Roche eyes new talent for Jersey makeover

October 28, 2009 – 6:00 pm by Michael Christel

Roche is looking for a few good cellular biologists. More than a few, to be exact. The pharma giant has launched an ambitious recruitment campaign to add research muscle to its transforming R&D campus in Nutley, N.J., the former site of Roche’s U.S. commercial operations, since whisked off to South San Francisco as part of the Genentech merger.

Representatives from Roche told me the unit hopes to hire roughly 35 scientists this year and phase in an additional 40 more in 2010 to strengthen drug development projects in oncology, inflammation, metabolic disease, and just-added capacity in virology. The Nutley campus also does work in the emerging field of RNA therapeutics.

“This site has really become focused on research and development with some other global business functions, but essentially a transformation to a more academic, campus-like environment is under way,” said Al Wasilewski, executive director of public affairs for Roche in Nutley. “We’re starting to redo buildings; we’re going to turn this into more of a collegiate kind of look. It’s going to be a pretty special place here over the next two years.”

While layoff plans in big pharma seem to be par for the course these days, including sales and marketing cuts at Roche, adding a potential 35 positions in the next couple months might not seem like a big deal. Considering the persistent struggles in the U.S. job market, however, such a feat is significant, particularly in R&D circles.

“That’s pretty sizeable for a research group,” Marcie Geremakis, director of human resources at Roche’s Nutley campus, told me.

According to Ms. Geremakis, Roche is seeking biologists with varying levels of expertise, including those who just finished their master’s degrees to fill associate scientist positions, and Ph.D.-level principal scientists or senior scientists, where significant work experience is required.

“For inflammation, we still are very keen at looking for biologists that have experience in rheumatology,” Ms. Geremakis says.

Earlier this year, Roche’s inflammation group was relocated to Nutley from the company’s site in Palo Alto, Calif. The location is slated for closure in 2010. According to Ms. Geremakis, despite a number of offers extended to Palo Alto scientists, not all accepted the transfer, necessitating the added workforce demand in Nutley.

“We’re very fortunate that we have the ability to go out and recruit new talent into the organization,” Ms. Geremakis says. “We have avidly gone out to attract the most appropriate level of talent, and also some talent that could really have their potential unleashed here.”

The hiring campaign has gone well so far, Roche executives say, although they acknowledge the task of attracting scientists with backgrounds in biotechnology can be a difficult one. Many are deeply entrenched in their jobs and are reluctant to abandon projects they are working on.

“Scientists are very committed to their projects and we recognize that,” Ms. Geremakis says. “A key to attracting a scientist to Roche is the leadership that we have. A number of our scientific leaders are very well known in their therapeutic areas. Scientists [considering new employment] are always influenced by who their boss will be.”

For a list of the Nutley job openings and to apply, click here.

Tags: big pharma, Roche, scientists