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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Reviews
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    Vertex Pharmaceuticals Reviews

    Updated December 4, 2018
    264 reviews

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    3.7
    StarStarStarStarStar
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    Approve of CEO
    Vertex Pharmaceuticals President and CEO Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D
    Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D
    113 Ratings

    Employee Reviews

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    Pros
    Cons

    • "Hard to maintain work/life balance at time" (in 16 reviews)

    • "very toxic work environment, poor mid-level and senior management" (in 11 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons
    1. Featured Review

      Helpful (9)

      "An incredible company with an inspiring culture"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Manager in Boston, MA
      Current Employee - Manager in Boston, MA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Vertex Pharmaceuticals full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      I can honestly say this is one of the most incredible companies to work for. The energy is palpable. The people are collaborative and motivated to bring medicines and hope to patients. The culture is heavily science-oriented, but everyone feels like part of the mission, even those who are not necessarily scientists or physicians. Very strong leadership team. Amazing performance as a company. Opportunities abound to make an impact, and grow.

      Cons

      Still maturing as a company from a small biotech to the global biopharma leader we are today....some processes need to be optimized. This requires everyone, at every level, to be "in the weeds" from time to time, but not overly burdensome.

      Advice to Management

      Keep doing what you're doing; keep offering people the opportunity to contribute their expertise to the strategic goals; keep up the open dialogue with employees; keep recognizing employees for their accomplishments.

    2. "Great culture"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Internship
      Former Employee - Internship
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Amazing people, collaborative people, strong mission driven and visionary management

      Cons

      Company is transitioning from small biotech to mid-sized pharma, and it's a good mix between both right now.

      Vertex Pharmaceuticals Response

      Oct 25, 2018 – Talent Acquisition

      Thank you for your review.

      3. Join the Vertex Pharmaceuticals team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. "Great results, still learning how to get them"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at Vertex Pharmaceuticals full-time

      Pros

      Working on life changing products

      Cons

      Inefficient, bloated governance structure impedes progress and improvement

      Vertex Pharmaceuticals Response

      Dec 7, 2018 – Talent Acquisition

      Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

    4. "Vertex Pharmaceuticals - Excellent Place to Work"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Vertex Pharmaceuticals full-time

      Pros

      - Collaborative and compassionate environment
      - Rigorous work but with many opportunities for growth
      - Patient-centric focus and mission
      - Excellent benefits

      Cons

      - Not enough hours in the day (but colleagues and the culture is resilient!)

      Vertex Pharmaceuticals Response

      Oct 12, 2018 – Talent Acquisition

      Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review.

    5. Helpful (7)

      "When there's smoke..."

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Boston, MA
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Boston, MA
      Doesn't Recommend
      Positive Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Vertex Pharmaceuticals full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      Working at Vertex means being part of a transformation in medical care for patients with CF, which is something most people spend a career in biotech/pharma without experiencing. There are some really special and talented people at Vertex as well, who got in early and were part of that story.

      Cons

      No checks and balances for incompetence; as long as you have an MD, you are allowed to do anything, even if you do it badly. Other "D" degrees can take a seat, or be support staff.

      Advice to Management

      Hey, you know the hemorrhage of employees out of GMDA? Pay attention. It's real, it's serious, and it's a warning. There is a reason talented people who were at the company for MANY years are leaving; look at your functional management. If you keep chasing degrees, process, and structure while ignoring your people and foregoing the deep historical knowledge they have of the company and the therapeutic area, you're going to make Vertex like every other pharma company out there (maybe that's the goal, but it's terribly sad). You're moving towards being out of touch with the CF community, and that's not how a patient-focused company should be. Consider that what new management from big pharma views as amateur is actually what's made Vertex successful to this point. You're not adding value, you're adding barriers.

      Vertex Pharmaceuticals Response

      Oct 10, 2018 – Talent Acquisition

      Thanks so much for your review and we agree, there are some extremely talented employees at Vertex. We will be sure to pass on your comments to the proper departments.

    6. "Intern"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I have been working at Vertex Pharmaceuticals full-time

      Pros

      Great coworkers as well as working environment

      Cons

      median size company, not much reimbursement

      Vertex Pharmaceuticals Response

      Oct 10, 2018 – Talent Acquisition

      Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback. We are glad to hear you enjoy working at Vertex.

    7. "Benefits"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Senior Research Scientist in Boston, MA
      Current Employee - Senior Research Scientist in Boston, MA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Vertex Pharmaceuticals full-time (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      Excellent benefits. Would be difficult to find a company with better benefits.

      Cons

      There are no obvious cons to Vertex benefits.

      Vertex Pharmaceuticals Response

      Oct 10, 2018 – Talent Acquisition

      Thank you for taking the time to provide us with a review.

    8. Helpful (3)

      "Good place to work...too much upper level, expensive fluff positions added in recent years."

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Research Fellow I in Boston, MA
      Current Employee - Research Fellow I in Boston, MA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at Vertex Pharmaceuticals full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      Treat employees pretty well. Connection to patients is rewarding.

      Cons

      Tons of money spent on unnecessary director/VP and up “talent” as company has become successful. This leaves far less for those who really helped build it.

      Advice to Management

      Don’t forget who got you there.

      Vertex Pharmaceuticals Response

      Oct 10, 2018 – Talent Acquisition

      Thanks for taking the time to provide your feedback. We are happy to hear you feel the connections to patients is rewarding.

    9. "Very Good Pharma company"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Research Associate II in San Diego, CA
      Current Employee - Research Associate II in San Diego, CA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Vertex Pharmaceuticals full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      Most people at the SD are good coworkers. There are some bad apples but thats how it is everywhere. Benefits are really good. Breakfast every day, cookies on Wednesday, and happy hour on Friday.

      Cons

      Getting promoted can be difficult at times, managers can have favorites, and not all groups treated evenly. People can be overworked here

      Advice to Management

      Listen to middle management more. If someone says they're direct report should get promoted, then they should.

      Vertex Pharmaceuticals Response

      Oct 10, 2018 – Talent Acquisition

      Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. We are thrilled to hear you are happy with the benefits package. We will make sure that the management team is made aware of your concerns.

    10. Helpful (4)

      "Too many Cons"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at Vertex Pharmaceuticals full-time

      Pros

      The Benefits are really good

      Cons

      Where to start....
      way too many VP’s, Senior Directors, Associate Directors and upper management.
      Those who work hard are not rewarded.
      When complaints are made to direct managers regarding issues, there are policies in place yet they get ignored and when complaints are made to HR, they are down played.
      The culture went down hill after the move to Fan Pier. Not a “fun” place to work.
      Too many people that feel they are entitled and feel they don’t need to work as hard as some of their peers.
      Career development is just for the special few.

      Advice to Management

      Evaluate your titles and the deadwood associated with it. Look beyond to see who is actually performing the work. Get rid of the “entitlement”.

      Vertex Pharmaceuticals Response

      Oct 18, 2018 – Talent Acquisition

      Thank you for your review. We appreciate your candid feedback and will pass your comments along to the proper departments.