Stop Optimizing Your Job, Start Optimizing Your Career
Your title says Senior Director.
Your scope says something else entirely.
I see this constantly in biopharma: titles that expanded as companies grew, while the actual scope of work shrank. The market doesn't buy titles. It buys capability. And some environments actively starve capability growth while appearing to reward you.
I recently explored this invisible career risk in BioSpace, where I write regularly about leadership realities in biopharma. The piece examines a pattern most leaders don't see until they're in the job market: strong credentials that don't translate because the environment stopped building transferable capabilities years ago.
The article breaks down what environments actually build versus what they starve, how to audit whether you're accumulating capabilities the market values, and the three questions to ask before you decide to stay or leave.
Here's the full article, originally published in BioSpace:
👉 Stop Optimizing Your Job. Start Optimizing Your Career
Key Takeaways:
Why title expansion without scope expansion is the most dangerous career trap in biopharma
The difference between environments that build capability versus those that starve it
How to audit what you're actually accumulating (beyond title and comp)
The three questions to ask before staying in—or leaving—your current role
Why "getting better at your job" and "building your career" are not the same thing
Reflection Questions for Readers:
Is your scope expanding with your title—or shrinking?
What capabilities have you built in the last 18 months that would translate to a different organization?
Are you optimizing for performance in your current role or for capability that travels?
