The dynamic, innovative, and agile environment that is the pharmaceutical industry requires a particular set of skills. For MSD Ireland, one of the country’s largest healthcare companies with eight locations across Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Louth, Meath and Tipperary, one of its goals is to support the development of a workforce that will help drive the future of innovation forward. Graduate programmes play a key part in this, focusing on both personal and professional development to help provide college leavers with exactly what they need to thrive in a career that is equal parts inspiring and rewarding.
As associate director for global talent acquisition in Ireland, part of Fiona Croke’s job is to attract this ambitious, forward-thinking talent to MSD. Given the unprecedented pace of innovation in the sector in recent years, Croke says they are actively seeking out graduates who are motivated, curious, and eager to make an impact. “What really matters is mindset: adaptability, determination, and the drive to collaborate.”
Croke believes MSD Ireland’s competitive graduate programme is an incredibly important element of its overall Future Talent strategy.
“It allows us to identify ambitious early-career talent and give them structured pathways to grow, with inter department rotations, training and mentoring that fast-track both their professional and personal development,” she says. “In an industry as dynamic as ours, it’s essential to nurture people from the very beginning, so they can shape not just their own futures but also the future of healthcare innovation.”
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A career in pharma is one that comes with inherent purpose. Croke says graduates who want to help improve people’s lives and who are excited by the opportunity to innovate and grow within the business should seriously consider joining its three-year graduate programme.
“We want individuals who are inspired by our mission,” she says. “Our ambition is to make sure all graduates can get what they want out of the programme, working closely with them to make sure they’re able to forge their own path as they progress. Managers and mentors play a central role in this, ensuring they’re able to fully immerse themselves into the workplace, post academia, to gain valuable industry experience, build their network and lay the foundations for an incredibly impactful career in STEM.”
And while similar graduate programmes exist, Croke believes the MSD offering stands out in terms of the breadth of its opportunities. “What makes our programme different is not only the sense of purpose, but also its structure and scope,” she explains. “Rather than stepping straight into just one job, graduates gain hands-on experience across multiple divisions through carefully mapped out rotations across a wide range of areas, which gives them a holistic understanding of how the industry works.”
With this rotational approach in mind, graduates benefit from tailored mentoring with senior leaders across a range of functions, networking with peers and leaders all across Ireland to develop skills that are both technical and transferable, she adds.
Indeed, far from being passive bystanders, graduates hit the ground running. “Our graduates carry out some extremely valuable work, bringing in fresh perspectives that can make a huge difference – and we’ve seen so many first-hand examples of the impact this can have on the day-to-day operations of so many teams across our network,” Croke says.
Jeroen Gense is a current participant in MSD’s three-year graduate programme. Recognised as a standout candidate, he was selected to join MSD’s global Manufacturing Leadership Development Programme, a specialised sub-track within the company’s broader graduate programme designed to fast-track high-potential talent for future leadership roles.
Originally from the Netherlands, Gense holds dual master’s degrees in medical biotechnology from Wageningen University and molecular medicine from Erasmus University. Despite this strong science background, he realised early that he wanted to use his knowledge in a more tangible way, one that would take him beyond the lab for a purposeful career with impact.
“What I discovered was that, while I enjoyed the science, it often lacked the broader impact I was looking for and felt too focused on research for its academic sake,” Gense explains. “That realisation ultimately drew me to industry, where I felt I could make a genuine difference for people and patients.”
By chance, he attended a career fair where MSD was present and was able to speak to one of its ambassadors. “They opened my eyes to the breadth of opportunities in pharma,” he notes. “Their graduate programme stood out because of its rotational structure, and how it would give me the chance to explore so many different roles at all levels of the pharma development process. It was like funnelling decades of learning into a three-year programme.”
MSD’s global presence also appealed to Gense. “I was also really keen on the fact that this was a major global company, it felt like an incredible opportunity to be able to explore my interests in many different directions while working alongside amazingly talented people from all over the world.”
When starting his programme, Gense completed his first rotation with MSD in the Netherlands and then decided to take the opportunity to relocate to Ireland to continue the programme. “I wanted to leverage MSD’s strong footprint here, not just in terms of scale but also the diversity of work, spanning R&D, manufacturing, and commercialisation across many therapeutic areas – it’s so unique to be able to work for a network that covers all these elements.”
On relocating, he is also effusive about the focus on work-life balance, and the general sense of camaraderie among his colleagues. “What struck me straight away was how supportive and collaborative the culture is at MSD Ireland. There’s always been an openness to help, share knowledge, and mentor – and MSD really invests in helping us build that.”
The reality of the programme has not just matched Gense’s expectations but exceeded them, he says. “I never thought I’d get some of the opportunities I’ve been able to avail of throughout the programme already – I feel like I’ve been able to make a really tangible contribution, and I’ve seen my work make a difference which is so rewarding. The programme continues to create those opportunities and push me outside my comfort zone in the best way possible. It opens and fast-tracks doors that would normally take years to reach.”
Looking towards the future, Croke says the overall goal of the programme is that graduates leave with a strong foundation for a long-term career – whether that’s with MSD or within the wider life sciences sector.
“Ultimately, it’s about building future leaders who are ready to shape the future of healthcare and who will drive that future forward in a sustainable, innovative and creative way.”
Gense wholeheartedly agrees. “I don’t know exactly where my career will take me yet, but I know I have the foundation, the skills and the connections needed to succeed, whether that’s in the Netherlands, Ireland, or anywhere else in the world.”
The graduate programme also allows MSD to stay connected and align with top third-level institutions across the country; Croke notes that academia and industry are working together to upskill talent that will be able to stay at the cutting-edge of an ever evolving sector. She also points out that MSD Ireland’s graduate programmes are a “powerful lever” for diversity and inclusion. “They allow us to ensure greater representation in our workforce, particularly in traditionally underrepresented areas like STEM,” she explains.
For more information, visit jobs.msd.com/ireland.
