Posting date:
20/07/2021
Global biopharma company, new build facility project in Switzerland
Case study
The overview
A long-term partner of ours, a global biopharmaceutical company, was building two new state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in rural Switzerland. They were readying to manufacture products in late-stage development. We were approached to support with this project due to our long-standing relationship with the company and our growing presence locally in Basel. We became involved in the program from design stage through all phases and leading into the execution.
The challenge
Initially, we were providing support directly to our partner and continued as a tier-1 supplier when they initiated an MSP program mid-project. We have remained a top 3 supplier on the MSP program since onboarding. The location of the site build was remote and not connected to major cities, which meant we had to increase our network of professionals who were prepared to either relocate or travel to such places.
In addition to this, there was a change of direction for the project mid-process, altering some of the requirements to function more in line with CDMO facility requirements, rather than a product specific site. This meant we had to be flexible with our search, responding to the sudden changes. We also had to manage multiple internal stakeholders, each with different needs.
Finally, running a contract program in Switzerland requires water-tight compliance. As fully licensed Swiss business, this was something we were able to help with.
The solution
We hold a Swiss SECO licence, which is audited regularly by SwissStaffing, allowing us to compliantly employ over 70 consultants through our AG entity. We have a dedicated onboarding team who were available to help with contract queries, relocation questions, tax simulations, work permit questions and more.
Our delivery teams, based in Basel and London, were focused on sourcing exclusively for our partner. The team leads have extensive experience managing multiple complex engineering programs, meeting both the company and MSP in person several times, as well as visiting the site.
The outcome
We helped our partner to hire a number of professionals in QA, engineering, manufacturing, scientific and logistics, as well as HR and data science roles, over half of whom were already in Switzerland when they were sourced (although only a small percentage were Swiss nationals). This project has helped to solidify our relationship with the MSP program and we are continuing to work with our partner to understand their needs for permanent staff once operational. Our experience from this project has helped us connect with further businesses across the region with similar requirements.
.png)
.png)
