Life as a Senior Account Executive

What prompted you to pursue an opportunity in account management?

After finishing university, I was looking for a role that could combine science with creativity. I wanted to obtain hands-on experience leading my own projects early in my career while simultaneously building relationships with different types of people—all moving together towards the same goal.

Describe your role as a Senior Account Executive in three words:

Connection, Communication, Organization

Describe your academic background and which transferable skills you have leveraged the most in your role:

Working in healthcare, my academic understanding from my MSci Neuroscience degree of research methods and scientific concepts helped me to build trust with our clients and contribute within the team to more scientific and strategic projects. Over and above my degree, my experiences in volunteer roles I held while at university hugely helped me in the account management side of my role. Talking to other students on campus and engaging with young people in schools through mentoring programs taught me how to solve unexpected problems and communicate with people of different backgrounds in an engaging way—something I use every day with our clients and internal team.

What are your top three tips for someone who may be looking to start a career as an account executive in a healthcare communications agency?

1. Use LinkedIn to build your network and reach out to people already in the industry to find out about the client service role, and the different types of agencies/divisions in the healthcare communications industry (eg., medical education, marketing, market access).
2. Look at the job descriptions for account executive roles, and assess how you can add the skills you’ve gained already—especially outside of your studies in societies and in volunteer roles—to your CV and cover letter when you apply.
3. Consider applying for summer internships, especially those that allow you to try out different departments for a few weeks. My experience working in internal marketing and copywriting has given me an invaluable insight into the drivers and needs of these teams when I work with them now.

How would you describe your career experience at Avalere Health so far?

Overall, my experience at Avalere Health has been really positive. A highlight so far has been the diversity and inclusion initiatives I have been involved in with colleagues across the business, in both the UK and the USA. I helped to create the Diversity Dialogues panel initiative, which has been rolled out across the company’s network groups, launched the D&I book club and co-led some of the meetings, and I am now part of the LGBTQ+ Employee Network Group, contributing to our Pride activities.

In addition, our free access to Coursera has opened up a wealth of training opportunities, so I’m currently enjoying learning more about the principles of user experience and thinking about how I can apply that knowledge to the creative campaigns we develop in the Global Marketing division.