Kaustubh Gawde works within Quotient Sciences’ Formulation team in Philadelphia, PA. He discusses his career with the company and what he enjoys most about his role.
Quotient Sciences is great place to learn and grow.
– Kaustubh Gawde
What does a Formulation Group Leader do at Quotient Sciences?
My role as a Formulation Group Leader includes a variety of tasks. One side of this job is technical. I am a group leader as well as a SME for all the projects my team is working on. A group leader has to be responsible for all the troubleshooting that can occur during the execution of project. A group leader works with different departments such as Operations, QA, Material Management, Analytical Development, QC, PM, and BD to successfully execute each project. A group leader has to interact with a client whenever required if they have any formulation or development questions. As manager, I have to be responsible for all the actions of my team members. My team needs to be productive members of our organization, achieving personal growth, as well as growth in their overall career.
Describe a typical day in the Formulation Department.
Morning starts with coffee and checking email and Teams messages. At the start of the day, we have a daily meeting to discuss manufacturing activities from the day before and provide an overview of activities for the current day. In a day, typically I have one internal meeting and a couple of project meetings to a give weekly updates on projects to clients. I make different kinds of documents and review already made by documents by my team. I also troubleshoot any problems that my department may have for various projects. The day ends with a meeting to summarize the day’s manufacturing activity.
How has your career progressed since joining us?
I joined Quotient Sciences almost three years back. I started as a staff formulator. I worked on various projects over the last three years. With each project, I learned a lot about both manufacturing and formulation development. This is my first time working in a CDMO setting. I had never worked with a client facing organization prior. It was a brand new experience. For the past three years, I have worked on multiple projects at different stages of project lifecycles. I have worked on clinical phases 1, 2, 3, and late stage commercial projects. Skills required for each project were different and I had to adapt as needed to meet each project’s requirements. We also need different temperaments to deal with different clients. I learned how to work on multiple projects at the same time, perform multiple tasks such as manufacturing, documentation, client visits, and quality events. I became efficient at my job in staff formulation and gained a lot of technical skills/knowledge in a short period of time.
What experience did you have before you worked at Quotient Sciences?
I used in work in a generic drug product manufacturing company which made potent control substance products.
Did you require any qualifications for the role you applied for?
I had a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences as well as three years of experience working with large scale manufacturing equipment. I was also part of various ANDA filling projects and had experience making product development reports.
What learning or qualifications have you gained in this role?
I transitioned from a scientist role to a group leader role last year. Both roles have different requirements. As a scientist, you only need to be good at your job. As a group leader, you have to be responsible for all the people in your group. As a group leader, I had to be up to date on the latest formulation and manufacturing techniques as well as perform my manager duties.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
As a group leader, I get to work on multiple projects that are assigned to my team. I work with BD to strategize the development work and scope of manufacturing. I also like working on different projects as it gives me new challenges and keeps me on my toes.
What aspects do you find most challenging?
Time management at times becomes very difficult when we get multiple projects at same time. Also, some clients can be difficult to deal with as they are set in their own ways. Some clients have a difference of opinion with us which can be challenging to deal with at times.
What’s the team like?
I report to the Senior Director of Formulation Development and Technical Services. Two staff formulators and two manufacturing scientists are in my team. My team is mix of experienced and inexperienced people. We train new hires with experienced team members.
What advice would you give to someone applying for a role in your team?
Quotient Sciences is great place to learn and grow. Quotient Sciences gives you space to reach your career goals at your own pace. We have lot of new technologies and we are consistently looking to progress in the field.
What do you like most about working at Quotient Sciences?
Quotient Sciences has lots of new technologies. I like my team. Quotient Sciences also promotes internal promotions. I like the core leadership team at my site. We have a visual representation of progress at Quotient Sciences.