Hi, my name is….

... Sotirios and I come from Greece. I work in Clinical Development and I started at Roche in Basel in 2013. Prior to Roche, I worked for another international pharmaceutical company in affiliate and regional roles as a Finance Manager and Transformational Strategist. Before joining the pharma industry, I was in the consulting sector with Pharma and FMCG focus working as a Senior Consultant. In regard to my academic background, I obtained a BSc in Information Management, MSc in Finance & Trade, and MSc in Management of Business, Innovation and Technology, but what really helped me to gain some practical exposure are the market certifications such as the ACCA (Association of Certified Chartered Accountant), PMP (Project Management Professional) and BPM (Business Process Management).

My typical day at work

I am currently working as a Business Solution Manager (BSM) in the Business Intelligence & Analytics department within Informatics. I provide functional and strategic expertise for a wide area of business processes and solutions within the drug development lifecycle. I am working in a diversified and cross functional environment, aiming to translate strategic imperatives to specific objectives and leverage technology in simplifying processes. My regular day at work includes a number of tele- or video conferences with colleagues across the globe where we discuss issues and work on resolution plans. There are also days when I spend a few hours in a quiet booth trying to analyse the best options for a given problem and ensure I can interpret the various options to the customers’ language. I also try to find some time on a weekly basis to “step back” and challenge myself on whether the team could resolve a given problem in a more lean way, or whether there is a different approach to delivering high-quality results by utilising our resources in a smarter way.

The location I am working at

My office is located at Picassoplatz, a pretty central point in Basel, surrounded by coffee shops and restaurants giving us more options to have a nice lunch break. I usually walk around 2.5 km to work, enjoying the lovely city and crossing the bridge over the Rhine from Wettsteinplatz to Kunstmuseum. Other days, either I walk a bit longer or I use the tram to go to other Roche buildings close to SBB where my stakeholders are located.

My work helps Roche to…

One of the key trends in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry is the understanding and utilisation of the enormous amount of data that are managed. Data is a pool of information where our company gains insights as well as assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of our clinical trials. In Business Intelligence and Analytics at Informatics, we are working with data to understand and present it in the most suitable way. This helps our stakeholders to rely on reporting and analytical solutions for gaining more knowledge on how to improve patient’s lives and for identifying what are the particular areas of improvement. Our challenge is not about collecting this data, but in harnessing, parsing, and analysing it. Our Team strongly believes that insights and intelligence derived from fast-moving data sets can help inform strategy decisions, spur innovation, enhance patient relationships, and ultimately contribute to improving patients’ lives.

Roche as an employer is

At Roche, the environment is really cross-functional and highly collaborative. Most of the teams are diversified and only by having professional curiosity is it possible to correlate the type of work different departments are performing, learn about new areas and come closer to colleagues from other business units. There are endless opportunities and Roche is a great place to learn, perform, enjoy and grow.

In my group we are looking for…

…candidates who like working in a cross functional environment and who are open to continuously learning new things that are business- and technology-oriented. The Business Intelligence and Analytics area fits to people that have multi-dimensional skills. They like to deeply understand the business problems and challenges as well as leverage technology and innovative techniques to prepare recommendations. Usually our challenges are complicated, so having excellent communication and facilitation skills is a great asset to collect input from the various stakeholders and co-drive the process of maturing ideas to action-driven proposals.

What advice would you give a new colleague joining your department?

Try to meet your team members and understand “what” they do and “how” in order to get insights and better understand the workflow.

What's the best advice you ever received in your career, and who gave you it?

Ideas are good, plans are better, actions can move you forward. This advice came from one of my managers when I started my career and it’s very applicable today in my professional and personal life.

For more information about career opportunities and open positions please visit careers.roche.ch/it.

Explore here how IT at Roche has an impact on patients' lives.