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FMCG based products have been creating disruptive innovations that have consistently evolved and improved the lives of consumers globally. Adrija Jha, our next pathbreaker, works as Product Development Scientist at Godrej Consumer Products Ltd on the Goodknight and Aer product development team. Adrija talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about how her background in pharmaceutics allows her to blend formulation development with consumer focused innovation from ideation to commercialization. For students, science is a fast-paced field with new innovations coming up everyday, and the more we read, the more we can get inspired to create new things ourselves. Adrija, can you tell us what your growing up years were like? I was born and raised in Kolkata, West Bengal. My parents are doctors and my sister is an engineer. I grew up surrounded by medical textbooks, listening to stories of complex medical cases. I found myself memorizing the names of medicines, their trade and generic names and their uses. My father and I used to spend a lot of time categorizing the medicines we had at home and it almost became like a little game to guess which medicine belonged to which therapeutic category. I was a science student and an ardent lover of books and music. In my free time, I used to play the violin and mandolin. What did you do for graduation/post graduation? I did both my graduation and post graduation in pharmacy. I specialized in Pharmaceutics in my post graduation. What made you choose such an offbeat, unconventional and uncommon career? My parents were my influencers and mentors in choosing pharmacy as a subject in college. They familiarized me with the healthcare industry and helped me understand the variety of jobs available in the world of pharmacy. During my masters, I interned with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd where I got a deeper understanding of products, quality and manufacturing which peaked my interest in product development. However, I found the consumer products space to be more creative and not as limiting as pharmacy in the product development process. Therefore, a turning point in my career was the job offer from Godrej Consumer Products Ltd which gave me the opportunity to join their product development team. How did you plan the steps to get into the career you wanted? Or how did you make a transition to a new career? Tell us about your career path As I mentioned, I interned with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories during my masters. During my internship, I worked with the operational excellence team. My role was to understand the investigation process of quality failures in the pharmaceutical manufacturing process and suggest ways to improve the investigations. The internship lasted 6 months, during which I received thorough training to understand how quality is maintained in the finished product and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API or the main active raw material) manufacturing process. As I learnt about the manufacturing process, I also started gaining interest in the product innovation and creation process. After completion of my internship, I got the opportunity to work with Godrej Consumer Products Ltd in their R&D Department. My masters specialization in Pharmaceutics, which deals with the formulation and development of pharmaceuticals and cosmeceuticals, prepared me for this job role. The role requires me to develop new and innovative consumer products like mosquito repellents, air fresheners, hair colour etc. In GCPL, we are encouraged to work on each aspect of the product from ideation to commercialization. The role of a scientist in the FMCG industry is to bridge the gap between technical innovations and unmet consumer needs and build products that are not only high quality and technologically advanced, but also capable of improving the lives of consumers. I have been a part of the household insecticide and air care product development team in GCPL since 2021. How did you get your first break? My PG college, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, gave me my first break. I received both my internship and full time job opportunity from the campus placement process. What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them? The biggest challenge I faced was to change my thought process from pharmaceuticals to consumer products. While pharma has regulatory constraints, consumer products require a thorough understanding of consumer psychology to meet their unmet needs. I overcame this challenge through on-the-job training, reading scientific articles on the development of consumer products and interacting with consumers directly to understand their product usage patterns. Where do you work now? Can you tell us about your current role? I work as a product development scientist in Godrej Consumer Products Ltd on the Goodknight and Aer product development team. For this job, a sound knowledge of chemistry and formulation is required. We need to also keep up to date with the current trends in the consumer product space by understanding new products that are being launched globally. Therefore, for this job role, a habit of reading both scientific and global market trends-based articles is a must. What’s a typical day like? A typical day for a product development scientist involves designing and performing studies to be carried out, be it formulation or evaluation studies. For projects which are in more advanced stages, lab-based evaluations are followed by consumer testing during which we understand the merits and demerits of the products we have developed by having consumers use them over a specific period of time. What do you love about your job? My favourite part of my job is the initial product development process when we are brainstorming and trying new formulations. The sky’s the limit and we let our creativity flow to the maximum. Its very exciting to try new things every day . No matter how many trials we conduct, we learn something new during each trial. How does your work benefit society? GCPL plays a pivotal role in the fight to control mosquito-borne diseases. The R&D department works extensively to develop new products that will help people control the mosquitoes in their homes and workplaces. Besides this, the homecare, personal care, hair colour and care products we create are essential to maintain overall consumer hygiene and wellbeing. Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you! A memory I hold very dear to me is the first time I created a formulation for a product that delighted consumers when they used it. It was extremely fulfilling to hear how happy and satisfied they were after using the product. Your advice to students based on your experience? My advice to students based on my educational and professional experience would be to keep learning and reading. Science is a fast-moving field with new innovations every day and the more we read, the more we are inspired to create new things ourselves. Future Plans? My plans for the future would be to keep creating disruptive innovations capable of improving the lives of consumers globally. #J-18808-Ljbffr