Life at MSD


At MSD, we all share an extraordinary sense of purpose: helping to improve health and well-being in Australia. Working toward this goal gives our employees an unmatched experience that is fulfilling on both a professional and a personal level.

Collaborative working environment

To meet the challenge of change in the pharmaceutical industry requires bold measures and bold thinking. At MSD Australia, we decided we needed a new, dramatically transformed workplace, an environment specifically designed to encourage people to collaborate, to create, to innovate.
We built it at 26 Talavera Road in Macquarie Park, Sydney, which we moved into in June 2013. The building has a sense of freedom: freedom from rigid hierarchies and from physical barriers to coming together in ever-changing groupings depending on the task of the day.
This is at the heart of the concept of Activity Based Working (ABW). There is no assigned seating – not even the top leadership team has offices or even their own desks.
Luke Cornish, Government Relation Manager said the building worked well for him. “I’ve embraced the idea of moving around depending on the kind of work I am doing. I sit in three or four different places a day. The one drawback is that finding people can be a bit more of a challenge. If I want a couple of hours to concentrate on something, I use one of the little offices. At other times I like to sit where I feel in the thick of things.”Charles Harvey, Market Access Manager, says of ABW: “Flexibility in the workplace helps me find the right location to complete the work I need to do. It’s as simple as that. When the pressure is on and you just need to get your head down and finish a document, then there is nothing better than a quiet corner at the extremities of the building, or even better I can work at home without distraction. But other times you need to make some noise. There is no point brainstorming alone. And there are spaces for that too. Places where you can come together, get on your feet and talk it out, share ideas, build on the energy of others, and cover some walls with sticky notes. Brilliant.”

Professional Development

Career development is important to us, and our people are continually learning. MSD offers performance and talent management processes, tools and a culture which helps our people shape their careers and reach their full potential. We put you in charge of your career at MSD by making professional development a self-directed process. We provide you with the learning opportunities, initiatives and resources you need to grow. From day one of your career with MSD, you will have access to a comprehensive range of learning experiences including 'on the job', face to face development programs, and a leading range of online learning and development resources.You will have the support of your manager to pursue development opportunities that benefit you and are aligned with our business objectives. MSD ANZ has active talent management practices in place and formalised career pathways across a range of disciplines.

Fostering a Healthy Lifestyle

Every day, MSD employees are resolutely focused on providing products and services that save and improve lives. Our culture aims to extend this focus to everyone working at MSD. Living our mission starts by caring for ourselves, our families, and our communities. Living the mission means making healthy choices each day — about the foods we eat, the activities we pursue, and the attention we give to our own well-being.LIVE IT is MSD’s employee-focused health and wellness brand, designed to inspire employees to pursue, enjoy, and share healthy lifestyles. It provides products and services to help save and improve the lives of our own employees. Together, we can create a healthy MSD community.

How do we do this? Through our on-site yoga classes, getting fit for a cause and taking part in group sporting events to raise money for charity, chilling out in the recreation room with a game of table tennis, or taking part in any number of our step challenges. LIVE IT is not just about physical health, but also your mental health and your philanthropic well-being. We have regular talks and resources about mental well-being and employees also get the opportunity to financially support charities of their choice through our employee giving program.Taking care of yourself with good health, nutrition and exercise can of course be its own reward, however we like to take it one step further by offering you a financial reward. So if this appeals to you, then MSD could be a great place to work for you!