By Niki Manalo, Vice President, On-Demand Talent Solutions
Life sciences organizations today are moving beyond traditional staffing relationships and towards strategic partnerships that drive long-term success. They're seeking advisors who deeply understand their science, anticipate evolving needs, and provide guidance throughout their growth journey.
With nearly two decades of industry experience, I can say with confidence that I have witnessed a fundamental shift: the most successful companies recognize talent acquisition not as a reactive necessity, but as an ongoing strategic advantage built on trust, insight, and genuine collaboration.
Beyond the Job Description
The foundation of any meaningful client partnership begins with understanding what lies beneath the surface requirements. When a biotech company requests a regulatory affairs consultant, the real need might extend far beyond technical expertise or project deliverables. It requires understanding organizational history, team dynamics, management styles, and cultural nuances that determine whether a placement will truly succeed.
This comprehensive approach recently proved essential with my client that was facing critical regulatory milestones. They needed a regulatory consultant to help keep their project on track. Despite identifying technically qualified candidates, market research revealed that the right professionals wouldn't leave their current roles for a consulting project. Rather than compromising on quality, we collaborated with their Chief People Officer to convert the consultant opening to a direct placement. This change enabled us to expand our pipeline and place the right candidate within three weeks. This preserved critical timelines and enabled the team to reach their milestone.
The Trust Factor
My philosophy has always been in order to build a trusted partnership with clients, you must view each engagement as part of a longer journey rather than a single transaction. This perspective guides how Stevenson approaches challenges and develops solutions. If done correctly, we serve as an extension to your internal team to attract, build and retain talent for your organization.
Consider this example: a client faced hiring challenges due to needing highly niche technical skills and significant attrition on their team. Our solution involved overhauling their entire interview process, developing comprehensive screening questionnaires, and implementing additional cultural fit assessments. By analyzing their most successful hires and incorporating those attributes into the screening process, our team made multiple successful placements with high candidate retention over many years.
Creative Solutions for Complex Challenges
The most valuable aspect of client-centric partnerships is the willingness to think beyond conventional approaches. When a client needed expertise coupling two distinct skill sets for a new technology development, traditional search methods proved insufficient. The required combination simply didn't exist in a single individual.
Our innovative solution involved placing two professionals: one who was an excellent overall fit but lacked all necessary technical skills, and a consultant mentor whose role was exclusively to bring the first hire up to speed in key technical areas. This creative approach prevented what could have been a year-long search while delivering the expertise our client needed immediately.
Strategic Talent Planning
The most impactful partnerships extend beyond filling immediate needs to encompassing strategic talent planning. Supporting Biotech, Pharma, and Medtech clients over the years has provided valuable perspective on how different companies address growth strategies and talent challenges. This broader view has enabled strategic conversations about how best to approach talent needs and timing. At Stevenson, we help organizations stay ahead of critical hiring requirements rather than scrambling to fill urgent gaps.
The life sciences industry is at an inflection point where traditional hiring models are proving inadequate. Companies are increasingly recognizing that specialized expertise is often needed for defined projects and hiring for permanent positions isn’t always the right approach. Forward-thinking organizations are building hybrid talent strategies that combine core teams with strategic on-demand expertise, enabling access to specialized skills precisely when needed while maintaining operational flexibility.
The Future of Talent Partnerships
Companies that will thrive are those that recognize talent acquisition as an ongoing strategic function rather than an intermittent need. By partnering with advisors from Stevenson who understand science, culture, and business objectives, companies can position themselves to navigate uncertainty while continuing to advance their missions of bringing life-changing therapies to patients.
