Colleen Walson-Billin on Building a Quality Career Without a Science Degree — Let's Talk Quality

Colleen Walson-Billin was told she was not eligible to progress in Quality without a science degree, and went on to lead a full GxP Quality function at a biologics startup.

Colleen Walson-Billin on building a Quality career without a science degree.

In today's episode I was joined by Colleen Walson-Billin, Vice President & Head of GxP Quality & Compliance at Jade Biosciences. I wanted to speak to Colleen because her route into Quality started with a business degree and a role as administrative assistant to a director of Quality at Amgen. From there she moved through QA, corporate and international Quality, served twice as chief of staff to the head of Quality, and now leads Quality across GMP, GCP, GLP and pharmacovigilance.

We talk about:

Starting in Quality as an administrative assistant, and telling her first boss up front that the role was her foot in the door
Being told she was not eligible to progress without a science degree, and building her technical knowledge on the job
Serving twice as chief of staff to the head of Quality, and what she learned at the table with the leadership team
Leaving Amgen for smaller companies, and picking up GCP, GLP and pharmacovigilance for the first time
Leading executive and senior directors, stepping back from being the doer, and positioning Quality as a partner from the start

Thank you Colleen for sharing your journey.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:46) "My foot in the door": business degree to admin assistant

(05:02) "You're just not even eligible"

(08:51) The advice that made the degree stop mattering

(12:34) A career with no plan, built by putting her hand up

(19:14) Leaving Amgen for a smaller company

(22:01) Employee number 24, and "enough to be dangerous" across GxP

(25:14) Why the degree becomes almost irrelevant at 20 years

(29:50) Roadblocks, naysayers and the police: old school Quality

(35:06) Selling Quality to a room of college students

(40:03) Inspired by what she did not want to become