Posting date:
09/08/2021
Clinical stage biotech, VP
program leaders
Case study
The overview
Our partner, a Cambridge, Massachusetts based clinical stage biotech, is pioneering the development of mRNA therapeutics across a range of disease areas. Due to the productivity of their discovery platform and expansion of their clinical pipeline, they required multiple VP-level program leaders to join their leadership team and take on responsibility for advancing several drug portfolios from IND to licensure across multiple therapy areas.
The challenge
Our partner required individuals with industry leading technical expertise in the respective therapy areas, as well as strong scientific backgrounds, cross functional leadership experience, and the ability to define and execute asset strategy. It was also essential for candidates to demonstrate strong interpersonal and communication skills to contribute to the company’s culture and add the most value to their programs.
We were tasked with identifying and attracting these industry leaders in an incredibly competitive market. Timing was critical due to the requirement for these individuals to be in place for the company to achieve the ambitious milestone targets set by the executive leadership team.
The solution
Our R&D team, all with an MS level degree in a scientific discipline, performed an extensive market map of competitors in the relevant disease areas, and then undertook a thorough headhunting campaign to engage with the relevant leaders in these spaces on a national level.
We worked closely with the TA team, who did an excellent job ensuring a high level of internal stakeholder engagement. Working collaboratively, we defined an efficient and structured interview process, which included regular touchpoints at each stage to ensure the processes remained on track and communication to candidates was detailed and in real time. This led to positive candidate experiences and further enhanced their perception of our partner as a dynamic, decisive, and coordinated business.
The outcome
Following the submittal of comprehensive shortlists for all positions, these business-critical hires were made within 8 weeks from initiation of the searches. The TA team utilized our consultants to provide live market intelligence to ensure that the scope of the roles, opportunities for development, and compensation packages were competitive enough to attract talent from their main competitors.
Together with the TA team, we were able work to the executive leadership team’s aggressive timelines, whilst also meeting their expectations regarding the quality and credibility of these hires. We continue to have a successful partnership with this company, supporting growth across all key R&D functions locally and internationally.
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