Prescient Healthcare Group

Vault’s Verdict

New to our survey, but not our radar, Prescient is a firm that has been generating attention within the biopharmaceutical space for its development and commercialization capabilities, as well as its strong roster of clients. 

Having now had an opportunity to hear from insiders for the first time, we’re happy to report that this is a firm that seems to live up to the image it portrays: employees on the whole seem satisfied with most aspects of day-to-day life, as well as the opportunity to work with leading brands in the sector.

The firm’s culture is consistently described as flat, collaborative and supportive, with plenty of learning and stretch opportunities for those who want them—even from early in a consultant’s career. This creates an environment where all voices can be heard by senior leaders, and where mentors—or mentorship opportunities—abound.  And, yes, compensation gets a thumbs up too.

While a little more external brand recognition wouldn’t go amiss, there are few reasons for the biopharma-minded not to consider checking out Prescient as a potential career option.

Firm Culture

“A supportive, collaborative environment that cultivates a willingness for each person to want to learn, mentor, and receive feedback. Every person wants this company to thrive and succeed.”

“Emphasis on connecting lower-level workers to those in higher positions if possible; director and VP level people are very easily accessible.”

“I believe that there is great early responsibility and opportunity to have a large voice compared to similar firms due to our size and our ambition to scale. Every person that joins has a voice in what Prescient will become.”

“We have an incredibly wide range of scientists, clinicians, pharmacists, and others who form our teams--all of them lead with their scientific and clinical expertise. Our clients find this incredibly valuable, as we speak the same language, have the same training, and can advise them in a strategically coherent manner.”

“We are highly focused in strategy consulting for biotech and pharmaceutical companies, and the majority of our employees have degrees in the life sciences to combine business expertise with a deep understanding of the science in every project.”

Quality of Life

“Company deploys a non-mandatory hybrid model and allows for full flexibility. Hours are monitored weekly, and superiors will reach out if hours are excessive. There are no travel requirements, and the policy on days off is well defined. You are able to request 1-2 days off on short notice, while more than 3 days require at least 1-2 weeks in advance.”

“Given the nature of client services and consulting, the work hours often are not 9-5 and do require flexibility in order to meet deadlines and client needs. While the hours and amount of work can be overwhelming at times, sometimes these are able to balance out with quieter days; however, I think this is one area that could still use some improvement. Overall, we all respect each other's boundaries and don't expect people to be working outside of regular work hours (although most of us often do), and allow each other to take time off as needed. Additionally, as we have all grown accustomed to the WFH style during the pandemic, we continue to be flexible with people's personal needs.”

“Overall, the firm is very supportive of taking time off and does not restrict dates when vacation can occur. There can be a lot of travel for medical congresses, but often these are located in tourist destinations internationally.  Most like the travel.”

“Prescient has a very good culture, people are genuinely friendly and approachable as well as willing to help when you need it, even if they are not part of your team. Travel time depends on what part of the business you are in and the needs of your client. I would say on average people go to 3-4 conferences a year if they are in the Intelligence and Insights side of things. Hours vary during the year but they can get very extensive at times. However, directors and managers try to be understanding and are very flexible. You don't have to fulfill a schedule as long as you can get your work done. In my experience, taking time off is easy as long as you notify your team in advance and plan for someone to take over your responsibilities.”

“We have a starting vacation time of 20 days off and we are encouraged to actually use it to promote a healthy work life balance. In general, Prescient does not have any unnecessary long hours (usually working ~45 hours per week).”

From the Firm: Prescient Healthcare Group has increased its PTO allowance from 20 days to 25 days as of January 1, 2023.

Compensation

“Every promotion is reflected by a raise, which from my experience has been above my expectations. The only negative aspect of the compensation package is that our bonus structure at the entry level is not very large.”

“Given the highly responsive and meritocratic promotion structure at Prescient, the opportunity for corresponding salary progression is one of the best aspects of the firm's compensation package - allowing one to increase their salary quite rapidly based upon progression. While still overall quite strong, Prescient's 401(k) package could benefit from a more holistic selection of funds to invest in, as the pool is somewhat limited through their current vendor.”

“I believe the best perk is 20 days PTO. I was pleasantly surprised by this. The 401K match is great percentage wise but waiting 6 months till you can pay into it is slightly ridiculous, in my opinion, given that the average intro level consultant only stays in a given firm for 1-2 years. Salary progression is solid from transition to analyst to senior analyst, but overall base salary has room for improvement given current economic conditions.”

“Our profit-sharing plan rewards loyalty to Prescient for employees who remain with the company for an extended period (~3 years).”

“The salary is in line with other boutique firms, and the balance is more weighted toward base than bonus which enables more even distribution of funds throughout the year and creates less uncertainty about what total comp may be. The organization is consistently benchmarking/evaluating the salary bands, particularly given competition and inflation.”

From the Firm: Prescient Healthcare Group has increased its PTO allowance from 20 days to 25 days as of January 1, 2023.

Career Development

“Best practices include usage of well-defined skills and abilities that must be met as criteria for promotion. All associates have access to shared resources and training materials that allow employees to get up to speed with technical and professional knowledge. Training sessions are held periodically on topics that are relevant to the project or the asset.”

“Promotion process is clearly laid out in a document that outlines all core competencies for each level. As for the training opportunities, Prescient has recently launched an online platform, Academy, that catalogues different types of trainings related to core competencies, as well as disease content areas. Relatedly, there's a Training and Education team that organizes different trainings open to all levels.” 

“Prescient does a great job allowing freedom within the framework and values everyone's growth and professional development journey individually. I have always felt like I have the formal and informal structures to grow professionally and have appreciated the feedback cycle that we have.”

“Prescient has an extremely flat structure. The minimal amount of hierarchy creates immense opportunities for step up and development for junior employees, in addition to creating a pleasant working environment. Additionally, opportunities to drive internal initiatives even at a junior level are immense (grass roots efforts such as community service, LGBTQIA+ groups, social teams, etc.) are highly encouraged. Client interaction/exposure is also extremely high relative to other firms, particularly at the junior level which also fosters a rapid growth environment internally. The worst aspects of the firm are fairly standard for any rapidly growing organization and are fairly minimal.”

“The firm's growth is mirrored by the promotion policies—given the significant growth, there is a tremendous opportunity for promotion, and they are evaluated based on merit (no pre-defined time in role required). Individuals are evaluated based on the pre-defined criteria, and semi-annual review cycles enable rapid promotion once skills are demonstrated. There is a significant degree of professional development, with a strong onboarding program and a number of opportunities to tailor your development to the individual (e.g., oral communications workshops, creative slide design challenges, etc. which enable you to work on the skills that you need to). Additionally, we have been building out our Learning & Development Team, and have recently launched the Prescient Academy, which allows for tailored learning, great reference material, and the ability to learn from peers through social media-like connectivity. Overall, Prescient recognizes that its most important resource is its people and works hard to provide appropriate resources to help each individual reach their tailored goal, complete with regular line management/coaching conversations and formal feedback following each project.”

Community Engagement

“As the company has grown, Prescient has taken a more invested approach to DEI efforts and hosting different group meetings to discuss issues surrounding DEI. More can be done to improve our approach however we are heading in the right direction.”

“On the day-to-day, it does seem like people have access to equal opportunities, without any bias. We have a lot of women and various ethnicities/identifying people represented throughout our company, across all levels; however, it could be more strongly reflected in our senior leadership, which seems to be primarily made up of white males. We also have some initiatives around empowering these groups (e.g., Women in Leadership events, Rainbow@Prescient initiative), but could still be built out further.”

“I think we are on track to have a very strong diversity effort at Prescient; however, this is mostly run via internal initiatives rather than company driven. But I believe that is always how it is with growing companies. We have a Rainbow Club for the LGBTQ+ individuals and celebrated Pride Month in the Boston Office! Additionally, every few weeks we have office-led Women in Leadership meetings, where two female-identifying persons are delegated with running a discussion on how we as individuals can address exclusive behaviors towards women and how the company can do better. We have had extremely productive conversations during these meetings and the company is very receptive towards making our requested changes.”

“The company holds forums for career development and growth for women every quarter throughout all the offices we have around the globe. The company is very diverse, which occurs naturally as we have international locations; moreover, I have never experienced or witnessed any type of discrimination. Prescient has LGBTQ+ initiatives and there is a separate group as well where people who identify within this umbrella can bring up issues and have a safe space if needed.”

“We are a global company with 9 offices spanning the globe and every day we are working closely with people from other cultures across time zones. As a woman I feel very comfortable and supported in my current environment. Our upper-level management is a diverse group across gender, ethnicity, and nationalities.”

Business Outlook

“Best: Very strong growth, including diverse areas within life sciences and biopharma (e.g., subfunction [commercial, medical affairs, RWE], indication [oncology and non-oncology], and others); strong growth across multiple, globally diffuse offices; highly competitive regarding depth of scientific bench relative to competition.

Worst: Transition to post-COVID working (i.e., more in-office work) has led to differential effects on some employees’ morale.”

“In my few years at Prescient, the company has already seen impressive growth and success and seems to be trending towards further success, accompanied by active business decisions to facilitate the growth of the company (i.e., hiring more senior leadership, acquiring and merging with Strategic North, BD outreach efforts, launching Prescient Academy and other initiatives).”

“Prescient has a very competitive profile with many clients speaking highly of the company as a consultant partner in the industry. The amount and quality of clients we have I believe is going to continue to grow, we have great people in leadership that will continue to drive the business to thrive. I also feel we are building an excellent team of managers that will continue to drive the business forward.”

“Recent acquisitions have expanded our capabilities outside of traditional CI. We will need to execute on changing the perception of Prescient in the eyes of our customers in order to capitalize on our expansion.”

“The only weakness I see is that as a firm we need greater visibility / recognition. We are growing extremely quickly, both in revenue and employees, which is great for our firm's business outlook. Our leadership is very strong and has done an impeccable job of growing our firm. Biopharma is also booming which is great for our firm.”

Hiring Process

“All interviews were live case questions, which I actually prefer due to less burden on outside research for a prelim interview. There was one initial interview, which if passed, moves the candidate forward to three interviews in one day for the second round. All the cases were reasonable and particularly tested whether a candidate had a good understanding of science-related topics.”

“First round interview then a final round (which is 3 back-to-back-to-back). Overall, a quick process. We look for logical thinking combined with creativity and good communication skills.”

"I would say the recruitment process could be tightened up a bit in terms of communication and timelines; however, it's pretty comparable to other companies when I was in the recruitment process.”

“The ideal candidate is someone who: Fits our culture: demonstrates tenacity, ability to be a team player, and has enthusiasm for taking ownership. Has high intellectual 'horsepower': showcases ability to think independently, can extrapolate thinking, and has strong problem-solving capabilities. Is intellectually curious, can communicate clearly & effectively, demonstrates scientific literacy and has strong business acumen.”

“We seek candidates who are curious, ask good questions, approach problems in a structured way, dig into the details, push for insight, articulate their thinking and their recommendations, and engage in collaborative problem solving.”

Interview Questions

“Almost every interview is half behavioral and half case, with the case being healthcare-specific and typically will have a mental math component, a science component, and a thought exercise.”

“Behavioral questions include: Tell me a time you had to creatively solve a problem within a team setting, what are some trends within the biopharma / life science market that most interest you and why? Case questions encompass the strategic assessment and evaluation of a business problem within the life sciences industry, are adapted from actual project work, and typically include market sizing, MoA / scientific rationale assessment, and portfolio prioritization.”

“I am on the recruiting team so I have quite a few different questions that I ask candidates. We go through the ‘usual’ behavioral questions, such as tell me about yourself, why life sciences consulting, why Prescient, etc. Then a few other questions I will sprinkle in are geared towards the candidate's actual experiences, what their roles were on a project, how they have previously handled conflict, etc. Additionally, I sometimes ask ‘teach me a concept’ or if they've been keeping up with pharma news besides COVID-19.”

“Science specific case studies. Candidates must be able to answer quantitative questions as well as scientific rationale questions.”

“We use a standard case interview process, with cases focused on biopharma companies and their challenges, since that is the type of work we do.”