What regulatory can do for you, according to Evelyn Steele

Evelyn Steele, director of global regulatory affairs at Haleon, joined us at RAPS Convergence 2022 for a chat about her career path, why it’s important to keep recruiting new people into regulatory affairs and more. This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.

How did you get into regulatory affairs?

I started in my regular career about a year and a half after finishing university. I think the drive for me to go into regulatory was very much doing a life science degree. And having worked in a publishing company for a year and a half and I enjoyed that, but I really enjoyed the reason why. And regulatory was the reason why. And therefore, just happened to find a contract role which actually led to me working for what was then SmithKline Beecham, and 25 years later I’m still working for the same company. Under different guises, completely different roles, but still under regulatory. So that’s my story of how I got into regulatory. 

What do you like about regulatory affairs?

Well, I like regulatory because it’s black and white in the sense of why we do it. The foundations of why I do my role, what I do in my role and how I advise my time on how and what they need to be doing next. But it’s also the ambiguity. So you can also talk to a commercial colleague, get very excited about the fact that actually that’s a new area of regulation so we can maybe push boundaries here. We can maybe work externally to help that agenda to become more of a proactive mechanism to then really do something different and wow our commercial colleagues. So that’s why I like regulatory. It might be black and white, but there’s also that whole level of ambiguity around it.

Why do you think it’s important to recruit new people to the regulatory profession? 

I’ve given quite a lot of advice to people in the past in different functions who’ve always looked at regulatory and haven’t really understood what it means. I think once you actually start understanding the dynamics of the scope regulatory has — because it’s not just regulations, it’s the whole applications of those regulations and actually the real strategy-building and then the execution and there’s so many sections of it — that I think when people understand what regulatory can give to them as a career, it’s hugely beneficial. And I think obviously we need more and more people in regulatory because our commercial colleagues, our quality, supply chain colleagues, they’re all increasing in numbers around us. If we don’t have really good regulatory professionals being able to support a lot of those initiatives, then it’s harder for us to deliver. So we need lots and lots of people in regulatory. 

You’ve been a RAPS member since 2013. What’s the best way for a new member to to make the most of their RAPS membership? 

I would say for someone new who’s thinking about joining RAPS, that actually you need to have a plan. Your development plan is really important. Because there’s so much you can do and so many different areas to regulations that actually to understand what area interests you — whether that’s medicines or pharmaceuticals or medical devices — what is it that you enjoy? Really understand what you want to take out of the huge amount of materials and activities and conferences that are available, whether that’s webinars, virtual, coming to Convergence and being able to meet people face-to-face. It’s that network that you build in an area that really drives you and is going to support your development and what you want to get out of RAPS.

Why did you decide to get your RAC?

I didn’t do it that long ago. I did it about four years ago. I'd gone through university, I’d worked for a good few years and I just thought it was something I could recognize myself as actually having a lot of regulatory work. And actually being quite focused in certain areas in my career, the RAC gave me a wider scope to learn about all the other parts of regulatory that my job, my day-to-day work, doesn’t cover. So it was a challenge, and it was actually rewarding because I passed.

What have been the highlights of your experience at RAPS Convergence 2022?

It’s been great to gather with so many experienced people and to have such a variety of subjects covered. It’s been overwhelming, really, with all of the great sessions and so many people here and which ones to choose. I’ve been trying to figure out how and who to speak to. I’ve been completely spoiled. There’s been not a quiet moment. I’m feeling quite exhausted after the three days, so going back to the UK and sitting on a plane for 11 hours is going to be the rest that I need to recover. It’s been really good.