After a year of living in a global pandemic, it has become clear that a career in the life sciences industry is both exciting and extremely fulfilling. The healthcare industry is also extremely resilient to financial pressures and economic changes, as it has proven in the past three global recessions.
Many global pharmaceutical, medical technology and biomanufacturing companies have called Singapore their home in Asia Pacific. According to CBRE’s research, Singapore is among the top 5 move competitive cities in Asia Pacific in the life sciences market. There is also a steadily growing number of homegrown start-ups that focus on healthtech and novel medicines. As a result, companies are always looking for new talent to help drive their healthcare innovation agenda.
So what are the roles that healthcare and life sciences companies are hiring?
life sciences jobs in singapore that are in demand
Here are the five most sought after jobs in the life sciences industry in 2021, and the skills and work experience that employers often look for in candidates.
1. analytical chemist
Analytical chemists are problem-solvers across the many life sciences verticals such as pharmaceuticals, food testing, perfumery and even cosmetics!
These professionals use analytical techniques and instruments such as ion chromatography and spectroscopy to interpret and document data that they will report in scientific studies. Candidates in analytical chemistry should possess skills such as critical-thinking, mathematical, problem-solving, communications and organising to be more attractive to employers.
2. field service engineer
In their day-to-day, field service engineers are responsible for repairing, installing and maintaining scientific instruments such as semiconductor as well as healthcare and laboratory equipment.
Field service engineers often have an inexplicable drive and curiosity to find the root cause of all issues, which would explain the need for attention to detail. Besides the technicality of the job, field service technicians need to be comfortable with communicating with their colleagues, clients and vendors to share updates and findings to ensure smooth machine operations.
3. scientist
There are countless therapeutic areas in life sciences that need scientists, from respiratory to neurological diseases; general medicines to rare diseases. Scientists are required to research and develop new drugs or to expand the use of approved healthcare solutions to improve patient lives.
Some of the most common roles in the research and development space include clinical research scientists, research analysts and development engineers.
A learning mindset about the natural world through observations and logical reasoning is critical to a career in science. Scientists are required to collect data to infer and predict, as well as classify and evaluate study outcomes, so a highly organised and analytical candidate would be very attractive to some research labs.
4. application specialist
The expectations of good application specialists have risen to address the increasing complexity of analytical and diagnostic equipment used in hospitals, clinical diagnostics laboratories and research laboratories.
Application specialists should exhibit strong product expertise and demonstrate strong communication skills to resolve problems and to enhance customer satisfaction.
Product end-users such as laboratory technicians can easily switch their careers to become applicant specialists, as they would have prerequisite knowledge of the products’ benefits, use and common issues. Such first-hand product knowledge is very valuable to employers, as they can hit the ground running and resolve immediate and urgent issues commonly faced by customers.
5. regulatory affairs specialist
The life sciences industry is probably one of the most regulated sectors in the world. After all, they are dealing with human lives.
Regulatory affairs specialists provide regulatory support throughout the entire process, from research & development to post-sales support. These specialists are required to keep pace with the latest regulatory developments and updates, not just from the Health Science Authority, but also from the regulatory offices from around the region as well as FDA and EMEA.
As the region’s healthcare hub, companies are also looking for regulatory affairs professionals who have experience in dealing with regulators from other markets and are familiar with different healthcare regulations.
key highlights of the report
- Details on skills and work experience
- Average salary benchmarks
- Access to Randstad solutions to simplify your job search
download the most in-demand jobs - life sciences report.
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