Career Pathways for Shortage Roles

Our skills shortages

Learning from successful practice in other science-based industries, the group decided to adopt a role-based approach. Identifying those roles where recruitment of appropriately skilled candidates is a challenge and where significant demand is forecast. The following roles have been identified through extensive consultation with North East employers from across the sector: 

• Analytical Chemist
• Process Engineer
• Software Engineer
• Quality Assurance Manager
• Lab Technician
• Project Manager (life sciences) 

The research also highlighted a number of skills shortages within the existing workforce which could present challenges to the identified priorities to modernise and grow pharmaceutical manufacturing and increase the number of health and life sciences businesses which scale-up and grow in our region. These included: 

• Skills for digitalisation, data science
• Quality assurance, regulatory management and GMP
• Leadership, business development, project management and communication skills 

Our methodology

The North East LEP consulted extensively with businesses of different sizes, including SMEs, from a range of industries within the health, life sciences, and medicines manufacturing sector. This information was used to identify the key shortage roles and was quality assured by the North East health and life sciences North East health and life sciences steering group and skills group. 

Once the roles were identified, the skills group agreed exemplar person specifications for each role to define which criteria were essential and which were desired in candidates. Existing good practice and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) occupational maps were used to identify opportunities to better utilise apprenticeship funding and changes in the technical education landscape to enable businesses to develop talent into these key shortage roles.  

This information has been developed into example career pathways into the key shortage roles, the relevant education and training provision available to employers in the region has been mapped in partnership with the health and life sciences skills group. This information is available to employers through the links below. 

A small number of gaps in the North East education and training provision available have been identified through this research.