Summary
In a highly competitive market, Klein Hersh was tasked with swiftly and effectively building out the Biometrics team for a growing biopharmaceutical company committed to developing innovative therapies for hypertension. Leveraging a deep network, strategic approach, and collaborative partnership, Klein Hersh’s Data Practice leader successfully placed new Biostatistics, Clinical Data Management, and Statistical Programming executives in under three months. The timely placements helped the client meet critical timelines to ensure greater control and quality during impending data read-outs and a database lock.
The Challenge
A public, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to developing best-in-class, novel therapy for hypertension had recently partnered with Klein Hersh’s Data Practice to place their VP of Biometrics. As her first priority in this new role, the VP sought to rapidly establish a complete in-house Biometrics team to reduce the organization’s dependency on CROs and ensure greater control and quality. After her own exceptional experience as a candidate with Klein Hersh, the VP put her trust in Klein Hersh’s Client Partner and Data Practice leader to find and deliver these essential new leaders.
The challenge was twofold: the client was seeking candidates with experience in early-stage biotech environments, capable of both strategic leadership and hands-on execution, and the timeline was tight. A database lock and data read-outs were fast approaching, making the need for experienced leaders who could hit the ground running urgent. Further complicating the search, the cardiometabolic field was highly competitive, with qualified candidates often weighing multiple offers.
With deep experience in building out Biometrics teams and a vast and highly curated network in place, Klein Hersh was well positioned to tackle this challenge with skill and efficiency.
The Approach
Klein Hersh recognized the importance of this project, not only for the client’s long-term success, but also for maintaining our strong relationship with the VP of Biometrics who was entrusting us to build out her team. Our approach involved a multi-faceted strategy:
- Simultaneous Searches: All three searches were treated with equal importance and run concurrently.
- Harnessing Existing Relationships: Klein Hersh prioritized reaching out to candidates already known and respected within our network. Given our longstanding relationships with key professionals in the field, particularly through previous placements, we were able to identify highly qualified and available candidates quickly. The candidate pool was then further strengthened by tapping into recommendations from these trusted industry contacts.
- Differentiating the Opportunity: Klein Hersh crafted a compelling narrative for these roles, emphasizing the client’s financial stability, scientific credibility, and the exciting opportunity for leaders to build and shape a new department. This helped position the roles as highly desirable, unique opportunities in a competitive market.
- Maintaining Momentum: The search process was efficiently managed by a collaborative effort between Klein Hersh and the client’s VP of Biometrics and Chief People Officer, and included both regularly scheduled update calls and high-touch communications via phone, email, and text in between to ensure no momentum was lost. The client’s dedication to transparency, responsiveness, and a highly efficient interview process also facilitated quick decision-making.
The Results
In under six weeks, Klein Hersh successfully filled the Biostatics and Data Management roles, and filled the Statistical Programming role in under three months – making this the fastest Biometrics team build-out in Klein Hersh’s history, and most importantly, delivering on the client’s urgent timeline.
All three candidates had the right blend of experience in early-stage biotech and the ability to execute at a senior level. The biostatistics candidate also brought extensive therapeutic experience, a critical requirement for success. Landing these new roles has given the candidates an opportunity to make a significant impact by building from the ground up their own respective functions within a dynamic biotech environment.
The timely placement of these leaders enabled the client to complete the enrollment for a phase 2 trial, a critical milestone. With a high-caliber, in-house team now in place, the company also now has better control over their clinical data, which was essential for their upcoming database lock and regulatory submissions.
The client has reported being highly satisfied with the results, with the VP of Biometrics noting an “outstanding” experience and a strong likelihood of future engagement with Klein Hersh.
Is your organization looking to build a high-performing team quickly and effectively? Klein Hersh’s proven expertise in life sciences and healthcare executive search, combined with our deep industry networks and collaborative, personalized approach make us the ideal partner for your next team build out. Contact us to discuss how we can help.
