Ireland’s Mid-West Pharma Sectors

New course in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Operations 

Innopharma Education in collaboration with the Mid West Regional Skills Forum is pleased to announce the launch of a second Springboard+ funded programme in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Operations due to the current high demand in the region from the industry for these skills. 

This course has been run in Limerick since 2014 with participants securing employment in the Medical Device, Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical sector as a result. Previous course participants have secured employment in local companies such as Amneal, Beckman Coulter, Cook Medical, Edwards Life Science, Johnson & Johnson Vision, Regeneron, SSE (Specialised Sterile Environments), Stryker, Teleflex Medical and Zimmer. 

This Level 6 Certificate Programme in Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices can be completed at a pace that can fit around work commitments in a flexible manner. Innopharma Education has also developed its own additional online modules that are used to supplement learning.   

Talent is the number one determining factor for companies and we are extremely fortunate to have a growing cluster of companies in the Pharma and Medtech area that are experiencing positive employment growth as they expand their operations to meet market demands. This additional course is a reflection on our agility as a region to respond and meet the growing skills needs of these industry sectors with students assured of promising and rewarding careers.

– Joe Leddin, Regional Skills Manager 

Regardless of your career background, there are a range of job roles that can be secured post programme, including Production Operator/Technician, Maintenance Technicians, Team Leaders, Manufacturing Supervisors, Process Improvement roles, Administration, Quality Control or Quality Assurance.

The strong existing base of IDA clients in the medical device and pharmaceutical sector and recent investments by companies like Regeneron and MeiraGTx strongly endorses the Midwest’s and Ireland’s reputation as a key location for the Life Sciences sector according to Will Corcoran, Regional Manager, Mid West IDA Ireland. 

We welcome the launch of the second Springboard+ funded Certificate programme in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Operations. We have a high demand for these skills here in Johnson & Johnson Vision and the mid-west.  It works well for us that this course can fit around work schedules and we now employ a number of graduates from this programme.

– John Lynch, Plant leader at Johnson & Johnson Vision

Innopharma Education also offers a suite of follow up programmes that allow participants to continue their learning and upskilling while in employment in order to advance their careers up to and including Level 9 Masters Programmes. To date, over 850 students have been trained through the Limerick programmes in the past 6 years to support the Mid-West and wider Western regions.  

Springboard+ programmes at Level 6/Certificate are free to both unemployed and employed and as a training provider, we are delighted to partner with the Regional Skills forum in response to the skills needs in these sectors. Over 50% of all vacancies currently within the region are in the STEM area. The Pharma and Med-Tech sectors currently support over 100,000 jobs in Ireland with further employment growth rates forecasted.   

Mary Jo Parker, Business Relationship Manager with Innopharma Education advises “the programmes are designed in line with Industry, which ensures that the programmes are current and reflect industry needs. All of Innopharma Education’s programmes include modules for Personal and Career Development. The feedback we consistently get from our course participants is that these elements of the course prove invaluable to job searching and securing a relevant role.”

While doing the course I applied for a few different jobs and I got an interview for Edwards Life Science which is a start-up based in Shannon. I was thankful of the Interview Preparation I completed as part of the course with Innopharma Education.

– Catriona Hanlon, Certificate in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Operations Graduate 2020 

One of the concepts that were emphasised during the course was the idea of transferable skills”.  I’ve been able to put this to good effect by combining my IT industry experience with relevant concepts from the Level 6 course, in particular from the Quality Assurance and Quality Control modules studied.  Since early 2020 I’ve been working as a Perkin Elmer contractor on-site at Regeneron in Limerick.

– Kieran Edwards, Certificate in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Operations Graduate 2019 

Mary Jo Parker invites anyone interested to contact the Limerick Innopharma Education team on 061 639186 or email Limerick@innopharmalabs.com.

For further information please contact Joe Leddin, Regional Skills Manager on 086 8160569