Interview Insider: Tips on How to Get Hired at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Everybody knows what good employers want: strong skills, deep experience, hardworking, easy to get along with, ability to work independently and in a team. That’s at the 10,000-foot level, anyway, because at the boots-on-the-ground level, even though those are still key elements, there can be cultural differences and personality considerations.

Doing research into the company can provide insight into exactly what they’re looking for. With that in mind, let’s look at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

The Company

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is headquartered in Boston, Mass. The company also has international headquarters in London, and facilities in San Diego, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Australia.

Largely a cystic fibrosis company, Vertex also has research programs into acute spinal cord injury, pain, oncology, infectious disease and others.

Vertex has two drugs approved for cystic fibrosis, Orkambi (lumacaftor/ivacaftor) and Kalydeco (ivacaftor), with additional drugs and combination therapeutics in trials for cystic fibrosis and other diseases.

On December 7, 2017, the company announced positive results from a Phase III clinical trial of Kalydeco in children with CF ages one to two years who have one of 10 mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. It met its primary safety endpoint, was well tolerated, and there was also a significant improvement in sweat chloride, a secondary endpoint, as well as multiple exploratory endpoints regarding pancreatic function. The drug received approval for children with CF ages six through 11 who have two copies of the F508del mutations on Jan. 10, 2018 in Europe.

On Dec. 12, 2017, Vertex announced a collaboration deal with CRISPR Therapeutics AG to co-develop and co-commercialize CTX001, a gene editing therapeutic for beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease.

In 2016, Vertex reported total CF product revenues of $1.683 billion, growth of 71 percent from 2015. The company has 2,100 employees worldwide, with about two-thirds involved in research and development.

Culture and Employment

According to Glassdoor, which collects reviews of companies, Vertex received an overall rating of 3.3 stars out of five, with 59 percent of reviewers saying they’d recommend the company to a friend.

One reviewer, a current employee in Boston, gave it five stars, saying, “I love my job, I love my managers, and I love the people I work with. The benefits are outstanding, the office is easy to get to, and they really care about their employees. Everyone writes a development plan for themselves each year and then discusses how to reach their goals with their manager. The company is driven to cure CF and most employees are passionate about it. Individuals and groups are rewarded for a job well done with bonuses, other monetary awards (VOCAPS) and sometimes stock.”

A former employer at the director level, however, gave it three stars. This individual noted the company had excellent pay and benefits and a great location in Boston, but, “The company used to have a focus on values and mission. Over the past few years, it really lost sight of these things. Leaders and leadership style seem to promote an atmosphere of everyone out for themselves/watch your back, rather than one of teamwork.”

In fact, most of the reviews note that Vertex has excellent pay and benefits, and the great location, which is at Fan Pier in Boston.

However, one reviewer, who gave the company a one-star review, though noting the great pay and benefits, said, “Stressful environment. There are people working 12-hour days and still can’t get their work done. People generally don’t even make it a year before they burn out. You have vacation time, but people will work through their vacation and weekends.”

Another reviewer says, “This is the greatest company I’ve ever worked for! The people are great, the salary is great, and the benefits are unbelievable. They really care about their employees. I love going to work. The CEO is a great guy. It’s just an all-around fabulous place to work.”

Interviewing with the company is ranked as 2.9, or average, with 53 percent citing it as a positive experience, 13 percent saying neutral, and 30 percent saying it was negative.

One reviewer who declined the offer said it was an easy interview and positive experience. The process took a week. “Very to-the-point interview, more about knowing candidate’s background. Managers were very nice. Lasted for 30 minutes. They seemed very organized. Be prepared to ask questions about the position.” This was for an internship.

A senior scientist applicant who didn’t receive an offer called it a negative experience. It involved an “online resume submission followed by HR email and a 20-minute phone interview. Then a phone interview by the hiring manager for 30 minutes. Arranged a one-day on-site interview with presentation and had dinner with the hiring manager.”

Another senior scientist who didn’t receive an offer applied through a recruiter. “Two weeks later, I received a call from the hiring manager who was very rude and impatient. First of all, he called me later than the defined time. He was not speaking very clearly and was not willing to listen to what I did and how I did it. He asked me one question and then before I completed my answer he jumped to some arbitrary question. After that question, he said he had no more questions. It was the weirdest interview I have ever given.”

Careers

Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has numerous job openings at various locations. Examples include:

Clinical Pharmacologist, Boston. This position will collaborate with colleagues in bioanalytics, biometrics, clinical development, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and regulatory affairs. It calls for a PhD in pharmacokinetics, pharmaceutical sciences or other life sciences with zero to two years of experience in the biopharma industry or post-doctoral training.

Senior Scientist, Process Chemistry in San Diego. The company says it is looking for an experienced chemist with a PhD and four to seven years of relevant work experience, or a Master of Science degree in chemistry and seven or more years of experience, or a Bachelor of Science and 10-plus years of experience. The candidate will lead the development of fit-for-purpose manufacturing routes to kilogram quantities of small-molecule pharmaceutical candidates.

Stem Cell Biologist in Boston. This individual will develop complex primary human assays for target validation, proof of mechanism studies and high-throughput screening. The position calls for a PhD in biology or related science and five to seven years of experience in human pluripotent stem cell biology and assay development.

Head of Discovery Biology (Vice President) in San Diego. This person will lead a team of approximately 40 scientists in developing and executing on biological strategies to support drug discovery programs. The candidate must have experience leading teams that include molecular and cell biology, pharmacology, biochemistry and biophysics. A PhD or equivalent in biology or related field is preferred, with experience leading a biology or drug discovery group that was larger than 15 people, and experience in strategic planning, project leadership, laboratory and budget management.

Interested in working for a biopharma company on the very cutting-edge of science with great pay and benefits? Tune up your resume and good luck!