In this series, we highlight specific functions or departments within typical pharmaceutical company organizations. We also feature the perspectives of women working in these different functions and their career journeys. Special thanks to Nansi Kabonge for providing insights on the Business Operations function and her Program Manager role.
What is Business Operations?
Business Operations is a support function that enables the business to run as smoothly as possible. In this case, “the business” means the pharmaceutical company and/or a specific department within the company.
What is Business Operations responsible for?
Business Operations is responsible for establishing, tracking and managing various processes. This can include everything from contracting, project management and resource management. For example, within a Real World Data group, Business Operations professionals liaise between data scientists and Procurement to identify and obtain data sources. They also help scientists manage/track their studies and communicate the value once a study is complete.
What is the impact of Business Operations on the work of a pharma organization?
Business Operations makes sure that teams as well as the company overall have what they need to perform their work in the most efficient way possible. Business Operations professionals are constantly optimizing processes so that the business can realize the greatest amount of value.
Where in the pharma organization is Business Operations typically found?
Business Operations functions are typically spread out throughout the company. For example, there can be one that supports research and a separate function that supports the commercial organization. In some cases, there might not be a distinct function. In such cases, a specific team will include a Business Operations role that performs some or all of the activities mentioned above.
What are the other functions that Business Operations may interact with?
Business Operations interacts with almost all functions in a pharmaceutical company. They work closely with the subject matter experts (SMEs, e.g., scientists) to understand their work and priorities. In addition, they work with Finance and possibly Human Resources to ensure there are adequate resources to achieve business goals. Business Operations professionals often work closely with senior leaders. This type of work often involves communicating progress and forecasts as well as planning and goal tracking. Lastly, those in Business Operations must be tuned in to other areas of the company to ensure that the functions they are supporting fit into the bigger picture.
What are the types of positions within Business Operations, and what do the people in these positions do?
There are a wide variety of roles that exist within Business Operations. Some of the roles like Operations Analyst are focused on metrics and value tracking. This role involves gathering and ingesting data about the group in order to identify areas of efficiency (or inefficiency).
Other roles are Project or Program Managers. They work on distinct projects or programs (a collection of projects). Their role is to manage and track the project and lead it to successful completion.
Another role we have in our Business Operations group is the Business Manager role. These individuals support a specific leader within the organization. Their work is to help develop the group strategy, plan meetings, communicate and organize the leader's leadership team.
What type of training, education, or experience do Business Operations professional need?
Professionals in Business Operations have a pretty diverse educational background: engineering, supply chain and business, to name a few. If you’re in a technical environment such as a Data Science group, it also helps to have some scientific or drug development knowledge. Most hiring managers are looking for individuals who have great communication skills and have experience in process improvement. You need to have strong interpersonal skills and influence and lead without authority.
Function Feature:
Nansi Kabonge, PMP
Program Manager, Personalized Healthcare, Genentech
1. Briefly describe your educational and professional background up to your current role.
I studied Biology in undergrad and completed 3 six-month co-ops while I was in school. My first co-op was in McNeil Health's Validations Engineering Department where I worked on the start-up of a new manufacturing plant. The second co-op was at Neutrogena, working on FDA prep and manufacturing efficiency projects. The last co-op was at Johnson and Johnson’s consumer headquarters where I was in Supply Chain Reliability.
After I graduated college, I was accepted into the Genentech Operations Rotational Development Program (ORDP). Analysts in this program complete 4 six-month rotations within Pharma Technical Operations (manufacturing) over the course of two years. Within this program I worked in two separate Product Quality groups, Supply Chain, and in a small scale manufacturing plant. While in ORDP, I also completed a Master’s Certificate from Johns Hopkins in Biotechnology and Enterprise. After I completed the ORDP Program, I joined the Business Operation team within the Real World Data Science group (now Personalized Healthcare), which is my current group.
2. Briefly describe your current role (responsibilities, day-to-day tasks, etc.).
My current role as a Program Manager means that I am responsible for a program with multiple work streams or studies. I come into a program and help the team organize the goals/deliverables. Then, I also help the team come up with a plan on how to achieve those goals. Once we create a plan, I work with stakeholders to execute the plan and navigate any obstacles that may arise. Along the way I am also responsible for tracking resources and communications that surround the program. A lot of my job is setting up and attending meetings, then sharing and distributing the information from said meetings. I also spend a lot of my time tracking people down to make sure they complete whatever aspects of the project they're responsible for.
3. What skills/attributes are needed for a candidate to excel in your function?
The core responsibility is to connect the dots across different stakeholders to make sure all the moving pieces of the project move forward. To excel at this, someone in this role needs to have:
- Exceptional communication skills and organization. You are expected to know everything there is to know about your project or program or know who to go to when you don’t know.
- An ability to translate between technical and business/strategy or even at different levels within the company.
- A curiosity that helps you understand the people you work with. This includes why are they interested in this project or what are their motivations. Plus, it helps to know where they are experts and can add the most value, how they like to receive information, etc.
4. What do you find most challenging about your current role?
The most challenging aspect of my role is that a lot of the time you get the brunt of people’s frustrations. Because you are the all-knowing translator who owns the project timeline, you can get backlash from all sides when things don’t go well. I think the best way to deal with this is understanding that it's not personal and work from a solutions-based mindset.
5. What do you know now that you wish you knew earlier in your career journey?
I wish I knew that jobs aren't always just what they sound like on paper but also what you shape them to be. I knew about Project Manager (PM) roles, but they always appeared more like administrative roles. Instead, I have found them to be a combination of administrative, strategy, and technical. If you want to be the PM that also gets into the science or that shapes the strategy, you can do that (in my experience).
I also wish I was more aware of how the imposter syndrome can hold you back. I’ve learned to recognize when I’m not performing to my fullest ability because I think that I “don’t belong.” In such situations, I now have ways of hyping myself back up. It took some time, and I’m still working on it. But I think having strong female and Black mentors has helped, and I wish I sought those relationships out sooner versus trying to do it on my own.
More about Nansi
Nansi is an experienced Project Manager who is driven by using technology and information to solve scientific questions. She started her career in manufacturing operations - first in consumer manufacturing, then pharma - but transitioned into R&D personalized healthcare which is where she sits now.
Outside of work, Nansi enjoys traveling, and all things related to the ocean. She is open water scuba certified and has been lucky enough to see 9 meter Giant Manta Rays, sharks, and sea turtles.
Thank you so much for your contribution, Nansi!