In Deloitte’s “2016 U.S. Life Sciences Industry Outlook” released in January, Greg Reh, the firm’s U.S. and Global Life Sciences sector leader, offered a somewhat encouraging assessment of employment prospects this year: “Despite current economic, political, technological, and social challenges, life sciences companies worldwide should see enough long-term growth opportunities to feel cautiously optimistic about 2016.”
Three such opportunities were identified by recruiting firm Smith Hanley Associates earlier this year: One was candidate movement to smaller biopharmas, which the firm said leads to higher base salaries as companies scramble to offset the loss of long-term incentives given by big pharma. Mergers and acquisitions create jobs for candidates willing to relocate, whereas the growth of big data adds positions for in-house data scientists but also results in project outsourcing to vendors that creates new markets and innovations, Smith Hanley added.
All those trends should mean more work for biopharma recruiters, who match employers with job candidates in significant portions of the industry.
Below is a list of 50 recruiters for biotechnology and pharmaceutical positions, unranked and listed in alphabetical order. That’s up from 40 firms on last year’s List and 24 firms in GEN’s first recruiter List published in 2013. The companies listed are among top recruiters as established from Internet searches or publicly available online lists of biopharma recruiters, but do not constitute a list of all biopharma recruiters.
Listings are based on information furnished by the companies on their websites and other publicly available material, including their LinkedIn and Twitter pages and press announcements. Each recruiter is listed with its address, phone number, description of its services, top executive(s), and year.
Advanced Clinical
Address: 10 Parkway North, Suite 350, Deerfield, IL 60015. West Coast office: 570 Pacific Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133—(415) 621-6122; Orlando, FL, regional office: 151 Southhall Lane, Suite 110, Maitland, FL 32751—(407) 712-7410
Phone number(s): (847) 267-1176
Services: Clinical development organization that provides global end-to-end services—including CRO, functional support, quality & validation, patient recruitment and retention, and strategic talent acquisition solutions—for pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device organizations
Website: www.advancedclinical.com
Top executive: Leo Sheridan, CEO
Year established: 1994
Allen-Jeffers Associates
Address: 28512 Las Arubas, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677. Additional office: Nashville, TN, serving Eastern and Southern regions of the U.S.
Phone number(s): (949) 643-2146
Services: Executive and technical search firm dedicated to serving pharmaceutical, medical device, and allied technology industries exclusively.
Website: www.allen-jeffersassoc.com
Top executive: Bob Jeffers, president and founder
Year established: 1978
The Bandish Group
Address: 1432 Easton Road, Suite 2B, Warrington, PA 18976
Phone number(s): (800) 881-9976 [US Only]; (267) 483-5233
Services: Boutique specialty executive search firm providing full life cycle global recruiting services and staffing solutions to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and device industries.
Website: www.bandishgroup.com
Top executive: Jackie Bandish, MSHR, CPC, managing member and founder
Year established: 1996
BattaliaWinston
Address: 555 Madison Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10022. Firm has additional offices in Boston, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Woodbridge, NJ. Life Sciences practice group bases consultants in Chicago and Woodbridge, NJ.
Phone number(s): (212) 308-8080
Services: Executive search services for the life sciences and other industries. Functional areas include marketing, human resources, CEOs, CIO and technology leadership, legal, risk, compliance, sales, and CFO and financial leadership. One of the world’s largest woman-owned executive search firms.
Website: www.battaliawinston.com
Top executive: Dale Winston, chairwoman and CEO
Year established: 1963
Beckford Search Partners
Address: 12 Camden Row, Dublin 8, Ireland; 867 Boylston Street 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02116
Phone number(s): +353 (0) 1 490 6270 (Ireland); (857) 263-3726 (Boston)
Services: Specialized retained executive search consultancy serving the international biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Firm assists companies looking to expand their footprint in Irish and European markets through the delivery of key senior executives in commercial affairs, medical affairs, regulatory and quality management, R&D, and global manufacturing supply.
Website: beckfordsearch.com
Top executive: Stephen Boylan, managing partner
Year established: 2014
Bio-Partners and Lennon Search Associates
Address: 611 W. Union Street, Morganton, NC; Additional offices for Bio-Partners in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Phone number(s): (828) 433-7058
Services: Bio-Partners specializes in recruiting all levels of executives and professionals for positions in the life sciences, including specialties in bioinformatics, biotechnology, healthcare, medical device, pharmaceutical, and personal consumer product industries.
Lennon Search Associates specializes in assignments for bioscience, healthcare, medical device, pharmaceutical, consumer, and personal product industries, as well as key executive recruitment for positions in manufacturing, operations, supply chain, engineering leaders and technical management. Lennon Search also offers traditional direct staffing and contractual services for executive, engineering, and technical professions.
Websites: recruiters-connection.com; lennonsearch.com/contact
Top executives: Bio-Partners: Conrad Taylor, CPC, founder; Bill Lennon, CPC, co-founder, and Fred Kaplan, CPC, co-founder. Lennon Search Associates: Bill Lennon, CPC, founder and president
Year established: 1988; founded as Hall Management Group
BioPhase Solutions
Address: 5405 Morehouse Drive, Suite 135, San Diego, CA 92121; 401 East Ocean Blvd, Suite 510, Long Beach, CA 90802; 140 Gregory Lane, Suite 190, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
Phone number(s): San Diego—(858) 552-2000; Long Beach—(562) 495-3200; Pleasant Hill—(925) 338-2377
Services: Provider of scientific, clinical research, and administrative personnel to biotech and pharmaceutical companies in California. Placements have ranged from recent life science graduates to seasoned clinical research associates looking for managerial openings.
Website: www.biophaseinc.com
Top executive: Jeff Prekker, president
Year established: Year unavailable
BioQuest
Address: 100 Mission Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94105. Southern California office: 27405 Puerto Real, Suite 355, Mission Viejo, CA 92691
Phone number(s): San Francisco—(415) 777-2422; Mission Viejo—(949) 488-8018
Services: Retained executive search services firm focused on placing CEOs, board members, and senior technical and business executives for the life sciences and healthcare industries, including biopharmaceutical and diagnostics employers. Partners with HTI, based in Paris, for retained searches in Europe.
Website: www.bioquestinc.com
Top executives: Roger Anderson, managing partner and co-founder; Karen Bertrand, partner, leader of firm’s biopharma and diagnostics practices, based in San Francisco.
Year established: 1985
BLG Executive Search
Address: Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 54 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Additional offices in Amstelveen, The Netherlands (following acquisition of HealthyCareers in January 2015); Prestbury, U.K.; Vienna, Austria; and Zug, Switzerland
Phone number(s): +49 (0) 69 380 78 76 00
Services: Executive search recruitment consultants searching for candidates across Europe to fill positions in diagnostics and medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and biotech. Current core markets are Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux (Belgium–The Netherlands–Luxembourg), France, Scandinavia and Great Britain.
Website: www.blg-es.com
Top executive: Pim van de Riet, managing director and chairman of the board
Year established: 2011
The Bowdoin Group
Address: 200 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4010, Waltham, MA 02451. Boston office: 745 Atlantic Avenue, 8th Floor, Boston, MA 02111. New York office: 120 E. 23rd Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10017
Phone number(s): All locations—(781) 263-5200;
Services: Full-time hiring practice with a focus on mid- to executive-level positions in Life Sciences and other practice areas. Focus is on finding highly specialized executives and building out teams of scientists, medical affairs, manufacturing, operations, and sales professionals and on talent acquisition consulting and RPO Services, as well as technology contracting and SOW consulting.
Website: bowdoingroup.com
Top executive: Dave Melville, CEO and founder
Year established: 1994
Clark Executive Search
Address: 135 N. Ferry Road, PO Box 560, Shelter Island, NY 11964
Phone number(s): (631) 749-3540
Services: Boutique recruiting firm focused exclusively on placing senior-level scientists and doctors in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries; firm recruits M.D. or Ph.D. candidates for research and development positions ranging from senior scientists to corporate officers.
Website: clarksearch.com
Top executive: Ellen Clark, president
Year established: 1997
Compass Consulting Group
Address: 4145 Blackhawk Plaza Circle, Suite 102, Danville, CA 94506
Phone number(s): (925) 884-3811
Services: Focused on placement of life science and biopharmaceutical professionals in research, development, and commercialization positions; also focuses on placement of IT and legal professionals.
Website: www.compasscgroup.com/life-science-bio-tech-recruiters/life-sciences-recruitment
Top executive: Brett Forrest, founder and managing partner
Year established: 2008
Cornerstone Search Group
Address: 6 Campus Drive, Parsippany, NJ 07054
Phone number(s): (973) 656-0220; also in Switzerland at 41 61 508 7010
Services: Specialized life sciences executive search firm whose clients include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, consumer healthcare, and life science consulting companies. Partners with U.S. and global life science companies to identify and recruit accomplished professionals for their senior staff through executive management level positions located worldwide.
Website: www.cornerstonesg.com
Top executives: Cliff F. Miras, co-founder & managing partner; Steven Y. Raz, co-founder & managing partner
Year established: 2000
Corporate Search
Address: 90 New Montgomery Street, Suite 1420, San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone number(s): (415) 684-1960
Services: Executive search firm currently specializing in executive and management positions in the biotech, pharmaceutical, and healthcare industries; Biotech practice focuses on C-suite to director level opportunities in Phase I–IV; clinical development, clinical operations, drug safety, regulatory and quality, medical affairs, program/project management, biometrics/biostatistics, and data management.
Website: www.corpsearchjmi.com
Top executive: Lori Perlstadt, CEO
Year established: 1984
Coulter Partners
Address: 70 Gray’s Inn Road London, WC1X 8BT United Kingdom. Additional locations in Cambridge, MA; Morristown, NJ; Newton, MA; Princeton, NJ; Basel, Switzerland; Berlin, Germany; Eysins, Switzerland; Frankfurt, Germany; and Lyngby, Denmark
Phone number(s): +44 (0) 20 3167 0000
Services: Global search specialist focused exclusively on life sciences; serves broad spectrum of global clients; from multinationals to small and mid-cap businesses, as well as investors building their own teams and the boards and executive leadership of their portfolio companies.
Website: www.coulterpartners.com
Top executive: Bianca Coulter, CEO
Year established: 2003
Critical Path, Inc.
Address: 130 Harbour Place, Suite 270, Davidson, NC 28036
Phone number(s): (704) 765-2650
Services: National search firm providing recruitment services exclusively to clients in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Services for employers include contingency searches and retained searches.
Website: www.criticalpathinc.net/
Top executive: Karen Baldwin, president
Year established: 1995
Donaldson Solutions
Address: 17 Riverside Chambers, Full Street, Derby DE1 3AF, UK
Phone number(s): +44 (0) 1332 460 072
Services: Independent recruitment and executive search consultancy specializing in recruitment of middle managers and senior managers within industries that include R&D organization and process and chemical engineering for biotech manufacturing.
Website: www.donaldsonsolutions.co.uk
Top executive: Beshlie Donaldson, director
Year established: 2012
Double-Helix
Address: 1296 Mayette Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125
Phone number(s): (408) 390-6948
Services: Provides technology, staffing, and security advisory services and resources tailored to meet the needs of growing personalized medicine and life-science companies
Website: www.double-helix.com
Top executives: Molly Ryan, founder and CEO; Ken Stineman, founder and CTO
Year established: 1997
Dunne and Associates
Address: Greenville, SC1
Phone number(s): (864) 735-8786
Services: Executive search firm recruiting for sales, sales management, and marketing positions with biotech companies.
Website: www.dunneandassociates.net
Top executives: Vincent Dunne, president; Aaron AuBuchon, partner
Year established: 2013
Exalon Search
Address: Globe Works, Penistone Road, Sheffield, S6 3AE, U.K.
Phone number(s): +44(0)114 2945239
Services: Life sciences and pharma recruitment consultancy specializing in clinical trial sites and data management in both biopharmaceuticals and devices within contract research organizations.
Website: www.exalon.co.uk
Top executive: Thomas Spencer-Bancroft, Recruiter| Director
Year established: 2014
HireLifeScience.com
Address: 62 Pine Drive, Roosevelt, NJ 08555
Phone number(s): (609) 308-2658
Services: Employment resource and networking tool for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, life science and medical device industries. Works exclusively with direct employer clients seeking to fill positions in categories that include R&D, clinical research associate, chemist, scientist, biology, oncology, regulatory affairs, biostatistician, medical writer, laboratory, quality assurance, quality control, sales & marketing, manufacturing, and medical communication.
Website: www.hirelifescience.com
Top executive: Rob Masterson, president
Year established: 2004
HireMinds
Address: 222 Third Street, Suite 0350, Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone number(s): (617) 252-0606
Services: Search firm focused on industries that include the life sciences. Job specialties include clinical research, chemistry, discovery research, engineering/facilities, lab animal medicine, manufacturing, process development, project management, quality and regulatory, and validation/calibration.
Website: www.hireminds.net
Top executive: David Hayes, president and founder
Year established: 1998
Joseph Associates, Inc.
Address: 229 Main Street, Huntington, NY 11743
Phone number(s): (631) 351-5805
Services: Recruit professional staff for the pharmaceutical, biomedical, biotechnical, healthcare and medical device industries as well as information technology professionals for all business areas. Provide companies with personnel to fill positions that include biostatisticians, clinical development, computational biologists, drug safety, epidemiologists, HEOR specialists, medical directors, directors of pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacovigilance, as well as statisticians.
Website: www.jaexecutivesearch.com
Top executive: Joe Nakelski, president
Year established: 1986
K2 Executive Search
Address: 6088 Royal Birkdale Drive, #1700, Lake Worth, FL 33463
Phone number(s): (561) 345-2916
Services: Contingency recruiting firm serving clients in biotech and life sciences that seek candidates with experience in mass spectrometry, genomics, proteomics, PCR, assay development, microarray, next-gen sequencing, drug discovery, HPLC/GC, biodefense, molecular diagnostics, and more. Firm provides candidates for sales, R&D, FAS, in-house counsel, marketing, operations, engineering, and management roles.
Website: k2search.com
Top executive: David Ruyle, owner
Year established: 2000
Kelly Services
Address: 999 West Big Beaver Road, Troy, MI 48084-4782. Asia-Pacific HQ: 20 Anson Road, #05-01 Twenty Anson, Singapore 079912. Europe-Middle East-Africa HQ: 20, Avenue Edouard-Dubois – CP 48, CH – 2006 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Phone numbers(s): Troy, MI—(248) 362-4444. Singapore—+656709 3388. Switzerland—+4132 737 18 00
Services: Provider of outsourcing and consulting services, as well as staffing on a temporary, temporary-to-hire, and direct-hire basis.
Website: www.kellyservices.com/Global/Science
Top executive: Carl T. Camden, president and CEO
Year established: 1946
Kuhn Med-Tech
Address: 27128 Paseo Espada, San Juan Capestrano, CA 92675
Phone number(s): (714) 944-9231
Services: Executive search consultants for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device positions at companies worldwide; specializes in assisting entrepreneurial to medium-size companies with hiring for positions in R&D, manufacturing, engineering, marketing/sales, senior management, regulatory/clinical affairs, and quality.
Website: www.kuhnmed-tech.com
Top executives: Bob Jeffers, president; Larry A. Kuhn, founder
Year established: 1979
Lab Support, A Division of On Assignment
Address: 26745 Malibu Hills Road, Calabasas, CA 91301. 33 U.S. locations; two locations in Canada; seven locations in Europe
Phone number(s): (800) 536-3293
Services: Focuses on placing scientific and engineering professionals in contract, contract-to-hire, and direct hire opportunities; serves industries that include biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical devices. Positions include biochemists, biologists, chemists, clinical research associates, data managers, design engineers, environmental scientists, food scientists, lab assistants, molecular biologists, microbiologists, QA/QC technicians, regulatory affairs specialists, and validation engineers. Also serves the environmental, chemical, and consumer care industries, as well as government and academia.
Website: www.labsupport.com
Top executives: Theodore S. Hanson, evp, On Assignment, and president, Lab Support division; Peter Dameris, president and CEO, On Assignment
Year established: 1985
Life Science Partner
Address: 1230 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 3875, Atlanta, GA 30309
Phone number(s): (404) 920-2050
Services: National recruiting firm providing executive search and consulting services designed to meet the needs of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, medical device, and healthcare organizations.
Website: lifesciencepartner.com
Top executives: Thomas H. Callaway, MD, MBA, founder and president; Katie Barton, vp
Year established: 2002
Life Science Recruitment
Address: 12 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2, Ireland; 145-157 St. John Street, London, EC1V 4PW.
Phone number(s): Ireland—(+353) 1 685 4848 / (+353) 1 685 4545. London—(+44) 203 5828 290
Services: Specialist science recruitment agency focused on the recruitment and selection of professionals for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, allied healthcare, connected healthcare, clinical research, medical device, engineering, sales, and supply chain sectors in Ireland.
Website: lifescience.ie
Top executives: Francis Mulcahy, director; Brian Christensen, associate director, life science
Year established: 2007
Life Science Search Partners
Address: 145 S. Livernois, Suite 240, Rochester Hills, MI 48307. Interviewing offices: Boston, Dallas-Austin, Detroit (Troy, MI), Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham (Durham, NC), San Diego, and Toronto
Phone number(s): (888) 303-3960
Services: National executive search and recruiting firm specializing in strategic placements within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors; executing complex and discreet searches for multinational corporations, start-ups, and companies in turnaround situations. A division of JMJ Phillip.
Website: lifesciencesearch.com
Top executive: Ryan Goff, executive director
Year established: 2009
Life Search Technologies
Address: 11350 McCormick Road – Executive Plaza 3, Suite 1001, Hunt Valley, MD 21030
Phone number(s): (410) 785-6313; also toll free (800) 785-2144
Services: Executive search firm providing staffing solutions for biotechnology as well as healthcare and IT. Specializes in the strategic placement of sales, marketing, executive operations, and other scientific professionals with expertise in the drug discovery marketplace.
Website: lifesearchtech.com
Top executive: Glenn A. Davis, president/CEO
Year established: 2002
Manning Personnel Group
Address: 211 Congress Street, 10th Floor, Boston, MA 02110
Phone number(s): (617) 523-8866
Services: Family-owned, full-service executive recruiting firm serving clients ranging from publicly traded multinational corporations to pre-IPO startups. Industries served include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices, and healthcare. Emphasis on finance, accounting, human resources, and office administration placements.
Website: www.manningpg.com
Top executive: Jack Manning, president
Year established: 1992
MEIRxRS (Med Exec International, Rx Research Staffing, Rx Research Services CRO divisions)
Address: 100 N. Brand Boulevard, Suite 306-309, Glendale, CA 91203
Phone number(s): (818) 552-2503
Services: Offering seven talent management solutions (staffing/temporary, recruiting, executive search, apprentices, auditors, consultants, and customized CRO teams); specialties include regulatory affairs, quality assurance, quality control, medical affairs (including pharmacovigilance, HEOR and medical science liaisons), clinical research/clinical operations (including project management, biostatistics, CRCs, CRAs, CTMs, CTAs, and drug safety).
Websites: meirxrs.com/medexec-international-healthcare-recruiters; meirxrs.com/rx-research-staffing; meirxrs.com/cro-clinical-research-company
Top executive: Rosemarie Christopher, founder, president and CEO
Year established: 1992
Neil Michael Group
Address: 9 Park Place, Great Neck, NY 11021
Phone number(s): (516) 482-8810
Services: Retained life science executive search firm focused entirely on senior-level executive and scientific searches on an international scale. Industry segments served include bioinformatics, big pharma, biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals, genomics, medical diagnostics, medical instruments, and proteomics.
Website: www.nmgsearch.com
Top executive: Neil M. Solomon, Ph.D., principal and consultant
Year established: 1983
On Assignment
Address: 26745 Malibu Hills Road, Calabasas, CA 91301
Phone number(s): (818) 878-7900
Services: Provides life sciences staffing service offerings through two divisions: Lab Support, and Valesta Clinical Research Solutions (see separate listings for both).
Website: www.onassignment.com/divisions/life-sciences-staffing
Top executive: Peter T. Dameris, President and CEO
Year established: Founded 1999 as Sharpstream; acquired 2010 by On Assignment, founded 1985
Phil Ellis Associates
Address: P.O. Box 900, Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480
Phone number(s): (910) 332-1198
Services: Professional search and recruiting firm specializing in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and allied industries.
Website: www.pellis.com
Top executive: Phil Ellis
Year established: 1978
Randstad Life Sciences
Address: Four Parkway North, Suite 120, Deerfield, IL 60015. Additional offices: 150 Presidential Way, 3rd Floor, Woburn, MA 01801; and 150 S. Warner Road, #401, King of Prussia, PA 19406
Phone numbers(s): Deerfield, IL, and Woburn, MA—(877) 335-8210; King of Prussia, PA—(610) 382-9738
Services: Matching professionals with career opportunities at the world’s leading biopharma and life science companies for more than 20 years; Staffing services encompass specific areas of clinical R&D, including clinical operations, pharmacovigilance, medical writing, clinical IT, biometrics, regulatory affairs, and much more.
Website: pharma.randstadusa.com
Top executives: Traci L. Flatte, group president, Randstad US; John Ebeid, vp, outsourcing; Tania De Decker, senior director of life sciences, Global Solutions (based in Brussels, Belgium)
Year established: 1996
Reaction Search International
Address: 5000 Executive Parkway, Suite 450, San Ramon, CA 94583. 47 U.S. locations, and nine additional locations outside the U.S.
Phone number(s): (925) 275-0727; also toll-free at (800) 832-8268
Services: Executive recruitment firm placing candidates in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, among 40 industries; Positions placed have included biostatistics and clinical data management, board search, CEO, CBO, CFO, CMO, chemistry (analytical/bioanalytical/organic), clinical pharmacology, clinical research (physicians, clinical research associates, clinical project managers), drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, drug discovery, IT and laboratory automation, manufacturing and engineering, marketing and business development, medical affairs, pathology and toxicology, process and product development, project management, QA/QC, regulatory affairs, sales, and vp-clinical development.
Website: www.reactionsearch.com
Top executive: Robert Boroff, Managing Director
Year established: 1995
RMA—Resource Management & Acquisitions
Address: Principal location address not available. 40 locations in the U.S. and Canada; nine in Europe; eight in Asia; and three in the South Pacific
Phone number(s): (888) 646-2607
Services: Executive search and executive recruiting for 30 industries, including biotechnology, where the firm serves companies whose technologies are based on biology, agriculture, food science, or medicine. Segments include genetics, microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, biotechnology IT, and biorobotics.
Website: www.rmasearchfirm.com
Top executive: Name of key executive unavailable
Year established: Year unavailable; “over 20 years of experience,” according to website
References
1 Address unavailable at deadline pending opening of new facility.