23 Sep 2011
SCI Members' News talks to Dr Esteban Pombo-Villar, alliance manager at the Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research
What does your current job
involve?
EP: I work in alliance management
in the Novartis Institutes of
Biomedical Research. In my current
role, I have responsibility for
supporting the scientific teams in all
the business aspects of an alliance
or collaboration. This varies from
helping to obtain internal approvals
and working with joint project
teams, to helping teams define
what needs to be achieved within
the contract framework to meet the
scientific goals of the collaboration
or alliance.
Did you have an interest in science
from an early age?
EP: When I was about eleven, I
started developing an interest in
science and chemistry. I wanted to
get a microscope and to discover
medicines to help people.
What has your career progression
been like?
EP: In retrospect, I see where I am
today as a result of a process of
decisions and risk-taking. The first
was to decide to study chemistry.
The second one was when I realised
that riots and closures at the
National University in Colombia
would inevitably delay my studies,
so I decided to move. I came to
England to finish my studies at
the University of Warwick. There, I
learned to admire the way Prof
Albert Eschenmoser analysed organic
chemistry. I dreamed of going to
his lab for a postdoc, as Prof
Bernard Golding (my PhD supervisor)
had done before. I was delighted
when I was accepted! Later, as I
was interested in neuroscience, the
opportunity of having a research
lab and studying neuroscience from
the chemistry perspective was also
fantastic. It built on my previous
interests and development.
After working on some alliances, I thought: 'this is kind of cool. It's interesting: you get to develop new technologies; you come in contact with people in the outside who have different ways of doing things, so you learn a lot. I'd like to do more of this.' So I ended up doing just that. So far, my career progression has been an intellectual adventure.
How has your vision evolved
throughout your career?
EP: When I arrived at Sandoz in
1988, it was my dream come true:
I had a lab, a couple of technicians
to help me, and I could now try to
discover a drug. This was where I
wanted to be. I was very focused on
the science. Throughout the next 15
years, I became more aware of the
business context in which the science
is enabled; the fact that somebody
has to fund the science and how this
occurs.
Now, my job involves a series of disciplines that enable the people in the lab to be as productive as possible and as excited by the science as possible, without worrying about the financial, legal or business elements, which would distract them from focusing on how the molecules are acting on the target, and how the disease is going to be cured.
What key things would a young
person need to know or do if they
wanted to get to the position
you've achieved thus far?
EP: Managing collaborations is vital,
and a clear understanding of the
science is useful, because you can
make a contribution in terms of asking
the right questions. The second part
is building a solid understanding of
the legal framework, especially as
regards contracts. It's essential for
an alliance manager to translate
the legal wording into specific
actions. Similarly, in terms of finance,
you must understand information
requirements and involve the finance
organisation in the alliance, so that
they can forecast and plan budgets.
In terms of people skills, project management and project leadership experience are important. The ability to convey your point of view clearly and convince people are important, too. No one in the alliance reports to you directly, so you need to learn to lead by influence, not by authority.
What are the key things that you
have learnt?
EP: In my career, as well as my
personal life, I've learnt that you have
to listen carefully and ensure that your
assumptions and your experience
(which are colouring the way you
interpret reality) are continuously
being questioned and checked. If
somebody comes to a conclusion that
is very different from yours, you need
to analyse the facts to find what you
are missing, and why someone else is
seeing things differently, rather than
just assuming that 'this is the way
things are'.
Everybody who has the privilege of being married has experience of this sort: there are many things that families do differently and are interpreted in different ways. Marriage counsellors do a little bit of what alliance managers do: they make sure that people can understand each other, even when things seem to be very difficult.
How do you achieve your work/
life balance?
EP: The demands of work can be
significant. There's always more to do
than you can achieve in a day or even a
week. On the one hand, it is important
to structure your day and your work,
but you also need time for your family
and to look after your health.
I've taken up climbing recently, and
I like running; physical activities help
me balance a lot of the sitting in the
office and looking through contracts.
It's important for me to have time with my son and go scouting with him. For me, being able to contribute to the community through scouting, and keeping as physically fit as I can means that I then have the energy to come back to work each day and be excited and delighted about it. For a young person, it's very important to work extremely hard, but this has to be sustainable in the long run. There has to be a balance that brings energy back.
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