Our Stories

Emmanuelle Convers-Reignier

Director of Regulatory Affairs – S-cubed Ltd

Joining S-cubed

I have now worked at S-cubed for over 10 years and it has flown by. I worked with Stephen Thompson, Tony Mitchell and Irene Dawe at SRA Constella, then Stephen left to join Mark Lipscombe at S-cubed. In March 2009, Mark and Stephen got in touch and persuaded me to join them. I had been really happy working at Constella but when it was taken over by SRA, as with all small companies being swallowed up by a larger corporation, things changed and so I didn’t need too much convincing to leave. It was such an exciting time to be part of S-cubed, right from the very beginning. There were so many challenges and it was a fantastic experience.

From Bench to Regulatory Affairs

I didn’t start out working in Regulatory Affairs. I studied Chemistry back in France and finished my PhD in 2002. When I started looking for a job, there was very little available in research. I looked all over Europe. In the end, I had an offer in Germany and one in the UK. I took the job in the UK working as a medicinal chemist at Evotec. I only planned to stay in the UK for 2 – 3 years and then I’d return to France but here I am! After 6 years at the bench, I was ready for a new challenge but there were very limited progression opportunities at the time. It was while I was on maternity leave that I thought about my options. A friend had said that working at Constella was great and that they had a 6-month programme to train people in regulatory affairs. I thought it was the perfect opportunity for a career change and, with my husband’s support, went for it.

Variety

My work now is so varied. I can be working with small companies starting out with their development to major pharmaceutical companies on licencing and maintenance of products. I never know what project I will be working on next and there is an element of constantly learning something new. I can imagine I will be happily working here for a long time to come. The biggest change in the last 5 years has been the scope of my work. I am a Director now, so my role evolved, and I am more involved in the business sides of things, which I really enjoy. The company also has a great approach when it comes to work life balance.  I tend to plan my work around my home life, so I can collect my sons from school or go and see something they are doing, or work from home if I need to. Having this flexibility is fantastic!

Relaxing

When I am not taking the boys around to their different activities, I do get some time to myself. I run to let off steam and keep fit, and I really enjoy it. I just put on a pair of trainers and go which I can fit into my crazy schedule. My husband has run 8 or 9 marathons and is now running ultramarathons of 50 miles. I am not doing that! I think the furthest I have run is about 18 kilometres which is quite far enough! I also do Pilates once a week: it is a nice way to improve core strength, flexibility, and relax. I’m also involved in the Abingdon Athletics Club (taking care of the admin side of the young athletes coaching). I love listening to music, going to concerts, and reading (which I try to do every day). I’m never bored!

Five words to describe me? Quiet (perhaps a little too quiet but that is me), a good listener, caring, proactive, organised (although that can be good and bad – according to my husband, it’s bad!).

Back to Our Stories

Articles