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My daughter is 6 years old and one of the wisest people I have ever known. A few days ago I asked her the question that I used to dread being asked when I was a child; the question that is so open-ended that it seems exciting to ask, but is rather unfair to the recipient: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I almost kicked myself for saying it. As soon as the words le...

Two months ago, we gained a new colleague here at Next Phase. Steve Smith is our new Head of Rare Disease and Gene Therapy and his appointment started me thinking about the rare disease sector and how medical devices play a part here. A rare disease is defined by the European Union as one that affects less than 5 in 10,000 of the general population, whilst the FDA define thi...

At first thought, it may seem a little far-fetched to think that choosing a recruitment partner can mean life or death for your patients. Delve deeper however, and it doesn’t take long to realise just how much of a ripple effect the often polar-opposite methodologies used by recruiters can really mean just that…. If we were to split recruiters into 2 categories (outside of j...

I wrote recently about the skills you need to have a successful career in Validation, looking beyond simply having strong technical knowledge. I explored what differentiates a great Validation Lead from a good one (read here if you haven’t yet: What skills do you need to work in Validation?). Building on this, I have now had the privilege to gain additional insight from a QA...

I have been asked many times what the dress code will be for an interview. Whilst it seems like a question with a straightforward answer, it isn’t always that simple! When your clients are pharmaceutical and biotech businesses it obviously raises the question in a candidate’s head “What is the dress code?”, because no-one wants to be under-dressed or over-dressed. A couple o...

Technology is ever evolving and manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to give their product the market edge. It is unsurprising that communication between humans and machines is at the forefront of this, after all we are becoming ever dependent on technology and what it can offer us. From Alexa reminding us to pick up milk to our iPhone’s providing us with navigation...

As a specialism, Validation attracted me as a Recruiter when I supported an SME company to find a Validation Technician for them. So then, I researched the topic and started to talk to professionals within the pharmaceutical industry to gain a deeper understanding of their profession. It is such a broad and varied professionalism and in my opinion, it requires a range of ver...

In this blog I aim to highlight the 3 most simple ways in which to achieve high quality manufacturing standards: 1) Validation This is in reference to the documenting and the good manufacturing practice where data is collated and scrutinised. This highlights whether the quality standards and compliance are being met in the real-time. 2) Qualification As validation mainly dea...

Before any product or service can begin its design life one fundamental question needs to be addressed; “Who is it for?” Brand and product marketing, in order to maximise profits, has always been concerned about the target audience and demographic that will be buying the product and how best to attract and engage with them. The application of personas to the design process h...

I have been reading a few articles recently about applying validation standards to the pharmaceutical logistics industry. Logistics validation is designed to ensure that risk is alleviated and the system is responsive to external confounding factors. If followed through properly it helps to mitigate the risk of products whilst in transit being harmed or deemed null-in-void. ...