Diversity, equity and inclusion have been a strong focus for the pharmaceutical industry in Ireland over recent years. With more women choosing Stem careers than ever before, pharma is proving to be an ideal path for those seeking an exciting and rewarding working life.
As one of the world’s leading healthcare companies, MSD Ireland aims to help its employees get the most out of their time spent at work. With diversity and inclusion as a core anchor, MSD supports a people-focused approach designed to promote wellbeing, personal, and professional development – whatever that might mean for each individual team member. Across their network of seven sites in counties Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Meath and Tipperary, this commitment to equality and inclusion has supported the establishment of a hugely diverse and dynamic workforce of over 3,000 people.
Diversity is deeply ingrained at all levels of the business, including within the national senior leadership team, where the company has achieved full gender parity. Across MSD Ireland’s significant research and manufacturing divisions three of their five manufacturing sites in Ireland are led by women – a proportion that is well above industry standards.
Kacey Fetcho-Phillips is one of those leaders. As the site lead of the MSD Biotech, Dublin site in Swords, she is effusive when it comes to discussing how MSD has allowed her to “learn, grow and be challenged”.
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Empowering women in pharma: MSD Ireland’s commitment to supporting diverse leadership
“At MSD, the network of sponsors and mentors, and the inclusive environment have helped me, and many others, learn and flourish toward our full potential,” Fetcho-Phillips says. “I have been given opportunities to both grow and develop myself and my teams while solving impactful challenges in global healthcare. It is great to leverage MSD’s future-focused and cutting-edge global network, boasting some of the most advanced pharma research, development and manufacturing facilities in the world, to both serve patients and grow talent.”
Fetcho-Phillips believes MSD’s representative leadership team is no happy accident. “This is a visible result of having an organisation where inclusion is embedded at every level, with a strong commitment to attract, develop and retain diverse talent. I joined the company mid-career, and I have seen how this strategic position is very integrated in our work and the resulting benefits. We fully believe in the power of having a diverse and inclusive work environment, supportive benefit structure and challenging work opportunities to develop all team members, as the way forward to ensure success.”
This culture ultimately helps the bottom line, she adds. “Better business outcomes are delivered by more closely representing the diversity of our patient population in our company. There are currently so many unmet needs in healthcare, and global health challenges will only get more complex into the future. As a company, we are focused on doing our part to respond to that – inventing new solutions, delivering faster and better, broadening access and ultimately empowering our teams and patients. We know that level of impactful innovation can only be achieved through a representative workforce.”
Looking at the future of healthcare and across its continuously expanding network, Fetcho-Phillips highlights that the company is always looking for talent to join its network: “If you have a passion for finding innovative solutions to complex challenges and you are energised to work at a company where you can make a difference, MSD is a great place to have a global impact from here in Ireland.”
Martha Bomar is the site lead at MSD’s Dunboyne facility, having been with the organisation for more than 12 years. She believes the wider underrepresentation of women in Stem careers is a complex issue that begins long before women enter the workforce.
“Driving towards equal representation requires action from organisations such as MSD, as well as wider societal shifts. In recent years especially, the workplace has embraced more flexibility and is providing improved benefits for all employees, including parents, that help to alleviate some of the challenges for women within Stem careers.”
Bomar – who says work/life balance is “non-negotiable” for her – recognises that the support she has received from MSD, both professional and personal, has been a significant enabler in her career. “They have provided not just opportunities but also the resources needed to succeed,” she notes. “One of the key aspects has been the company supporting my profession, but also allowing me to be myself, including having and raising children, enabling adequate work-life balance to support my interests outside of work and moving my family across the United States and internationally for different work experiences.” She adds that this came in addition to the company’s investment in her professional development, which includes diverse career opportunities, projects, training and leadership programmes.
Mentoring was a key aspect of this. Having been both the mentor and the mentee, Bomar says she has benefited greatly from the strong network of peers and mentors within the company. “The MSD community has been invaluable in offering advice, sharing experiences and providing encouragement. I now have the great opportunity to support other employees through direct management but also through employee resource groups, which have a profound impact on our employees and broader communities.”
Bomar says she gets great satisfaction from using her scientific background to develop and commercialise new products for patients. “I adore the teamwork and collaboration enabled by working at the core of all levels of the pharma development process – where you truly get to learn something new every day thanks both to the diversity of the work and the diversity of the teams you work with. At MSD, benefiting from our huge global network and given the unique impactful portfolio of products we work with which tackle many of the world’s most challenging diseases, that innovation is combined with a true feeling of purpose: it’s scientific advancement for a reason, for the greater good.
“The fact that three out of five of MSD’s manufacturing site leads are women is a clear reflection of our commitment to gender diversity and our understanding of the value that diverse leadership brings,” she adds. “It shows that MSD not only talks about inclusivity but also takes tangible steps to make it a reality. This representation at the highest levels of leadership is inspiring and reinforces the message that women have equal opportunities to succeed and lead at MSD.”
As site lead at MSD Carlow, and part of the company for more than 15 years, Eva Gallagher says MSD has always been ahead of the curve on diversity, equity and inclusion. “It reflects a culture where talent is nurtured and promoted based on merit, without the limitations of gender bias.”
Her own career path within the organisation is a result of her being encouraged to “pursue her passions,” Gallagher says. “The company’s huge presence across Ireland and the diversity of work and opportunities across all the different sites has allowed me to grow as a professional, having been able to gain hands-on experience across so many different facets of pharma manufacturing, research and development, all from cutting-edge facilities where innovation and collaboration are fostered at every level.”
This has been augmented by mentoring and career development, as well as continuous learning opportunities. “Our network offers fertile ground for anyone with a passion for making a difference, however that might manifest for them. I’ve benefited greatly from the guidance of mentors who have not only provided advice but also championed my career progression.”
MSD also offers flexibility in work arrangements, which has been crucial in allowing Gallagher to balance her professional responsibilities with her personal life. “This level of support and flexibility has empowered me to take on new challenges and advance within the organisation without ever feeling like I was missing out on something else in return.”
And this ultimately translates to a unique sense of drive and commitment across MSD Ireland’s 3,000-strong workforce, she says, united by the sense of purpose to make a difference for people and patients.
“Across all of our sites, there’s a sense of ‘anything is possible’ that I think is quite unique – it is of course driven by science and our technical capabilities, but I think more than anything else it’s driven by our shared passion to take things one step further.”
MSD is hiring for a wide range of jobs across its Irish network. To find out more about the exciting career opportunities available, visit jobs.msd.com