Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
The Company
Regeneron is a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and commercializes medicines for the treatment of serious medical conditions. Regeneron markets two products in the United States, EYLEA® (aflibercept) Injection and ARCALYST® (rilonacept) Injection. Additionally, Regeneron has three regulatory applications pending before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and 11 drug candidates in clinical development.
Fueled largely by its leading-edge Velocimmune (r) antibody technology and significant collaborations with the large pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and Bayer, Regeneron headcount has tripled since late 2007, including a growing Commercial and Field presence driven largely by sales of EYLEA™ for the treatment of Age Related Macular Degeneration. For 2012, Regeneron projects first-year EYLEA® sales of $250 to $300 million with consistent analyst projections of blockbuster sales in the future.
Regeneron is one of the largest independent, public biotechnology companies in the world in market capitalization (approximately $11B) and in number of employees (2,000 projected for 2012). With FDA decisions expected in 2012 for ARCALYST® in Gout, ZALTRAP in colorectal cancer, and EYLEA® in Central Retinal Vein Occlusion, as well as a large and growing pipeline of innovative antibodies, Regeneron is widely seen as one of the most exciting companies in biotechnology.
Culture
Over its 24 years, Regeneron has attracted and retained some of the most outstanding people in the Industry and focused them on discovering, developing, and now selling innovative biologic drugs using technologies developed at Regeneron. We ascribe our long-term success to a culture perfectly aligned with the requirements of a modern biotechnology company.
Regeneron is led by Leonard Schleifer, M.D., Ph.D, the longest-serving CEO in the biotechnology industry. Dr. Schleifer founded Regeneron in 1988 along with George Yancopoulos, M.D., its Chief Scientific Officer, under the belief that great Science will lead to innovative new drugs. Over our 24 years, Regeneron’s commitment to great Science and to hiring and retaining outstanding people as the key to long-term success has not wavered. With a top-flight, stable senior management team, Regeneron has maintained a consistent focus on the key drivers of long-term success in biotechnology, avoided the distractions that come from constant changes at the top, and maintained a culture that nurtures self-renewing innovation. The essence of this entrepreneurial, science-focused culture has been captured in The Regeneron 5, which represents the aspects of our culture which we believe have been responsible for our success to date and which we are committed to retain as we grow and necessarily change:
- “Science drives our business and passion drives our science.” We believe great science leads to innovative drugs, which will improve people’s lives, grow our company, and fund more great science.
- “We are a select team.” Regeneron has very high standards for hiring people. If you are talented enough to work here, then you join a team of dedicated people from all walks of life who work together to achieve our goals. Individual effort is rewarded, but true success only comes when we work together as a team.
- “You will be challenged. Every day.” No matter what your role here is, you will be expected to strive for excellence in your field. You will never stop learning and you will continually be sharing your knowledge with others.
- “‘That’s the way we’ve always done it’ is the wrong answer.” We will not settle for the way things have always been done. At Regeneron, we are willing to see the world in our own way, and we’re always looking for new and better ways to do things.
- “We won’t let bureaucracy block good ideas.” Successful companies require organization and process to function effectively. We have them too, but we work hard to ensure that unnecessary bureaucracy does not stand in the way of conducting great science and developing successful drugs.
Regeneron views its culture as a strategic business advantage. We have been recognized as a “Best Company” every year since 2008 by The Scientist and in 2011 Regeneron ranked #2 in the world in Science Magazine’s “Top Employer” rankings for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, ahead of all the major pharmaceutical companies.
Regeneron is not for everyone. We set the bar for intelligence very high; we seek people who love what they do, who love to find new ways to do great things and to do them better and faster, who don’t let obstacles block them from achievement, and who want to be part of building something great and lasting. The atmosphere is intense, quirky and fun. Our surveys indicate that Regeneron employees are highly engaged and we work hard to keep them so. We ; encourage loyalty and, within the limits all companies face, work hard to also show loyalty to our people. We work at avoiding corporate politics and seek out talented people who see their success tied to the success of the company and the success of others. The Vice President, Human Resources serves as the guardian of the culture and it is viewed as one of his or her primary responsibilities.
Scope of the Position
Regeneron is seeking an experienced, innovative HR leader with extensive experience leading the Human Resources function through high growth in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or medical device industries. The Vice President, Human Resources, who reports to Murray Goldberg, Chief Financial Officer, oversees all aspects of Human Resources for Regeneron, including people Strategy, Staffing, Learning and Organizational Development, Compensation & Benefits, and Employee Relations. The Vice President, Human Resources is responsible for an organization of approximately 50 employees. He or she works closely with the CEO and other key executives of the company on all issues related to people, growth, and culture.
The model at Regeneron is relatively unique. While not “at the table” in the traditional sense, an effectively-performing Vice President, Human Resources at Regeneron can critically impact the Company’s business success more than HR executives at most companies. He or she has wide latitude to set the HR agenda for the company and to initiate and drive strategically important activities required to ensure that Regeneron has the talent and organization now and in the future. This requires an executive capable of understanding the biotechnology business, the implications of business decisions and strategies, and the actions required from a talent, organization, culture, compensation, and other standpoints. It also requires the ability to quickly become credible, to build effective relationships at all levels, and the courage to set a course and move forward without always having all the necessary information.
The Vice President, Human Resources also works closely with the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors as well as with the Board as a whole. Regeneron’s Board includes individuals of the caliber more common to larger companies, and includes the former CEOs of Merck and Prudential Financial, the former Vice Chair of Johnson & Johnson, three Nobel Prize Winners, and other high-profile and high-performing individuals from various endeavors. This requires a Vice President, Human Resources capable of interacting with broadly-experienced executives with very high expectations of the HR leader.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
This is an opportunity for a mature, broadly-experienced and well-balanced HR executive who can devise and deliver on a vision and strategy without much guidance.
The specific role and responsibilities of the Vice President, Human Resources include:
- Act as key advisor and business partner to senior leaders and function as an expert on people and organizational issues.
- Serve as an advocate for and the guardian of Regeneron’s key cultural values, The Regeneron 5.
- Oversee the company’s recruiting and staffing efforts to attract and retain exceptional talent. Personally oversee recruitment for key senior positions
- Ensure that Regeneron maintains an appropriate compensation, benefits and technology infrastructure to meet its current and future needs.
- Initiate development programs and other training initiatives in the company to ensure employee development, retention, and succession appropriate for a high-growth company.
- Build and maintain a high-performing HR organization that is both business and employee focused.
- Lead and manage the HR function to ensure quality, speed, innovation, flexibility, and excellent customer service. It is especially important that Regeneron HR is able to respond quickly to FDA decisions, collaborations, and other strategically important events that occur in the business.
EXPERIENCE:
The ideal candidate will have:
- 15+ years of HR leadership experience with broad generalist knowledge of staffing, compensation, benefits, learning and organizational development, employee relations, training and development.
- 5-10 years’ experience leading HR organizations as the top HR executive in a publicly-held life sciences company or the division HR head in a larger public company. Experience working directly with the Board of Directors is strongly preferred.
- Proven HR professional with demonstrated hands on track record of developing and implementing a total HR strategy for small/mid-sized high-growth company strongly preferred. Execution skills are critical for this role.
- Experience in entrepreneurial, high-growth environments is strongly preferred.
QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAITS
- Strongly committed to a high standard of business and personal ethical behavior.
- Impact-driven, not status or role-driven.
- Thrive on change. A builder not a maintainer
- Analytical and comfortable in a data-driven environment.
- Able to think broadly and strategically and quickly shift to “roll-up-your-sleeves” action.
- Possess the ability, business maturity and interpersonal savvy to be proactive and establish credibility with all employees across the Company.
- Have proven communication skills both written and oral and the ability to present information clearly to a variety of audiences.
- Comfortable with ambiguity and occasional chaos. Cool under fire.
- Possess the courage to say what needs to be said and the interpersonal savvy to maintain credibility and relationships after saying it.
- Comfortable with various personal styles. Able to elicit contributions from introverts and to participate in passionate debates without taking the arguments personally or personalizing the arguments.
- Energetic and resilient with a personal commitment to achieve successful results. Able to “dust yourself off” when something doesn’t work and to find another way to advance a good idea.
- Abhor bureaucracy. Able to distinguish necessary process from excessive complexity. A simplifier not a complicator.
- Able to learn quickly and take a project from idea to execution (strategy to operational) quickly and independently. A proven track record in achieving results by working independently and collaboratively with others at all levels and from different functions.
- Strong consulting skills, including the capability to quickly identify and develop improvement opportunities and build the trust and confidence of executives and managers.
- A strong people manager, able to hire outstanding people, delegate and empower without abdicating, and build a strong organization under him or her.
- Excellent interpersonal and partnering skills in order to facilitate the building of relationships quickly.
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
- Undergraduate degree from a recognized educational institution required.
- MBA or related advanced degree is a plus.
COMPENSATION
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals will provide a market competitive compensation package designed to attract the most qualified candidate.
