to progress as far as you want to go. 
-Adrian Hurry 

What does an EHS Specialist do at Quotient Sciences? 

My main responsibility is to ensure that the workplace is a safe environment for colleagues, contractors, volunteers, and visitors. I do this by promoting health and safety, monitoring areas to identify any hazards, investigating accidents and incidents, educating colleagues about risks, and taking necessary actions to prevent incidents occurring.

Describe a typical day in Quotient Sciences’ EHS department. 

Typically, I would have a set plan for the day, and it often includes reviewing and updating policies or other EHS guidelines that we have at Quotient Sciences, writing and reviewing general risk assessments, COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health)   assessments, and training new and existing colleagues. Other tasks can be unpredictable, like responding to incidents; these could be minor and easy to resolve, or require a formal approach to prevent a recurrence. I also spend a fair amount of time interacting with other departments to seek advice, solutions, and clarification as we are not experts in all fields, so most days are learning days for me.

How has your career progressed since joining the company? 

I’ve worked for Quotient Sciences for almost 20 years. I started as a Clinical Technician and always felt the opportunities are there to progress as far as you want to go. I’ve been lucky to have experience working within other areas of the business and I know if I want to progress further, the company will provide loads of support to achieve this.

What experience did you have before you worked at Quotient Sciences?

I started my career and worked for several years in the building trade as a plumber. After leaving that profession, I briefly worked with the NHS and developed skills that were transferrable to my role in the clinic when I joined Quotient Sciences. I had no specific experience working in clinical research, but the company provided training to help me when I started initially as a Clinical Technician.

What learning or qualifications have you gained in this role?

It’s been a big learning curve and I’ve learnt so much in the two decades that I’ve been with the company. I’ve gained a couple of formal qualifications, such as IOSH Managing Safely  and NEBOSH General Certificate in  Occupational Health and Safety.

What do you enjoy most about your role? And what is most challenging?

Aside from talking, which I definitely enjoy and my role involves a lot of that, if I had to pick one thing it would be meeting people. Part of the reason I enjoy our new starter inductions, which are our first day introduction and training meetings set up for all new colleagues, is because I get to meet most people that join the company.

Sometimes it can be quite challenging to get colleagues to adopt changes, especially to new safety processes, but we're always looking for feedback to ensure that we're providing the best experience possible.

What advice would you give to someone applying for a role in your team? 

Laugh at my “Dad jokes” and you are in! In all seriousness, though, the EH&S team at Quotient Science is a small team, and we all bounce ideas off of one another. Talk to any of us, and we can tell you all about the roles within our team. We work well and actively support each other across all the sites.

What do you like most about working at Quotient Sciences? 

The people are what I enjoy the most about working with my team and across Quotient Sciences as a whole.

Jordan Dickens, Principal Formulation Scientist at Quotient Sciences - Nottingham, discusses his career and experiences working at the company.

I’ve had a great career so far with Quotient Sciences with a lot of development opportunities. Some of my colleagues have become some of my closest friends.
-Jordan Dickens

What does a Principal Formulation Scientist do at Quotient Sciences?

As a Principal Formulation Scientist, I support our formulation development team in the laboratory, working on complex projects, and often lead projects with novel processes or technologies. A good example would be my recent involvement in developing 3D printed tablets, or developing an osmotic pump tablet, both of which were firsts for Quotient Sciences. I’m also focused on identifying new equipment to improve capabilities, and I regularly attend conferences to see what’s new to the market. Training is another aspect of my role, not only for the formulation development team but to other teams within the pharmaceutical sciences department, to share insight and knowledge across our functions.

Describe a typical day in the formulation development department.

As a formulator, our primary responsibility is developing and optimizing drug products and related manufacturing processes. A typical day can vary, and I split my time between working in the lab and in the office. Time spent in the office typically involves planning or executing new equipment introduction and completing any associated documentation, or planning future formulation development work. Time spent in the laboratory is generally manufacturing formulation development batches, either solo or in small teams, and supporting my colleagues with training and troubleshooting.

How has your career progressed since joining us? What qualifications and experience have you gained?

Originally, I joined the company in 2013 while I was working on my Bachelor of Science degree in pharmaceutical and cosmetic science at De Montfort University in Leicester. After this placement, I returned to complete my degree, but I knew that I wanted to return to the company as soon as possible after graduating. Before I even received the results of my final exams, I was back working at Quotient Sciences full-time as a Formulation Scientist. I had a drive to continue studying, I approached my line manager at the time, about wanting to further my studies, and was fortunate to be funded by Quotient Sciences to undertake further study part-time. I was able to complete a post-graduate, Master of Science degree focused on quality by design (QbD) for the pharmaceutical industry.

I’ve had a great career so far with Quotient Sciences with a lot of development opportunities. Before working here, I had no experience within the pharmaceutical industry, so I learned about the industry through a combination of academic studies, industry experience, attending conferences and seminars, and talking with others in the industry. 

I even had the opportunity to spend the entire month of September 2019 on secondment at our Philadelphia site. This experience was focused on knowledge sharing between our sites, as Philadelphia had recently started embedding our Translational Pharmaceutics® approach into customer projects and there were a few projects that I was part of and had transitioned into the next phases of development. This experience allowed me to gain perspective on the later stages of pharmaceutical development while also helping to provide perspective on the development story of those projects so far.

Did you require any qualifications for the role you applied for when you initially joined the company?

Formulation Scientists typically have a Bachelor's degree in a relevant science. In my case, I was pursuing one when I initially joined the company, returned to complete my university studies, and came back after graduating. Some colleagues that I have worked with have entered the role by gaining experience first within a related area, such as within pharmaceutical manufacturing or at a pharmacy. There are certainly transferrable skills coming from these areas, then a lot of knowledge is to be gained while working in the role.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

In my current role, I enjoy the opportunity to train and mentor junior colleagues. For the past several years, I have been responsible for the recruitment of our current generation of placement students, many of whom we have gone on to recruit full-time following the completion of their studies. I find it really rewarding to bring the students in and watch how they mature throughout their year with us.

What aspects do you find most challenging?

As with any project-oriented business, there are always time pressures. At the same time, though, keeping busy is what makes the week fly by, and I would rather be busy than bored.

What’s the team like?

Some of my colleagues have become some of my closest friends. The team is amazing and many of us spend time together outside of work. One year, we had a camping trip in the Peak District National Park for a weekend.

What advice would you give to someone applying for a role in your team?

Be yourself. Personally, I’m always interested to hear about a candidate’s hobbies and interests so I can get a better idea about the person behind the resume, who they are, and what they enjoy.

What do you like most about working at Quotient Sciences?

The people. Not only within my team, but throughout the organization, you’ll find that Quotient Sciences is filled with great people.

Yolanda Gibson works at our Nottingham, UK facility as a project manager. In this interview, she shares what a day in the life in her role looks like.

As a PM, you sit at the center of a cross-functional team and promote a team-based approach to project delivery through coordinating activities and supporting colleagues throughout the business. When key project milestones are achieved, celebrating that success as a team is a great feeling.  

-Yolanda Gibson

What does a Project Manager do at Quotient Sciences?

A Project Manager (PM) is responsible for the day-to-day activities on a project and leading the Quotient Sciences project team, which is a cross-functional team. The PM is accountable for the successful conduct of each project, ensuring that it is delivered on time and to the required quality standards. Ultimately, our goal is to ensure our customers have a positive experience working with us.

Describe a typical day in project management.

Quotient Sciences is unique in what we do. The fact that we offer a range of CRO and CDMO services means every day in Project Management is different. One day, my focus might be on ensuring that materials manufactured for a clinical trial are being delivered on time, and the next day might be supporting the review of a clinical study report. A key part of the role is being the primary contact for our customers and depending on the scope of a project, there will be daily interactions with other departments such as pharmaceutical sciences, clinical operations, and data sciences. The PM monitors a project every day, tracking progress against budget, timelines, and quality.

How has your career progressed since joining us?

I joined the company in 2019 as a Clinical Project Coordinator (CPC) with the hope of progressing into a Project Manager role after gaining more experience. As a CPC, I assisted in the generation of clinical trial documents and supported Project Managers with clinical tasks. Quotient Sciences has a well-defined career pathway within Project Management. After working as a CPC for over a year, I progressed through the roles of Project Manager I to III, becoming a Senior Project Manager in January 2023. As a Senior Project Manager, I now lead cross-site and complex projects independently.

What experience did you have before you worked at Quotient Sciences?

In terms of education, I have a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Leeds and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Sheffield. As part of my undergraduate degree, I spent a year in an industrial placement with Eli Lilly, which was my first experience of the pharmaceutical industry. After finishing my Ph.D. in 2017, I worked as an Account Manager for an SME specializing in custom peptide synthesis and antibody production, responsible for the management of sales and relationships with clients in the UK and Northern Europe.

Did you require any qualifications for the role you applied for?

For the Clinical Project Coordinator role, a minimum degree qualification or equivalent was required. Relevant experience in a pharmaceutical company or CRO was preferred but not essential.

What learning or qualifications have you gained in this role?

In this role, I became Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certified and completed training towards becoming Green Belt certified. Before joining the company, I had a good understanding of the R&D and clinical aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, but I have since learned exponentially about drug development and manufacturing.

What do you enjoy most about your role? And what is most challenging?

Sharing successes with colleagues and customers. As a PM, you sit at the center of a cross-functional team and promote a team-based approach to project delivery through coordinating activities and supporting colleagues throughout the business. When key project milestones are achieved, celebrating that success as a team is a great feeling.  

Projects are delivered to strict timelines, but sometimes unplanned or unexpected changes can happen given the nature of the work. Dealing with unplanned changes can be challenging, requiring you to be able to reprioritize work effectively and be able to work under pressure. Being a PM requires a person to be adaptable and have great coordination skills.

What’s the team like?

Fab! I am based in Nottingham and colleagues across the various functions are generally associated with one of five project teams. I work in Team Fleming and consistently partner with the same colleagues across all our team’s projects. We all have a good rapport, having worked so frequently together. Everyone is friendly, respectful, and helpful.

What do you like most about working at Quotient Sciences?

The people and the varied nature of the projects. No one project is the same and it truly means you never stop learning (and work never gets boring!) Translational Pharmaceutics projects are my favorite to work on.