Rose Kidd, ICON – Winner of WMB Businesswoman Award 2024
11th November 2024
This week we hear from Rose Kidd, President, Operations Delivery at ICON. Rose was recently presented with the WMB Businesswoman Award for 2024.
When asked how she felt about receiving this recognition, Rose said: “There is so much opportunity for women to have successful and rewarding careers in life sciences, and it felt really positive to be able to highlight that with this recognition.”
Q: As President, Operations Delivery at ICON plc, can you give our readers an insight into your role at this global organisation?
I am President of Operations Delivery at ICON, the leading healthcare intelligence and clinical research organisation.
ICON Operational Delivery drives the efficient delivery of services and quality data to large and mid-size pharma, and biotech companies, in all phases of clinical development and post marketing.
Speed of enrolling patients to clinical trials and the analysis of the data is critical to companies who are pushed to get new drugs to market faster. My role is to support the operational delivery of services that enable this to happen.
This includes identification of suitable hospital sites, regulatory approval, contract negotiation, supporting patient enrolment and retention, data science, statistics, safety monitoring and medical writing.
In short, leading a team of 7,000 people, I make sure that we deliver our clinical trial services to our customers with the highest levels of quality and efficiency. It’s hugely rewarding to know that we are supporting the efficient development of much-needed medicines.
Q: What are the biggest challenges facing your sector?
Within life sciences and drug development, it is a time of profound change. There is great complexity and no small amount of risk in clinical development currently. Our customers are under pressure to get much needed drugs to the market to patients across the globe.
Technological advances, regulatory change, geopolitical and macro-economic factors all increase the demands on the life sciences industry.
In such a dynamic environment, industry leaders are challenged to innovate while ensuring stability; to grow while increasing agility; to adopt new practices while remaining true to what they are trying to achieve. In my view, that’s where ICON can help. Our role as the clinical research organisation of choice is to support our customers and I believe we are well positioned to do that.
Q: And the opportunities?
Within this dynamic and complex environment, there is significant opportunity.
The AI revolution, coupled with a simultaneous revolution in biomedical science offers us a unique opportunity to address unmet clinical needs.
Continuing the momentum and collaboration across the industry will be critical in delivering on this opportunity. At ICON, we are in a great position to support this collaboration in working with key stakeholders, right across the industry.
The Covid pandemic demonstrated what can be done when time is of the essence. Through close collaboration with Pfizer and BioNTech, we used innovative approaches and technologies to support the delivery of a clinical trial with 153 sites in the US, Europe, South Africa and Latin America and with more than 44,000 trial participants, over a four-month period. This accelerated study timelines and the delivery of high-quality data for regulatory approval, all in the evolving pandemic environment.
Our work helped accelerate the development of the world’s first safe and effective investigational vaccine for COVID-19.
Q: How would you best describe your leadership style?
In building and working with teams, there are a few things I always strive for. Pragmatism, transparency and trust. Being realistic and open with your team and believing in them to get the job done are very important in my view.
And of course, underpinning all this is supporting and equipping the team with the necessary tools, resources and time to enable them to succeed. Spending time as a team, brainstorming both opportunities and challenges is something both my team and I really get energy from and find hugely constructive.
Q: You offer the following advice: “Be brave and say yes. You don’t need to be expert in everything. Set the vision and empower your team.” How do you empower your team at ICON?
Setting a mission and a vision, underpinned by strategic areas of focus, and agreed as a team, ensures buy-in from the outset.
Setting goals and key performance metrics aligned to the vision, provides clarity on what the priorities are, but also provides a space for check-ins regularly.
The environment we work in is highly regulated, but we are continually exploring new, innovative ways to achieve the same goal, but with speed and efficiency.
The operational teams are made up of very specialised technical skills, such as regulatory experts, statisticians and data scientists to name a few. All need to come together to support the clinical trial. These teams need to be empowered to execute in their specialised areas, to ensure the overall end goal is met.
I trust the leadership team to lead their team of experts, but continually measure against the agreed end goal.
Q: ICON plc has received many accolades (Time’s List of World’s Best Companies; Forbes World’s Best Employers; World’s Top Companies for Women list; Financial Times Leaders in Diversity, etc). As a member of ICON’s leadership team, how do you stay ahead of the competition?
We’re really driven by our mission, which is to improve lives of patients by accelerating the development of our customers’ drugs and devices through innovative solutions. In recent years, we’ve spent a lot of time considering and fostering our core values of collaboration, agility, integrity and inclusion, in order to guide our actions and shape our culture.
Our ‘Own it at ICON’ philosophy is something that we are proud of. This conviction means we embrace our customers’ challenges and use solution-oriented approaches to address them. This also empowers us to welcome diversity, in both thought and background, and to cultivate an inclusive workplace.
We encourage our people to proactively apply their expertise to every situation – it is their efforts that drive our success.
Pictured: WMB Managing Director Rosemary Delaney presents Rose Kidd, President, Operations Delivery, ICON with this year’s WMB Businesswoman Award.
Q: Recently you were presented with the WMB Businesswoman Award 2024. How did you feel about receiving this recognition?
Surprised, given the fantastic talent that was present in the room! But also very honoured and proud.
It was a lovely feeling to be able to go home to my two teenage girls and explain to them what the award meant and why I was recognised.
There is so much opportunity for women to have successful and rewarding careers in life sciences, and it felt really positive to be able to highlight that with this recognition.
Q: Our conference theme this year was ‘Be the Change’. How did this theme resonate with you?
As a mother of two girls, I feel passionate about ‘being the change’. As mentioned above, I know first-hand how rewarding a career in life sciences can be, and the opportunities that exist. It’s a compelling message that needs to be told to attract people to our industry here in Ireland.
It’s an oft-cited adage, but ‘if she can see it, she can be it’ remains as true as ever.
Q: ‘Sixty per cent (60%) of Irish teenage girls believe that gender inequality is the biggest barrier preventing them from pursuing careers in STEM’ (source: 2024 I Wish Report). As an internationally recognised science leader (PharmaVoice 100), what advice would you offer to balance the playing field?
It’s a telling statistic. The same survey also found that 33% of teenage girls say stereotypes — such as the belief that boys are inherently better at maths, engineering, or technology — continue to discourage girls from entering STEM fields. Progress has been made, but there is clearly still a way to go in building inclusive and supportive environments.
I feel fortunate to work in a company that fosters diversity, in all its aspects, through its structures and how it works, and one that is always looking to do more in this regard also. It is really important that this is driven from the very top and that there is focus on and investment in driving this.
Throughout my career at ICON, I’ve been fortunate enough to look up to and work with several talented, progressive and ambitious female colleagues, in addition to male colleagues who I knew I could reach out to. This support network has been invaluable to me, and one I have drawn on many times – for advice, for collaboration and to get their perspectives to feed into my own decision-making. I knew they had my back. We all have a role in mentorship.
Q: What does Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging mean to you?
This is something we have engaged with our people on quite a good bit here at ICON. In fact, we asked our people to tell us what inclusion meant to them. Their responses were pretty powerful. They told us that, for them, it means being considered. Being seen. It means that being different is not less, and that everyone gets a seat at the table, and is not only seen at that table, but also heard.
For me, DIB means not only asking the question to everyone at that table – it’s also considering if everyone has had an equal opportunity to be at the table.
Q: You are an executive sponsor of ICON’s Pride community group. What does this entail?
Firstly, let me say, it’s a great honour for me to be the executive sponsor of ICON’s pride community group. My role is to champion, support and evangelise the good work being done by the PRIDE community to ensure ICON is an inclusive workplace where all employees feel safe and supported to bring their whole selves to work. This involves bringing the group’s ideas and suggestions to leadership for consideration and buy-in, and providing feedback to the group on how they can best progress their desired agenda.
Q: You sit on the Diversity Inclusion & Belonging (DIB) Steering Committee providing governance and direction to the company’s DIB Operating Committee. How important is this work to you and to the wider ICON community?
It’s of critical importance. Firstly, and quite simply, it’s the right thing to do as a global organisation in over 50 countries. Our employees, and indeed our customers, expect this of us.
But importantly, it is fundamental to the work we do on a daily basis.
One of our key ambitions that underpins our DIB strategy is to make it easier for all patients to engage in clinical research – regardless of nationality, gender, race and sexual orientation, for example.
There is a huge focus on making clinical trials more representative currently. ICON’s patient-centric philosophy includes a multipronged approach to increase the diversity of everyone involved with our clinical trials, including clinical trial participants, CRAs and investigators, to support this.
Q: In July, you were appointed a member of the newly established National Clinical Trials Oversight Group by Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly. Clinical trials are a fundamental component in enabling high-quality care and improving patient outcomes.
Do you believe Ireland has the ambition and expertise to become the destination of choice for clinical trials?
I can say with confidence that absolutely Ireland has this ambition. I see it by listening to the highly engaged members of this group. That said, we do have work to do to ensure Irish patients can get access to ground-breaking medicine. We are not where we need to be.
Bringing more clinical trials to Ireland will provide patients here with greater access to potentially life-saving treatments, in addition to supporting the advancement of medical knowledge and the development of new treatments.
We have the right stakeholders at the table, from government representatives, academia, top consultants and researchers in Ireland to make this happen. We have shown through recent history, that when passionate Irish people come together with a common interest, we can make change happen.
It comes back to the power of collaboration once again, and I think that is something that we are very good at here in Ireland.
Q: As a mother of two teenage girls, you are a big believer in leading by example and emphasise that a resilient mindset is key. Can you elaborate?
I am a firm believer in the power of working, not only hard, but smartly. By “smartly” I mean, we can’t do everything, but do the things we choose to do well. There are some times when things will fall into place for you, and some times when things will be a little more challenging.
Being prepared to work hard and take on the challenges is a good mindset to have. Don’t shy away just because something looks “hard”. Rather, change your mindset to one of “ what will I learn from this opportunity?”.
And with the experience and learning that this brings, oftentimes the challenges don’t seem as great the next time round.
Q: Staying with the subject of resilience, I understand that you attained a 6-star Abbott medal. For anyone who isn’t a runner, securing this medal is one of the ultimate feats in the running world and is awarded for completing the six major marathons in the world (Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City). What was your motivation?
Firstly, running is something that I hugely enjoy and get great satisfaction out of. It is my thinking space. It’s also an important part of my schedule, like needing to eat.
My motivation? I believe it’s back to how I like to be at work. I like to plan, have a process to get to goals.
I love the discipline of training for races and what better race than a marathon. Once I completed a few marathons, I learnt about the 6 majors challenge – so it kind of sounded like a fun thing to do – plus it allowed me the experience of competing within age category at a global scale.
I also love the day of a marathon. The atmosphere, the characters, the camaraderie, and the general feeling of goodwill is something that gives me huge energy. To have experienced that in some great cities around the world has been fabulous.
Q: How do you maintain a healthy perspective given your work schedule and busy family life?
For me, what we are trying to achieve as an organisation and the patients we are ultimately supporting gives me great perspective. Having that purpose in my professional life is very grounding.
Of course, there are days when work and family schedules don’t align, but having a good north star of what I am trying to achieve certainly helps me and provides me with the motivation to find ways and compromises that work for everyone. I will admit though, I know when I need to take time out for myself. Even if it’s just one day to reset and go again.
Q: What advice would you offer your younger self just starting out?
In addition to being brave and saying yes, put your hand up for the opportunities. Don’t wait to be asked. Believe in yourself.
I grew up in a generation where praise was a foreign concept. The education system has come a long way, which I am happy to see. This generation can see far beyond their own network. While it has its challenges of course, it allows one to see what possibilities are out there, who is doing what and examples of how things can be achieved
Q: Who are your role models?
Oh, I have a good few. But it would be remiss of me not to mention some of the Irish role models who I have admired over the years. Mary Robinson, a former president and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. She became president in 1990 and in my view, transformed the role of the Irish president. Mary used her newfound position of power to give a voice to the voiceless in Ireland and around the world. During her acceptance speech following her election in 1990, she promised a “New Ireland”. Listening to her now on the critical issues impacting the world is as impactful and stirring as it was then.
Q: Your predictions for 2025?
Where do I start? I believe the world will continue to transform in big and small ways. This includes disruption through our culture, technology, science and health sectors. In the space I work however, 2025 will continue I believe to be a year of incremental changes in technology.
Q: Who supports you in your career and life ambitions?
My husband Mark. He has always been a supporter of my career and someone that constantly reminds me that I am good at what I do and have a “right to be at the table”.
Q: What legacy would you like to leave behind?
There are two sides to this for me. I am so proud of some of the projects that I have worked in my various roles at ICON. For example, during my time in project management and clinical operations roles, I spent more than five years supporting ICON’s customers on research in the HIV area. This was at a time when the industry made transformative progress in the management of the disease through highly effective combined anti-retroviral therapy. The prognosis for patients with HIV changed from a life expectancy, from diagnosis to end of life, of a matter of weeks or months to being able to live their lives with a manageable disease controlled through effective medication.
Secondly, in addition to supporting medical advancements, I would hope that the people I work with would say that I contributed to their development and career progression.
I very much appreciate those people who supported me, and I take huge pride in supporting the development of colleagues in their career ambitions, and fostering their potential through guidance and mentorship in a fair, constructive and diplomatic way.
The lighter side of ‘you’
If you were a superhero who would you be?
I think Norah Patten is a real-life superhero. It would be fascinating to swap places with her, for a day.
Alternative career choice, no limits?
Well, given my love of running, and the swell of excitement and pride this summer with the Paris 2024 Olympics, can I say a professional athlete and Olympian!?
Name three things you’re passionate about (e.g. sustainability; great wine; world domination).
Kerry football, keeping fit and family – not in order of importance!
