Tell us a bit about yourself

Hello everyone, my name is Daniel and I am a Talent Scout at Roche, where I work with Pharma Research early and late Development. I was born in a smallish city very close to Berlin, Germany.

I started my career in the late 1990s at a big regional wholesaler in Germany, where I spent several years as a personal assistant to the general manager. After that, I switched to a sales position at one of Europe’s top three electronic retailers before finally finding the line of work I am currently in. Back then I would never have considered working for one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies. The birth of my daughter was a major milestone in my life because it demanded a lot of flexibility from me.

I have been in the headhunting business for the past 10 years, working at boutique agencies and a very large executive search company, as well as in the pharmaceutical industry. In recent years I have focused mainly on pharma, biotech and medtech.

I finally joined Roche permanently in 2011, after a long period of working successfully as an external service provider for different sites in Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

Where did you study?

I took my Master’s in Politics and Economic & Social History at Freiburg University in Germany, and was as a visiting student at Stetson University in the United States for a short period. The time I spent there was very intense, because in addition to being involved in daily life at the university, I did volunteer work at a Presbyterian home for mentally handicapped people. It was a very positive experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

In which Roche location are you currently working?

Currently I am working at Basel as a local Talent Scout in the local Attraction, Sourcing and Hiring team. However, this does not mean that I only work on positions in Switzerland. We focus on global vacancies because we provide local support for line managers at headquarters and we try to attract people from all over the world for the site here in Basel.​​​​​​​

What can you tell us about that location?

The site here in Basel is really great. You could say that Roche Basel is integrated into the city, because it is not just a closed campus somewhere on the periphery. Roche is spread all over the city, and you see the company nearly everywhere you go. The company shuttle bus service is very useful when you have to travel between the different locations. It also makes it easy for new employees to familiarise themselves with the city and its environment.

Why did you decide to join Roche?

Roche had always been one of my clients in the past, and I quickly realized that I wanted to be part of its unique culture. I always liked the fact that social responsibility was as important to the company as first-class research.

What is your current job?

I am the Talent Scout responsible for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, which means that I support our line managers and recruiters with attracting new external talent and scientific leaders for the Basel site.

What makes it such a great job?

I am an in-house headhunter, working on a truly global level, which sometimes makes daily business very challenging because you are working in 24 different time zones. And, of course, I am constantly in contact with people from a wide range of different cultures.​​​​​​​

Can you pick at least three of the Roche attributes and explain in detail what they mean to you?

• Work-life balance: is very important because although I have a lot of work to do, my private life is also important to me. Balancing my job with my family is not always easy, but Roche offers various ways of making it possible, like working from home, leisure activities, an on-site gym, and the option of taking overtime as vacation.

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• Interesting jobs: Our jobs at Roche are all very challenging. We are specialists in a particular field and we work together as a team because everybody contributes a piece to the jigsaw puzzle that forms the big picture. That’s why I find all our jobs very interesting.

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• Development opportunities: Roche provides an extensive catalogue of different training courses, which is regularly updated by the Learning and Development team. There is a host of categories from which employees can choose a training course, related to either personal or professional development. Before applying for one of these courses, employees must first seek approval from their line manager. Most departments at Roche have a dedicated budget for training and developing their employees, which is personally something I really appreciate.

Please complete the following sentence:

Roche is a great place to work because…. it’s a truly international environment in which I have new challenges every day and great people to work with.

How would you describe the people working here?

Passionate, tenacious and ambitious

What would you advise job seekers who want to join us?

Have a look on our careers webpage www.careers.roche.ch, link to our talent scouts and recruiters, join our career groups on Xing and LinkedIn, and never stop looking for the perfect job for you at Roche.