Are regulatory affairs skills transferable between different industries? Yes, regulatory affairs skills are highly transferable between industries, particularly those involving regulated products or services. While specific industry knowledge and regulations vary, the core competencies and mindset of a regulatory affairs professional are valuable across sectors.
Why Regulatory Skills are transferable
The skills used in regulatory affairs, such as understanding regulatory frameworks, project management, communication, and analytical thinking, are applicable across various industries. Professionals gain valuable experience in understanding compliance, data analysis, stakeholder management, and documentation, which are transferable to other regulated industries.
Regulatory affairs professionals are adept at learning new regulations and adapting to changing circumstances, a skill valued in many industries. While some knowledge is industry-specific, the underlying principles of regulatory compliance and the process of working with regulatory bodies are generally transferable.
Examples of Transferable Skills:
Regulatory Knowledge: Understanding general regulatory frameworks, compliance processes, and documentation standards.
Project Management: Managing timelines, budgets, and resources to meet regulatory deadlines.
Quality Assurance: Ensuring product or service quality and compliance with regulatory requirements.
Scientific Writing: Communicating complex technical information clearly and concisely, often for regulatory submissions.
Analytical Thinking: Analysing data, identifying potential risks, and making informed decisions.
Perception
90% of the time we speak with Hiring Managers they want someone that comes with similar industry background to the the vertical they work in.This is true across Pharma, Biologics, Medical Devices, Food & Beverages and Chemical industries… and, it’s understandable.
One of the key areas that RA professionals impact is Time to Market. Onboarding a new employee into your business takes time as it is, having to up-skill someone to understand the technical needs will take even longer.
Perhaps even more important is building relationships and trust with internal and external stakeholders and authorities. Having a previous network and showing your subject matter expertise will definitely help with managing projects towards priority deadlines.
However, what is the impact on your business when it takes 6 months to hire the “perfect candidate”, when you could have hired a rock star from another industry that truly wants to pivot into yours?
Common challenges for RA leadership
It’s interesting that the aspects that keep technical leaders up at night is overcome by having people with exceptional soft-skills. Having highly qualified, intelligent and technical experts in your team is great, having someone that can adapt those skills and leverage their soft-skills, emotional intelligence and leadership traits that align with your business goals – is worth it’s weight in gold.
- Managing Complex Workflows
- Keeping Teams Aligned – Cross Functional Communication
- Project Management
- Risk Mitigation
- Process Improvement
- Innovation
These are all aspects that are transferable between industries.
Mindset & clear goals – Explaining your “why”
Most RA candidates we interview do prefer to stay in their designated industry, when you are a subject matter expert in a niche, why throw that all away?
There are however very good RA professionals that want to make a move to another industry, the import thing would be to reflect on why?
Understanding why you want to make the change, why the industry is interesting to you, why your values and purpose aligns with that industry, will help you communicate your transferable skills and value when you do get the opportunity to interview in a new industry.
Top Tip:
Network with executives in the industry you want to move into. Find out about the attributes they look for, the training that would be viable from a technical point of view and get yourself a mentor/coach that can help you navigate your thoughts and give you guidance on your approach towards making the changes in your career that aligns with your goals.
Why is there such a high demand for RA professionals at the moment?
Innovation, Technological Advancement, Competition, Globalisation, Stricter Compliance, Time…
With the exceptional pace the world is moving at, change is front-of-mind for the execs in highly regulated environments, because the above mentioned aspects, can all be bundled into the word “change”.
Regulatory Affairs professionals act as a crucial bridge between almost all departments within your business. Their relationships internally – and with regulatory authorities – have a direct impact on your success and market access.
The regulatory landscape is constantly evolving, with new regulations and guidelines being introduced. This requires regulatory professionals to stay up-to-date and adapt to changing requirements.
Companies are increasingly seeking to expand their operations globally, which necessitates navigating different regulatory frameworks in various countries. There’s a growing emphasis on monitoring products after they’ve been approved and are on the market, which requires regulatory professionals to assess safety and effectiveness in real-world settings.
Technology like AI and big data is being used in regulatory affairs. Requiring professionals to embrace digital tools and data analysis skills.
In summary, the high demand for regulatory affairs professionals is driven by the need for expert guidance in navigating complex regulatory environments, ensuring global compliance,and adapting to changing landscapes.
Back to Transferable Skills
The companies that will be most successful are those that can be flexible in the way they approach their objectives, that shows adaptability. Putting aspects like soft-skills, learning and development, culture, values, mission, purpose and the end-client in the forefront of their decision making processes.
Why not have the same approach when it comes to hiring the Top Talent in the market? Your employees are your most important assets! Having someone that truly wants to work for you or within your industry should surely carry a lot more weight.
We understand that there are very viable reasons for looking at relevant industry skills when hiring technical professionals. However, when you do have the opportunity to be flexible on the topic, or have market intelligence about the difficulty of attracting the right profile within your industry… Give someone a chance.