Client Overview
Our client is a next-generation biologics developer, internationally recognised for their proprietary platform in synthetic DNA for drug discovery. Their work sits at the forefront of drug development innovation, making them a high-profile and highly desirable business within the life sciences sector. Despite their reputation, the client faced ongoing challenges in attracting and retaining the niche talent required to fuel their growth.
The Challenges
When they first engaged us, the client faced several barriers to effective hiring:
Restrictive Pay Brackets: Salary bands limited competitiveness in a market where top talent is in high demand.
Challenging Location: Their physical location made it difficult to attract talent without an extensive outreach strategy.
Multi-Agency Confusion: Operating with several agencies led to inconsistent candidate experiences, duplicate approaches, and poor satisfaction levels.
Lengthy Recruitment Process: A six-stage interview cycle, combined with a fragmented contingent model, resulted in high levels of candidate drop-off.
Limited Internal Networks: With a narrow professional reach in their specialist field, accessing the right technical expertise was difficult.
Delivering Success
Our approach was built around creating a deeply collaborative, end-to-end recruitment partnership that evolved over four years:
2022 – High Performance in a Multi-Agency Model
Entered as one of several agencies, achieving a 48% placement rate — the strongest among all partners.
2023 – Primary Recruitment Partner
Streamlined their process from six interview stages to three, integrating pre-screens and calendar technology to increase speed and reduce candidate fatigue.
Placement rate rose to 54%, while candidate satisfaction and retention significantly improved.
2024 – Exclusive Partnership
Became their sole external recruiter.
Introduced benchmarking data and full talent market insights to strengthen hiring decisions.
Placement rate climbed to 67%, with remaining hires filled through internal promotions.
2025 – A Fully Embedded Partnership
Placement rate has reached 100%, making us their only external source of new hires.
Recruitment time reduced from 65 days to 35 days on average.
Established a dedicated network within their niche scientific domain, enabling rapid candidate delivery.
Key process enhancements included:
Average of 5 candidates delivered within 4 days of role opening.
1st interviews within 9 days, with a steady conversion rate through the funnel.
On average, 9 candidates shared per role, with 4 reaching 1st interview, 2 reaching 2nd, and 100% of offers accepted.
Results Over 12 Months
100% placement rate for all external hires.
35-day average time to hire (down from 65 days).
First 5 candidates delivered within 4 days of opening a role.
100% offer acceptance rate, driven by a highly tailored candidate engagement process.
Why It Worked
Deep Technical Understanding: Our specialist knowledge of the biologics and synthetic DNA space allowed us to engage top candidates with credibility and precision.
Collaborative Partnership: We became an extension of their internal team, maintaining close relationships with HR, hiring managers, and regularly visiting the site to develop our expertise of their business.
Process Innovation: We streamlined their recruitment process, integrated technology to accelerate decision-making, and developed candidate benchmarking tools for better market alignment.
Market Expertise: By continuously mapping talent markets, advising on compensation trends, and forward-planning hiring needs, we ensured speed, quality, and consistency.