Interim profile

Name: Rob Tilson
Status: Interim Manager for 9 years
Location: Suffolk

Corporate Career Summary:

Experienced Interim Manager with Technical/Projects Director background, including Board Level in a start up venture. Expertise in pharmaceutical Technical, R&D and Business Development, within start-up and multinational businesses. In particular developing new technologies and products for global health care markets (early concept to launch); implementing functional or company wide change, project management and marketing technologies and services to other healthcare businesses.

“What persuaded you to (consciously??) become an Interim?”

A desire to run my own business.
Disillusion with the inactivity in Corporate life. Spending 8 ½ hours in
meetings and not being able to get things done.
I also wanted to test my breadth of knowledge and skills already gained.

“What regrets?”

No regrets. I wish I had started sooner.

“What are the upsides?”

The opportunity to get out of a bored Corporate life. Working with people from diverse culture backgrounds and different geographical areas. It is also good to be able to roll your sleeves up and make a positive impact.

“What has been the high point of your Interim career so far….?”

Many along the way, including product development of paediatric medicines, for a start-up company up to and including Marketing Approval.

“And the lowest moment?”

For the first three years working as an interim I was unable to take a break.

“What do you most enjoy about being an Interim?”

As an interim manager your views are respected as being ‘neutral’. Here is an opportunity to hold a mirror up to an organisation and be able to show where there are gaps – be that in performance or behaviour.

“And least?”

It is not always possible to see the whole project through to completion. As an interim project manager you may be employed to cover one very specific area for a relatively short period of time.

“What would your advice be to aspiring Interim Managers?”

Think very carefully. It is a difficult life and not an easy option. You need consider very carefully what you can do and what you can offer to a company. This is outside of a corporate comfort zone.
There are a lot of people competing for work in this area – know where your strengths are and stick to them, don’t promise something you are unable to deliver on.
Be careful about using interim agencies – some deliver, some don’t.

“Contractual must do/must have”

“Any strong words of advice on contractual ‘must do/must have’?”

Ensure you have a clear contract with your client. You need to make sure you cover the basics such as hours and remuneration and terms of remuneration.
Agree key deliverables – this will involve detailed discussions with the client. Sometimes turning work away is just as important as accepting.

“How do you cope with the ‘feast and famine’ nature of interim work?”

As an interim you need to be able to juggle maximising your time. Even whilst you are involved in a project you need to continue developing your network – and this means getting out there and talking to people. There will always be delays in reaching decisions, you need to factor this in. When there is a quiet moment – make the most of it!

“What networks would you recommend that keep you in touch and are useful to you?”

There are many emerging professional networks. It is also worth keeping in touch with interim agencies. It is worth working on building your own network. I draw the line outside the UK – only occasionally extending my network into Europe.

“What is the ‘buzz’ that keeps you interimming?”

Working across different cultures in different companies, each company has their own preferred methods of working and part of the buzz is having the opportunity to experience this. The variety of the roles and the flexibility.

“What 3 top tips would you share?”

Nothing like working in a large corporate role.
You need to be highly empathetic and work within the culture.
You need to be very well organized.

You need to have the personality to become an interim manager, to almost become a chameleon and accept the differences.

“How do you set a day rate?”

It really depends on the assignment, what the range of parameters, length of the project and the value.

“What basic housekeeping things are important (set up as a Ltd company, get PII, find a good accountant, invest in good quality stationery – business cards etc.)?”

Set up as a limited company.
Get a good accountant.
Develop your personal network and marketing skills