“Top talent will always be in demand for the commercial analytics area of the pharmaceutical industry,” says Executive Recruiter Eda Zullo who has specialized in recruiting and placing these candidates for the past 15 years. Here are Eda’s thoughts on pharmaceutical commercial analytics hiring 2024.
Most of the roles Eda filled in 2023 were associate director and director level positions that were hands-on, coding, data pulls and, of course, strategic. Big pharma was and continues to seek candidates that are able to “jump-in” when necessary.
Senior manager and manager level candidates will also continue to be in high demand in 2024; however, there will be less flexibility on “settling” for candidates that lack certain skills or experience. As Eda says, “All the boxes need to be checked to get an offer.”
Small, mid-size and big pharma companies along with consulting companies will remain in search of STEM professionals for data science, commercial analytics forecasting and brand analytic positions. As it was in 2023, with fewer openings in commercial analytics hiring 2024, competition for the open positions will require candidate’s skills be top tier.
The demand for top level STEM candidates on the consulting side did increase in the second half of 2023 as there were more launches, market access/pricing analytics and brand analytic needs. Eda sees this continuing into 2024.
Ninety percent of pharma manufacturers are requiring their employees to be in the office a minimum of three days a week. This change from the past few years will create movement on both the candidate and company side of the market which should jump start 2024.
Pharmaceutical Commercial Analytics Salaries
Senior Analyst, $100,000 – $110,000
Open positions for senior analysts were predominantly filled by consultants converting to permanent employment.
Manager, $110,000 – $155,000
Senior Manager, $140,000 – $175,000
Associate Director, $160,000 – $180,000
Most of the openings in pharmaceutical commercial analytics hiring 2024 will be in these mid-levels. In 2021 and late 2022 these roles were filled by consultants as companies postponed hiring due to the pandemic and expected recession. As the outlook started to look better at the end of 2023 companies wanted to fill these positions with full-time employees with industry experience.
Director, $190,000 – $225,000
Sr. Director, $215,000 – $260,000
Openings in 2023 for these positions were scarce. Leaders were sitting tight until the threat of a recession was resolved. Opportunities at these levels should open up in 2024 but it will continue to be a very competitive interview process.
High Demand Openings
Forecasters
This is the most consistent recruiting area for pharmaceutical commercial analytics 2023 and into 2024. All of the mid-level positions, Manager, Senior Manager and Associate Director, were in demand at the end of 2023. A forecaster’s understanding of the industry and hands-on analytic skills prove to be crucial and very marketable when tied to a specific therapeutic area. Working in forecasting provides an opportunity to be exposed to many areas of the company. This allows forecasters to move internally into a variety of analytical positions as their career develops.
Commercial Data Analytics/Data Scientist
Marketing mix, omnichannel analytics and predictive analytics experience are essential skills to be in demand for these positions. Hands-on skills with Python or R are highly desired and worth taking some time to expand your expertise in this area when possible.
Vendor/Consulting – Why?
The work-from-home flexibility created during the pandemic raised the interest in these types of positions. Instead of these positions being second choice to in-house big pharma or biotech company jobs, full-time positions in this area are in far greater demand by candidates.
