Generating new ideas and transforming lives are at the heart of everything BMS does. In Tampa Bay, BMS’ North America Capability Center (NACC) is driving that mission forward, attracting passionate HR professionals since opening its doors in 2014. For the third year in a row, BMS has been recognized as one of the Tampa Bay Times 2022 Top 100 Workplaces. With a variety of open roles now available, many people are seeing firsthand what it’s like to be part of life-changing innovation. Here, we check in with some of our talented Tampa team members who are thriving in their positions.
How Stephanie Cindric Found Her Dream Job at BMS Tampa
Within a week of joining the BMS Princeton Pike, NJ office, Stephanie Cindric, MSHRM, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager - US Commercial Field, was told BMS was ending an RPO contract and bringing the team in-house at the Tampa office. Suddenly, moving to Florida to keep a job she already loved became a very real opportunity, and that’s exactly what she did.
Now seeing the transition as one of her proudest moments, Stephanie revisits that decision with awe. “Looking back, I don't know how I did it. I essentially dropped everything and moved to Tampa by myself,” she said. “I'm still here, feeling the same way with a really great career at BMS and so excited about what I do.”
Stephanie came from a retail HR background where she worked in stores, and, as she put it, “I wondered about "purpose" at the end of the day.” Now a Talent Acquisition manager with BMS, she’s inspired to go to work every day knowing she’s hiring the best talent in the market, committed to helping save lives in Hematology, Cell Therapy, and Oncology.
While she always loved her work in this disease area, it became very personal for Stephanie when a family member was diagnosed with stage 2 colon cancer this past year.
“When I found out that she was diagnosed, the very next day, I had a call with the VP of Hematology Sales who I knew well. When he asked me how I was doing, no words came out—I just broke down and cried,” Stephanie shared. “He put his arms around me virtually, and said, ‘We got you.'” Within hours, emails were flying, and people of all job levels were eager to help. It was so eye-opening to see how BMS rallied around me in that moment. And I would imagine this is what they do for every patient.”
A Patient-First Mindset for a People-Person Career Role
Jenni Shahin, Talent Acquisition Partner, is passionate about helping people find the career of their dreams with BMS. And one of the differentiators in the Tampa Bay market is our company’s focus on patients, just as Stephanie mentioned.
“The patient focus affects every role within BMS,” Jenni said. “And I think a lot of people, especially if they're coming from other industries, want to work for a company where they're making a difference. Here in Tampa, every employee has that impact on a day-to-day basis no matter what their role is."
While plenty of people start off in an entry-level HR associate role in Tampa, Jenni notes that there is great opportunity for career growth and advancement—especially because it’s home to the North America Capability Center (NACC).
The NACC has been proactive in promoting employee engagement, strengthening community relations, and increasing awareness and involvement through diversity and inclusion initiatives since 2014. Part of the organization’s offerings is the People Services University, which empowers new talent to focus on growth development.
“If you're coming in as HR associate (HRA), the Peoples Services University helps get you up and running within People Services, but also learn about opportunities available across the NACC organization so that you can work towards a move up.”
What does moving up in the HR organization look like?
- HR associate. The quintessential entry-level role, tailor made for recent graduates or for people starting out on their careers.
- Advisor. A step up from associate, advisors have about three years of HR experience, and ideally speak a second language like Spanish, French, or Portuguese to support our global employee population.
Networking led Jenni to BMS by responding to a LinkedIn post. She started as a contingent worker before converting to full-time in hopes to be part of a larger global company with career growth opportunities. For instance, Jenni noted that her team just promoted an HR advisor into a Total Rewards Analyst role, which is really touching more upon the benefits and compensation space.
“So, BMS definitely does walk the walk, in terms of career advancement and prioritizing opportunities that help you move up into different areas,” Jenni added.
A Career with a Mission and Meaningful Relationships
Much like Stephanie Cindric, Alicia Cabrera-SHRM-CP relocated from New Jersey to Tampa in search of a new environment to serve as the Director, Global Talent Acquisition (Enabling Functions).
“Our Tampa office is such a dynamic culture, which really encourages innovation and cooperation,” Alicia said. "It’s a growing market here, and has been attracting great talent to the area."
Much of the draw of the Tampa office is led by the NACC Operations Team, which fosters an engaging culture through multiple events, trainings, initiatives, and campaigns throughout the year. Some of the highlights include:
- The Early Careers Program: Supports students’ learning, professional development, and technical proficiency by working on challenging projects that fit their degree program and skill set while preparing them for a potential career with BMS.
- Tampa Pride Parade: As a corporate sponsor of this annual event, BMS encourages colleagues to join together, walk in the parade, engage with attendees during the street festival, and discuss the inclusive culture and opportunities available at BMS.
- Healthy NACC: Promotion of wellbeing to our colleagues through various webinars, fitness activities and more.
We could spend another blog post discussing the exciting activities taking place at our Tampa-based location, but needless to say, there’s something for everyone (including the beautiful weather, sports, and ocean just miles away!)
Employees and new hires enjoy social opportunities within our highly active People and Business Resource Groups (PBRGs) promoting a diverse and inclusive culture including, PRIDE Alliance, B-NOW, BOLD, CLIMB, OLA, PAN, DAWN, VCN and Involvement Teams, such as Toastmasters International, Emerging Leaders of Tampa Bay and Go Green.
About loving the decision to move to Tampa for BMS, Stephanie added, “I love it from a personal and work perspective. You have that sense of comfort that we’re all together doing the same thing for patients at the end of the day.”
And as far as the local Tampa area, she noted, “Whether it's more of the social life or just being out with nature, you've got it all. So, it really is a great place to live and work.”
If you’d like to be doing important, interesting work in a beautiful city with great teams, BMS Tampa may be for you. Look through job openings in HR and other functions to see where your skills might fit in. You may discover a role that lets you transform lives—and your career.
