This content has been archived. The content may no longer be relevant and one or more employees may no longer be employed by Bristol Myers Squibb.
Sweden: The Importance of Financial Planning and Analysis
Lydia is a Manager in Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) at BMS in Stockholm, having started her career shortly after completing her master’s degree in accounting, valuation, and financial management. When she started her studies, earning first a bachelor’s degree in business and economics, she didn’t initially think it would lead to a career in biopharma.
“I knew I was interested in business and economics but did not have a specific career path in mind,” she recalled. “For my master’s degree, I decided to focus specifically on accounting and financial management.” Lydia interned for companies in different industries before she started at BMS. “Pharma was not at all obvious to me, and what brought me there was more of a coincidence.”
It wasn’t until Lydia came across a flyer advertising a finance internship at BMS that she was even aware that BMS had a presence in Sweden. She initially applied just for the experience, but she was aware that the internship seemed to align well with her academic background. It was also part-time, which would allow her to intern while still working toward her advanced degree.
This experience opened the door to her full-time role at BMS. Being new to the workforce, she understood the transition would have its challenges, but she recognized how valuable it would be for her development.
“It was a steep learning curve, initially,” she said. “One of the first things I got to work on when brought on full time was to temporarily support the Finnish market. It was hands-on and market-facing with a lot of planning and interaction with other people. And it was also a great way to learn and understand the business.”She credits her colleagues for being so welcoming.
“They didn’t expect me to be perfect,” Lydia said. “Sometimes I made mistakes, but they assured me that was okay as long as you learn from them.”
While her work in finance doesn’t directly involve patients, Lydia knows how she contributes to BMS’s mission. “It’s important that patients get their medicines, and knowing that, financial analysis takes on a more meaningful role for me.”
For Morten, Associate Brand Lead, BMS was on his radar while he was in business school in Copenhagen. He wrote and presented his master’s thesis in a group of three on how Bristol Myers Squibb could use digital platforms to share brand communications with healthcare providers.
“There was an opportunity to write a master’s thesis about BMS,” he said. “I thought pharma would be interesting from a digital perspective because this was during the COVID-19 pandemic, and not all pharma companies were embracing digital approaches at that point.”
After he earned his degree, a BMS employee who was part of Morten’s thesis committee reached out to ask if he was interested in applying for a new opening — his current role. It was while he was working on his thesis that he discovered what the company’s mission could mean to him as an upcoming marketer and brand lead.
“I learned how much impact BMS has on patients’ lives, which was very inspiring,” he said. “I felt that being part of that every day would make for some meaningful and worthwhile work. So, when the opportunity came to join BMS full time doing more than an academic exercise – doing work that actually helped people – that was very motivating.”
