Perks and Programs

We asked Medidata Solutions to share a few programs they feel really capture what's unique about their workplace. Here is what they had to say.

• Employee Stock Purchase Program: Our plan allows employees to purchase Medidata stock at a 15% discount every six months and carry the lowest purchase price forward for two years. There is no holding requirement, employees may sell their stock upon purchase. Typical ESPP's have ~30% employee participation, we have 63% of our employees participating. This is top in the industry.
• Annual restricted stock equity grants: Each year ~40% of our employees receive a restricted stock grant. All employees are eligible and consideration for an award is based on the impact of their role and their sustained performance. The grant vests annually over 4 years and is used as a retention incentive.
• Internal Global Social Events: The entire company celebrates three major parties per year- a summer party, a winter party and a halloween party for each location. The executive staff travels to each location (Tokyo, London, and various U.S. locations) to attend and celebrate with employees. We provide top level catering, open bar, and music. Our own employee band; MDSOUL, starts the music portion of the event and then turns it over to a DJ. At the halloween party there is an annual halloween contest and our owners dress up in costume together i.e: Batman & Robin and walk around the building for the day and host executive meetings in costume.
• Summer Internship Program & Recent Graduate Rotation Program: Our Medidata Summer Internship is a 10-week long program that allows for students to apply what they've learned in school, gain exposure to the professional world and help them to build a strong foundation for achieving their career goals. Our interns are part of our global organization, working on meaningful and challenging projects. This helps to create an inclusive and collaborative environment; encouraging them to bring to the table their unique & diverse perspectives that add value to the organization. Our Rotation Program within Professional Services is a developmental program that combines hands-on multidisciplinary working assignments with structured learning, counseling, and mentoring. They can then choose which department in PS they'd like to work in and begin their career after the 6 month cohort has been completed.
• Global Leadership & Employee Development: Best in class (partnered with top industry experts) Global Leadership Development Programs offered to all employees Director level and above. Leaders work together to solve current business challenges and create new opportunities. We also include volunteer work aligned to our Corporate Social Responsibility Program as part of their leadership development. The leadership budget is $1.5M per year. All employees participate in a global development curriculum which includes a vast selection of courses and workshops covering topics such as Business Acumen, Management Skills, Professional Development. We have 3 global corporate charters for Toastmasters with over 85 employees engaged in the program. It is not uncommon to see the founders stop by the session and watch the employees practice.
• Medidata Express: Our internal Intranet provides a vast amount of company information including product roadmap, external industry events and news, internal media updates and a social portal for employees to share their special occasions and events, including family photos, pet pictures, and vacation photos. This is also a platform to showcase "Whiteboard Sessions" from our founder Glen DeVries in which he teaches our employees relevant industry or technology topics. It is common to find an abundance of blogs and/or responses to the content posted.
• Diversity & Inclusion Strategy: Medidata has done a full diagnostic assessment of our D&I practices this past year. From the diagnostic, we are building our strategy to focus on our greatest needs. Along with this, we continue to build grass root employee resource groups such as our Medidata Women’s Initiative group. This group aims to provide a framework for women of all levels and positions within Medidata to meet, exchange ideas and develop networks, allowing us to collaborate, support and encourage each other to reach our full personal and professional potential. This year, another resource group emerged from this initiative as the Medidata Women of Color.
• Leadership Mentoring: We provide internships for NYC's "Ladders for Leaders," which target disadvantaged youth's to introduce them to the work environment and provide hope and guidance on how to prepare for college and a professional career.
• Patent Program: We recognize and reward our employees for submitting patent recommendations to protect our IP rights. Employee's receive $500 for a filing, $5,000 for a patent grant, a plaque displayed in the corporate lobby and a "Medidata Inventor" designation in their title. A yearly innovation award is selected and an employee , or employees if it is a joint patent, are given the opportunity to select a conference of their choice to attend. We provide any employee two weeks away from their day to day activities to work on "innovation time."
• Innovative Facilities: Our offices provide lactation rooms for Moms, Wellness, and Meditation/Quiet time, on-site showers, bike racks, game rooms, height adjustable desks, ergonomic furniture including computer installations that are adjustable for employee comfort. Our commitment to social responsibility includes buildings that are LEED certified. As we grow globally, we ensure that all of our offices are consistent (game room, colors, furniture, etc...) so whatever office you go to, when you walk in the door, you know you're at Medidata.

How to Get Hired

We asked Medidata Solutions for some inside information on how to get hired at the organization. Here is what they had to say.

What key characteristics tell you a prospective employee will be a great fit for your company?

Medidata Solutions is committed to hiring the best talent to help support our mission: Powering smarter treatments and healthier people. We hire candidates that want to work on teams and experiement with new concepts, research new approaches and test out new technologies in an environment that fully supports all levels of innovation. Ideal candidates show us the critical behaviorsof our principles: Integrity, Partnership, Inventiveness, Humility, Nimbleness, Tenacity, Inclusiveness, and Caring. 

What can prospective employees do to get your attention?

As the leading global provider of cloud-based solutions for clinical research in life sciences our ideal prospective employees can show passion for our work, our clients and our industry. They can demonstrate humility and excitement as they describe how they can contribute to our business. We want candidates who can challenge the status quo , develop partnerships with their colleagues, embrace diverse background and experiences all while working with integrity at every turn. 

Are there any positions or types of candidates you are particularly focused on hiring in this coming year?

In 2017, we are focused on expanding our Sales and professional Services organizations. We continue to hire software developers across the entire technology stack from architects to mobile engineers. We are also focused on finding the best talent from the domain we automate - all aspects of clinical trial automation from study planning to clinical trial late stage monitoring.

What should interested candidates do to find out more and get started?

Candidates should review our website at mdsol.com and talk to our clients and CRO partners. It’s also helpful to connect with Medidata employees via LinkedIn. We do hold a strong presence at targered career events in NY, San Francisco and London and would encourage interested candidates to attend and come with questions.