Pros
Excellent exposure for junior project managers of contract manufacturing. You will learn five years of experience in 18 months. Good stepping stone for those wanting to transition into pharmaceutical project management.
Cons
Sink or swim environment. Extremely under resourced; only two or three people on a project team (a project manager and a process engineer) everything else is a shared service (quality, sterility, regulatory, etc...). You will average 55-60hr weeks as a project manager which is why you will learn so much. Project manager has all the responsibility and none of the authority. Very, very, very conservative change control attitude. Very stressful if you want to only work 40 hour weeks. Silo mentality. High attrition rate. Lots of time spent retraining new hires that leave. Pass the buck attitude, lack of ownership. Upper management that has stayed cares most about their bonuses and new cars. Favoritism and nepotism run rampant and things only get done for those who scream the loudest. Poorly organized logistically. Unrealistic expectations. Zero work/life balance. Everyone is always crabby because they are overloaded with work. Don't work here if you have kids.
