Your biotech company is on the precipice of change, always poised for the next breakthrough. Your next CEO should be no different.
Finding a CEO in any industry is tough work, but for the biotech industry, it can be next-level difficult. While other industries have had centuries to establish and refine talent, the biotech industry has had mere decades. The supply of individuals who could serve as an effective biotech CEO is lean, and the competition for the best candidates is—in a word—fierce.
In this article, we’ll discuss how you can sort through the noise and emerge successful in your search for the biotech CEO for your company.
1. Know what your non-negotiables are (and aren’t).
This may be an obvious first step, but your organization should begin the search for its next biotech CEO by defining exactly what they need to make a hire. You’ll need to be realistic about the state of your organization right now, and what qualities a new CEO will need to have to take your company to the next level.
Keep in mind that the difference between what you want and what you need, as with all things, may be vast in the search for your next chief executive officer. It’s extremely rare that the right candidate for the role—the one that ends up being hired and is successful beyond all expectations—had everything that the executive’s hiring team hoped they would.
As you’re aligning with all stakeholders about what your nonnegotiables are (and are not), remember to keep an open mind and don’t forsake the importance of soft, interpersonal skills. Your chief executive is public-facing, and while no one is perfect, a likable, stable individual will do wonders to help you forge connections externally and lead teams internally.
When making your list of “must haves,” here are a few critical factors to consider:
- Scientific expertise
- Business acumen
- Leadership abilities
- Regulatory knowledge
- Experience with mergers and acquisitions
- Strong industry network
- Experience guiding a company through an initial public offering
- Experience raising capital and obtaining investor buy-in
- Vision for the company’s future
- Articulable strategy for the company’s progress
- Cultural fit
2. Consider what your organization is able to offer the perfect candidate.
Most organizations searching for a CEO spend lots of time considering what they want from the perfect candidate; but, beyond a standard compensation package, they might skim over what they’re able to offer the candidate in return.
As a cutting-edge biotechnology company, you have a lot to offer a CEO candidate beyond a salary, bonus, benefits, and stock options. Your organization is different from others, and it’s up to you (and an experienced executive search team) to paint that picture for your candidates. Consider the following:
- Your company’s well-respected reputation within the industry
- The brilliance and potential of the existing talent within the firm
- The strong connections with other industry players built and maintained by your organization
- The next biotech CEO’s ability to hold the reigns of strategic control within the firm and make decisions with autonomy
- The freedom the next CEO will have to make innovative and creative change
- The support your next CEO will receive, including from a board, investors, other members of the C-suite, and broader management
- Your organization’s commitment to sustainability and good environmental stewardship
- Your strong company culture, great work-life balance, and collaborative environment
- Your mission-driven projects have the ability to transform healthcare and lives globally
- The economic and financial stability of your organization; its financial health and growth prospects
- Succession planning options within the firm or the ability to build them in
3. Work with an experienced biotech industry headhunter with a proven track record of results.
When you’re locating one of the most important (if not the most important) hires of your organization, you need the perfect headhunter to help you get the job done. As you’re considering the options available to you within the recruitment sphere, we recommend keeping the following items in mind:
- Dedication. It’s better to work with a headhunting firm that specializes solely in the biotechnology and life sciences industry. While other firms may have biotech or life sciences “divisions,” they may not be fully committed to dedicating their resources to investing time and building networks within your industry. Your headhunting firm should be as serious as you are about finding the right fit.
- Experience. While the recruiting organization’s history and tenure may not matter as much for lower level hires, you need an experienced and well-established search firm to guide you through locating your next chief executive. This will hopefully be a once-in-a-decade or less frequent decision, and it requires extensive expertise and know-how.
- End-to-end service. While most recruiters will leave their clients after a hire is made and until they’re ready to look for a new one, a great headhunter will see their client through the experience of hiring a new chief executive from end to end. At Cornerstone Search Group, we believe that it’s important for our headhunter partners to assist their clients in the onboarding stages of integrating their new hires into their organization, especially when it comes to C-Suite hires.
Cornerstone Search Group: Your Experienced Biotech Headhunter
The life sciences talent landscape is competitive, and the search for an executive only turns up the heat. When you partner with Cornerstone Search Group, you gain an edge over your competitors. Cornerstone can help you tap into a deep network of specialized and hard-to-find talent. We can introduce you to individuals who may not be on the “open market” looking for a job, but who trust our recruiters when high-profile leadership roles become available.
Our well-connected headhunters are excited to get to work finding the executive that will take your biotech firm into the future. Start a conversation with us today to learn more.
