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Name: John Edwards

Company: Compound Therapeutics

Position: Vice President of Commercial Development

Degrees Earned:

BS, Chemical Engineering

MBA, Marketing

Contact Info

What is your educational background/advanced degrees do you have (if any) and are they a must for what you do?

B.S. : Chemical Engineering

MBA: Marketing

A strong science background helps a lot. The biotech business is very exciting and very challenging. My degrees are not a must have, but either an MBA or a PhD is typically necessary if your interested in becoming part of a senior management team.

What positions did you hold before your current position (what other jobs led you to where you are now)?

I have always known I wanted to work in biotech, starting with a job I had in high school working in a lab. After getting my chemical engineering degree I held the following positions:

Biochemical Engineer

Section Head: Protein Purification

Manufacturing Manager: Commercial Production

Manufacturing Director: Pilot Scale Production

Project Director: Recombinant Factor IX

Director of Marketing: North America

Director of Marketing: Global Strategic Marketing

Assistant Vice President of Marketing: Hematology, Oncology

Vice President: Sales, Marketing, and Medical Affairs

What are your favorite aspects of you job? What are the drawbacks?

What I enjoy most is the diversity of my job and making a difference in people lives through the products we develop. Most jobs, no matter how much training is involved can get routine after you master them. To me my job is never routine. There is always so much going on within the company, in the biotech industry, and within the scientific/medical community. There is rarely a dull moment.

The only drawbacks are that it can be long hours and therefore it is important to set boundaries for the work-home life balance.

What advice do you have for someone who is thinking about pursuing a career in your area?

If you like science or medicine, then I would say jump in. The key question is which company do you work for. Big companies offer stability, broad exposure to the business. Small companies are riskier, but you have a much greater impact, a great depth of involvement, and typically avoid a lot of office politics. I would recommend that most people take a shot at working at a smaller company at least once in their career. I have enjoyed this most of my career.

What do you look for in a potential job candidate/ what qualities are most important for someone in your field?

How well they understand our business, the skills they bring to add value to our company, and very importantly how well will they fit into our organization.