Sam’s career journey from trainee CRA to Clinical Trial Manager

I was looking to make the leap from site-level work to a clinical research organisation (CRO) and start progressing my career in a new direction. ICON offered the job I wanted in a location I was looking to move to, so it was a perfect time, perfect place situation.

The academy was really pivotal in establishing a foothold at ICON and within the CRO world. It was helped by my manager at the time, who took the time to invest in our baseline knowledge, but more importantly, in the soft skills required to excel in those tricky situations that will come your way.

The other brilliant part was the networking we did within ICON. I think it’s something people don’t know about us, but we collaborate and share information like no other company. We’re always encouraged to ask questions and gather information, so building a network of information sources was arguably the most valuable experience we could have had.

Quite honestly, I fell into clinical research. I was working at a research site and looking for the next step, though I wasn’t entirely sure what that would be. In my day-to-day role, I was heavily interacting with CRAs, and I felt it was something I’d be good at and enjoy.

It would be remiss to say I didn’t have help from some of the CRA colleagues about how to apply and a referral that ultimately got me the job here at ICON. But the fact that people were willing to endorse me meant a lot and reaffirmed that it was something I wanted to do.

What I’m enjoying of late is mentoring and sharing the knowledge I’ve gained with some of our new starters and more junior associates. Also, there’s a portion of me that would say meeting a tough DBL or tight timeline is hugely satisfying.

So, myself and a few others have been championing the PRIDE community group at ICON for about two years. It has been a hugely gratifying experience as we move forward and drive awareness and change, both within ICON and the industry.

One of the surprising things about working on this agenda has been the interaction with other people in the industry and the discussions we have as a result. It really has been a very collaborative process both within ICON and externally. For those part of the LBQTQ+ community, I can safely say that ICON is a great place to be, and we only move onward and upward as we move forward with our PRIDE community group.

My dog takes up a shocking amount of my time, considering he spends so much of the day sleeping. But if I’m not looking after him (got to be sure I’ve got the snack cupboard well stocked), I try to play tennis a couple of times a week and spend time with friends, enjoying life in Melbourne.

The number of clinical trials listed each year is on the rise. According to the WHO, almost 60,000 trials took place across the globe in 2021. So what does that mean for you? It means

more career opportunities, and since ICON is the world's leading clinical research organisation, there's no better place to bring your career.

Whether you've had your sights set on a CRA career for some time now, or you're looking to find out more about what the job entails, we can help. Explore clinical research associate jobs at ICON to learn more about the day-to-day duties.