Vault’s Verdict

As a consulting unit within a public company, Syneos faces pressures from shareholders that few of its competitors are required to grapple with—a fact that is not lost on the firm’s consultants. Despite this, and the need to pivot to achieve short-term results from time to time, this a firm where it’s possible to build a fulfilling career, with regular promotion cycles and good accompanying pay progression.

That backing from a public company can also come in handy from time to time and, with a potential downturn on the horizon, Syneos insiders may well be glad of it before 2023 is over. All told, the company seems well-positioned for continued success in the short- to medium-term future, and represents a strong opportunity to begin building a career within a life sciences outfit with a truly global reach.

Firm Culture

“An international company, serious, which can adapt to a very competitive and moving environment, with good promotion and recognition programs. The company provides a good career path and enough flexibility for everybody to pursue their ideas and personal interests.”

“Focus in life sciences, ability to build long term relationships with clients and colleagues, access to very senior leaders.”

“Helping to support biopharma accelerate drug development through providing work-leading innovative solutions and services.”

“Operate as a boutique management consulting firm within the safety net of a much larger organization.”

“There is lots of opportunity for different project exposure. There is respect of all team members and the value and expertise that they bring.”

Quality of Life

“Best: Can work from home when needed.

Worst: Workload is not equally distributed across the practice (resourcing issues across different projects). Flexibility on home working is decreasing with increased demands to return to the office for no clear reasons.”

“Consulting is not a 9-5 job and can be quite challenging especially if you are in the midst of an intense project. However, there is still scope to have a work life balance and in general people respect those who block out hard stops in their day, or periods of time where you need to dedicate to home life.” 

“Flexibility working arrangement to allow me to look after my family and young children. Managers are extremely supportive and understanding.” 

“Quality of life is apparently better at Syneos than at other consulting forms in terms of working hours. Though there has been a bit of a shift as management of projects is increasingly done from the US.”

“WFH is common and accepted, contributing to a better WLB. Low travel requirements (only really for key project milestones/meetings) also contribute to a better WLB. Very easy to request time off with no pressure from internal teams as long as have coverage.”

Compensation

“Best: Good base salary and bonus. Female leadership throughout organization.

Worst: Limited benefits.”

“Competitive compensation, good salary progression at project delivery level.”

“Salary progression is not great. We don't know about diversity and pay equality. We have very basic benefits.”

“Syneos provides a competitive remuneration package. However, targets and mechanisms around bonuses was not made that clear to me when going through recruitment and starting.”

“Very good overall compensation package, but benefits are mostly focused on the US organization and ex-US employees don't have access to the same benefits/ opportunities.”

Career Development

“Best part: two promotion cycles per year. Worst part: no visibility (especially at junior levels) into how the promotion cycles work & what factors are considered when making decisions.”

“Clear expectations regarding promotion and good mentorship from SLT. Building the case for promotion with the US team is a must and takes extra effort if from another region.”

“Informal training or mentoring requires some proactivity, but so far colleagues at Syneos have been helpful when asking for advice.”

“The consulting team is a group of very smart, high performing individuals that get to work on some exciting projects across strategy, operations, and technology implementation. There is scope to gain experience in a wide array of projects and activities from across biopharma/medtech, from across R&D, commercial and HEOR; as examples. You get the chance to work with some exciting businesses, from emerging to top tier pharma, along with working closely with the wider Syneos CRO business.”

“Very good mentoring, promotion opportunities are easy to discuss however processes are not transparent. There are no external training opportunities and informal training demands lots of personal effort.”

Community Engagement

“Employee resource groups.”

“I have seen a lot of events and more generally efforts and appreciate what my company is doing.”

“My team has a good mix of genders at all levels - including the senior leadership team being a good split. We also have a good mix of people from different countries and cultures - including those from India, Europe, North and South America.”

“Recruitment takes into account D&I. Employee Resource Groups mean support groups are available for women, veterans, etc. Not sure of other formal support programs. Consultants at junior levels are rotated around projects and so have varying opportunities in equal measure.”

“The firm’s maternity leave package is not good and I don't feel this supports women. There is also no part time/flexi hours program which makes would make it difficult to be a parent and work.”

Business Outlook

“As part of a CRO, we have an opportunity to be more innovative & competitive compared to other firms but I don't feel that we are fully utilizing this yet. Employee morale has taken a dip since cost cutting measures were taken and people are feeling the effects of wider economic downturn.”

“Both the business at large and the consulting team is growing and evolving in a positive direction. We continually recruit high performing individuals as well as acquire cutting edge capabilities and businesses (i.e. Tech and AI/ML). I feel that the vast majority of the team are excited and motivated about working in the business.”

“I have just listened into the latest senior management update where 39 promotions were noted. I would say all aspects seem positive. Industry news is updated on the portal regularly. Globally, everyone faces hard times with high cost of living, soaring interest rates and EU security and instability. Syneos Health recognises these challenges and acts accordingly to mitigate business risk and look to the future.”

“New CEO is brilliant. Public companies have to focus on short term results which makes it hard to plan for long term.”

“The company is very risk averse. I think more investment could be done in our team to face the very tough competition. We are lacking people at analyst level, for contracting support and Business development support.”

Hiring Process

“I highly rate our firm's interview and callback process, which is transparent, respectable and fair. The ideal candidate should have a solid education background from top universities, with some experience in both science and business. He or she should have great interpersonal skills, resilient to difficulties, and enjoy challenges.”

“I think the selection process is excellent for graduate recruitment.  Candidates need to be team players, genuine, sharp, knowledgeable, proactive, and driven. Rounds include: CV, cover letter, pre-recorded video presentation, HR phone call, Consultant/Manager interview, and finally interviews with the Directors and a Q&A with the full local office team.”

“Strong involvement of the junior team in the recruitment process - we are looking for smart, driven individuals, passionate about the LS industry that fit our culture and team.”

“We are constantly seeking a broad spectrum of candidates, but the best fit is someone who has an open mind, can think/see different perspectives, challenges the status quo and has a can-do attitude. Not how did we do it before but what can we do / how could we do it.”

“We have 3 rounds usually, which includes both a case study & a presentation as well as a competency/personality-based interview. I think we are looking for consultants from big firms which want to specialize into life sciences.”

Interview Questions

“Drug launch case study, forecast case study, typical life sciences cases, nothing crazy.”

“HR Screening interview, various 1to1 interviews with leadership, on-line tests, case questions / presentation skills. Example case questions could include, discussing trends in thebBiopharma industry and how Syneos could support those businesses develop / acquire capabilities in that area.”

“Please describe the key trends you see in the healthcare industry. How do you think COVID-19 impacted pharmaceutical R&D?”

“Typical market-sizing case studies as well as case studies specific to pharma product development.”

“We use the Korn Ferry competency-based behavioural interview questions.”