Compass Life Sciences – CMO – Case Study

Compass Life Sciences exclusively partnered with an industry leading consultancy that provides best in class Medical Affairs consultancy to clients ranging from Big Pharma and Biotech through to emerging virtual life sciences enterprises across the globe.

With a reputation of delivering expertise and quality delivery, they were looking for a medically qualified leader that was able to bring significant scope and direction, and owing to recent growth, were looking to appoint a GMC registered Physician to take on the role of Medical Director. Since originally posting, the successfully placed Medical Director has been promoted into the role of Chief Medical Officer.

The Remit

Sitting with the Senior Leadership Team alongside the Owners of the business, a hierarchy had been established to include 4-8 Team Leaders who would directly report into the Medical Director, as well as between 4 and 6 reports into each Team Leader.  The role would have broad responsibility for final QC of high-quality copy review work ensuring medical accuracy and code compliance for work delivered to pre-approval or certification level.

As such, the successful candidate needed to be a GMC registered Physician with an established track record within industry – as well as having hands-on copy review and signatory experience.

The Process

Given that the client had historically had poor experiences with other recruiters in the past, Compass Life Sciences put in place a process and structure to delivery standards and also fee structures that reinforced our commitment to deliver on this business critical project.  We provided consultancy and guidance on process and market trends to support the shaping of the role and salary level for this level of senior appointment.

The key first step was, in collaboration with our marketing team, to develop a comprehensive candidate information pack that sold the role and the company in the right way to engaged candidates.  Also, due to the sensitivity of the search we took the step of securing signed Non-Disclosure Agreements from interested candidate prior to releasing details about who the client was.

Compass Life Sciences undertook a thorough and immediate review of the market, taking into consideration all key criteria as outlined by the Client. A longlist of more than 15 candidates with suitable experience were initially identified, before in-depth screenings took place before a shortlist of 4 candidate were presented to the client.

Of these, 3 were invited to a first stage interview, with two finalists selected for a face-to-face discussion.

Outcome

Compass Life Sciences were able to keep candidates engaged during the uncertainty of both Tiered localised Lockdown and National version; as well as navigating a delicate internal candidate option the Client had had in process, to successfully ensure the preferred candidate was offered, accepted and started in good time.

Compass Life Sciences navigated a competitive market to ensure all candidates were clear about both the remit of the position, and also the scope for growing a rapidly growing SME.  Candidates that could satisfy the breadth of experience needed to be successful in this role would need to have gained experience working in larger blue chip pharmaceutical companies, and as such careful attention had to be paid to ensuring the right motivations and fit were carefully assessed prior to introductions.

We worked hard to ensure that a broad range of suitably qualified and motivated candidates were presented, that we felt would be a good fit within the business.

The client observed that they have had many dealings with Life Sciences recruiters over the years, but this has been by far the best service they have received. Having delivered on our commitment to provide strong and engaged candidates for this challenging brief, Compass Life Sciences have taken the time to understand the DNA of the business, and what a good profile looks like that could work well in that environment.  We are looking forward to a long standing partnership to support their exciting period or exponential growth.

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