The 2023 Best Small Firms to Work For: SSI Strategy

Client Industries Served: Life Sciences and Biotech Consulting

Consulting Service Lines: Strategy and Operations Management

CMAG: How would you say you've managed to stay among the industry's Best Firms to Work For amid these unprecedented times?

Being featured on the Best Small Firms to Work For list for the third consecutive year helps to highlight SSI Strategy as an organization that places significant emphasis on people. As an organization, we believe that people are paramount in driving success. This year, SSI Strategy had a 95% Employee Engagement score which is leveraged internally as a measure of people's connection and dedication to the organization and its goals. By ensuring high engagement, we can impact performance, innovation, retention and attraction of talent. SSI prides itself on having a highly engaged team that adapts to each client and creates a positive impact on both business and culture.

We have been able to preserve this high level of engagement, despite the challenges presented by a largely virtual model, in part due to the commitment to the work that we deliver and to the value that we place on prioritizing growth and seeking out learning opportunities for our team. We plan events and stand up initiatives as a direct result of our teams' feedback on collaboration, communication and teamwork that creates a strong culture leading to high-level execution. We continue to enhance and broaden our approach to skill / career development through recent implementation of a Coaching for Performance program to promote an environment that welcomes giving and receiving both positive and constructive feedback. Furthermore, we host All Hands Meetings,

Collaboration Days and Mid/Year-End Meetings over the course of the year that involve excursions like a recent trip to a restaurant featuring indoor mini-golf. We even have a bit of fun on our themed slack channels which allow our team to get to know each other outside of client delivery. Current crowd favorites include #chatdogs and its recent upstart rival, #chatcats.

CMAG: Were there any specific programs or initiatives (internal or external) that contributed to you being a Best Firm to Work For?

In addition to maintaining a strong culture within the firm, our team takes great pride in the impact that we have and the science that we assist our clients with. As a firm, we view client milestones as shared successes. In 2023 alone our teams have supported IND filings, early-stage development strategies, clinical program starts, medical product launches and more. We have contributed to FDA fast track designations, led first in-house clinical trials, and supported successful BLA submissions. Furthermore, we have had the opportunity to celebrate with our clients as we help them stand-up innovative development programs in rare and complex disease. We feel the trust that our clients put into teams to help them navigate the complexities of the biotech industry through many of our existing clients being repeat clients and referrals.

CMAG: What's unique about your firm? What sets it apart?

SSI Strategy is a consulting company that supports strategy development and execution through our unique blend of experienced medical, scientific and regulatory experts (e.g., former CMOs, seasoned Physicians, Ph.Ds., and regulators) and business consultants. As a partner we overlay our consultants and our medical / scientific expertise to support the urgent needs of developing an organization while moving the science forward, which has imparted opportunities for us to partner with CXOs of emerging biotechs and focus on the priorities that are important to them.

Partnering our medical experts with curious-minded and execution-oriented business consultants helps our combined team to focus on the science more than traditional models allow. Our clients believe in this model and feel confident that they have the support of the right people to help them meet major milestones and achieve scientific innovation.

This year we wished our podcast series, The Emerging Biotech Leader, a very happy first birthday! We are excited about the ideas and wisdom that we believe our team and leaders we've worked closely with have provided to the broader industry community over the course of the last year.

CMAG: What's the top priority over the next 6 to 12 months?

Our core area of focus is helping our clients to maximize therapeutic value from translational development to product launch. We focus on the Chief Medical Office and the functions within their purview including Translational and Clinical Strategies, Medical Affairs, Pharmacovigilance and Health Economics. In recent years we have also expanded our capabilities to additional areas such as Regulatory and Clinical Operations.

Most recently, SSI announced acquisition of NDA Group AB ("NDA Group"), a leading regulatory affairs and drug development consultancy. This strategic combination creates a premier consultancy, specializing in guiding drug development companies from concept to commercialization, helping optimize the development process and maximize the therapeutic value of complex and novel treatments. The merger marks an exciting milestone following years of successful collaboration across numerous clients, resulting in the launch of the most innovative therapies available in the world today. As a combined firm, we intend to maintain this momentum and continue to pursue potential partnerships with the promise to expedite our goals to deliver an industry leading consulting offering.

CMAG: When you look at the remainder of this year and 2024, what excites you? What opportunities do you see in your markets?

Across all industries but especially Life Sciences, we continue to see tremendous changes of pace in the industry climate and increase in innovation in recent years. We are thrilled to enter into the remainder of this year with a like-minded partner in NDA Group that is committed to shaping our role in the industry together. In addition to functional expansion and broadening our presence in novel modalities including digital therapeutics, digital biomarkers, and cell and gene therapy, we are looking forward to geographic expansion.

CMAG: What impact do you think being a Best Firm to Work For has on the firm? Employees? Clients?

Being recognized on Consulting Magazine's Best Small Firms to Work For list is a great source of pride for our team. This sense of fulfillment is reflected in 96% of our team reporting being proud to work for SSI and 98% feeling more motivated at SSI to go beyond what they would in a similar role elsewhere. This distinction helps provide insight into the commitment we make to our people and our core values which in turn allows us to support our community of clients with the best and brightest teams.