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Employee Spotlight

We Are Norstella

While all Norstella employees share the same passion for improving patient access to life-saving therapies, they bring a wide array of experiences and skills to the table.

Employee spotlight

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Kelly Siefe

Senior Director of Product Operations

Kelly Siefe is senior director of product operations at Norstella. She and her team work to integrate and streamline operations across the entire Norstella portfolio.

Tell us a bit more about your role

Our team are there as problem-solvers, stepping in to remove inefficiencies within the product management function. Part of that comes with improving collaboration, so a lot of what we do intersects with various functions such as legal, commercial enablement, solution consulting, and technology. We aim to make collaboration easier throughout the product development process, ensuring that all teams can work together to achieve our shared objectives.

How did you join the company? What in your background brought you to pharma?

I began my career as a teacher, driven by a passion for making a meaningful impact. However, I soon realised that the constraints within the curriculum limited my ability to effect change on a larger scale. Seeking a broader mission, I transitioned into technology, focusing on projects within the healthcare industry. This move allowed me to contribute to health-related initiatives, aligning with my desire to make a difference.

A couple of years ago, a talent acquisition manager at Evaluate reached out to me about a role that involved re-platforming and reshaping some of their products. My background in technology and healthcare made this opportunity a perfect fit. When I explored Evaluate’s mission and their goals as a company, I felt a strong resonance with their vision. This alignment of values and the chance to work on impactful projects led me to join the company.

What does your day-to-day usually look like?

Every day in product operations is unique, but my mornings consistently begin with a reflection on our team’s key initiatives and how the day’s activities will advance our progress. My core team is based in the US, with additional members in the London office. I value the hybrid work style, as it allows me to spend two days a week in the office, engaging directly with local colleagues. For my US-based team, working from home proves to be more efficient. This balance ensures that we maintain productivity and effective collaboration across different time zones.

What are some of the larger projects you’re working on?

One that has been ongoing for over a year and is nearing completion involves creating a unified product master for Norstella. The merger of multiple legal entities resulted in a vast and varied list of products, each stored differently and described using different sets of terminology. Having one leadership team meant that is became essential to standardise our reporting to accurately assess product and company performance.

Our team has been tasked with collating all the products across Norstella and organizing them into a common hierarchy with standardised attributes, stored within a data warehouse. This effort will enable consistent commercial and financial reporting, allowing each business unit to make informed decisions. It has been a challenging yet rewarding journey, and I have met a range of colleagues from different functions along the way.

What are some of the common challenges of your role?

In product operations, we face two main challenges, both of which are integral to our role. Firstly, a significant part of our work involves managing change. When you bring together four great companies and aim to streamline product teams’ efficiency, you need to evaluate what ‘good’ looks like for each team and decide on the best processes to adopt. This often means changing established ways of working, which can be challenging for teams that are already performing well. The key is to manage this change empathetically and mindfully, ensuring that the long-term benefits are clear.

Secondly, we operate at a fast pace, which requires balancing depth of knowledge with the need for quick, impactful decisions. We work across several business units and teams, and while we may not always have in-depth knowledge of every aspect of each team’s work, we rely on specialists within each function to provide the necessary insights. This balance allows us to make meaningful changes while leveraging the expertise of our colleagues.

What’s been your career highlight to date?

Working at Norstella, there’s endless opportunities, because we are always evolving and changing. People are able to dip into different roles, you get snippets and insights into some brilliant minds. We work with chemists and people from all sorts of career backgrounds. Some have been at the company for decades. It’s just fascinating, hearing the different roles people have had and how they got to where they are now. I like change, so I like the idea that you can step, hop and skip in many directions here. I started as a programme manager, now I’m in operations, and I imagine in a few years’ time I’ll be in a different role.

What trends are you seeing across the industry right now that Norstella is in a unique position to help with?

AI is such a hot topic. I think some people are jumping on the bandwagon so they can tell customers they use AI, but Norstella is uniquely positioned. We’ve got such a rich data set because of bringing together some really strong companies, from pipeline to patient. We used AI in our forecasting long before this trend came along. It now means we’re in a position to accelerate that and go beyond. Citeline has already been doing that with their SmartSolutions suite of AI-enabled products, optimising clinical trial planning.

Which company principle resonates most with you?

‘Bold, passionate and mission first’. I like the idea of being bold with something that you’re approaching and leaning into, it’s easier to be bold about something if you’re passionate, and to do it with the right intent. That’s why it fits nicely with the ‘mission first’ piece as well.

What would you tell someone just starting their career with Norstella?

Observe and immerse yourself as much as possible, learn from the great people around you. If there are opportunities to join particular lunch-and-learn sessions, or meetings that you’ve got exposure to, or just be in the office, you can pick up so much from the conversations between meetings and from interacting with those around you. One of our tools is Norstella University. It’s a great way to quickly learn about our brands and about what we actually do and to get some snippets of our products as well.

Where do you see Norstella in the next year or two?

I would say continuing to do what we do, but at a larger scale. I think there’ll be many more new products coming out, but it’ll continue with the same mindful approach. We won’t just be jumping the gun. We’ll continue with really thinking about our customers problems and which ones we are set up to solve. I imagine we probably would have acquired additional companies too.

What do you like most about working at Norstella?

It’s the people – they stop and make time, ask how you are or who you are if you’ve not met before. Norstella is always evolving and we’re constantly growing and learning. I don’t ever feel complacent because there’s always something new to explore, that I want to know more about.

What do you like to do outside of work?

In recent months, I joined a running club. We always start and end at a coffee shop, which is a big win for me, and we run at a pace that we can talk at, which is not something I’m used to doing. Outside of that I love travelling and I’m a big foodie.

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