Due to our proximity to Cambridge, recruiting within the Scientific and Medical sectors has been a key part of our business. With its extensive scientific and medical community linked to the University of Cambridge and the various Science Parks located in and around the city, this sector is an increasingly more important part of the city’s employment landscape.
One of the first things we learned from recruiting for these roles was that we’re not scientists – as a result of this, the first step we take in any recruitment for Scientific and Medical role is to immerse ourselves in the organisation and role in question. Initially that involves familiarising ourselves with the niche that the organisation operates in, the exact role the relevant department plays within the organisation, and then go an extra mile to ensure we are fully conversant with the demands of the role itself.
Over the years we’ve enjoyed recruiting for a variety of roles across a broad spectrum of industries: Medical Devices, Reagents, Laboratory Equipment, Robotics and Pharma. This experience has also allowed us to grasp an understanding of which scientific and medical disciplines are more interchangeable and which are not so easy to move between. If you’re looking to recruit a scientific or medical position, please get in touch!
Cambridge Talent Partnership have extensive experience as a Scientific & Medical recruiter across Cambridge, London, Huntingdon, Bedford, East Anglia, Milton Keynes and the East of England, as well as select clients across the UK. We’ve been tasked with sourcing candidates for many forms of scientific & medical position such as Research Scientist, Entomologist, Synthetic Chemist, Tender Manager, and Bid Manager. The approach we take for each role is the same, ensuring our clients receive a full market shortlist on every occasion.
Recently filled Scientific and Medical roles
Research Scientist
Cambridgeshire
Pharma
£45k
Synthetic Chemist
Essex
Agrochemical
£32k
Tender/Bid Manager
Stevenage
Medical Devices
£64k
Case Study
Microbiology Manager – Biopharma
Upon being approached by this pharma firm, it was clear that this would be one of the trickier roles we have been asked to recruit for. As an established start-up, the department in question had grown organically from the networks of the team members, largely on the back of contacts made and colleagues met whilst studying or conducting research. However, this role was a little ahead of the organic growth curve and the team were struggling to find someone with both knowledge of the niche subject and experience of managing research teams in an intensely commercial environment.
As with all recruitment assignments we undertake, our initial priority was getting to terms with the organisation, what it did and the market it operated in. Experience we had from recruiting a Finance Manager for this company the previous year gave us a headstart, yet the particulars of this role were clearly more challenging when we moved on to building a profile of the role we had been tasked to recruit for. Through fact-finding conversations with various members of management and the teams in question, along with examining the backgrounds of candidates who were ‘almost right’ for the role, we were able to compile a comprehensive list of ‘need to haves’ and ‘nice to haves’ on which to base our search.
By spending time with the teams the incoming hire would eventually lead, we had ascertained that there were a few firms and organisations we should target. With a soft approach to a candidate in a similar role at a competitor, we started a conversation that led to her showing interest in a potential move. Her salary expectations were slightly higher than our client was offering, yet upon sharing the details of the candidate they were happy to offer her what she was looking for.
It transpires that the candidate used to manage one of the more senior members of one of the research teams at the client, who gave a glowing report when asked by the board for an informal reference. As if often the case in these situations – especially in tight-knit industries – the employee had not wanted to suggest the candidate as he had lots of friends at his former firm and didn’t want to be seen to be ‘head-hunting’ her from them. This is something we see often and underlines the benefits of using our search and selection recruitment model.