Click here to download as a PDF
As one of the fastest-growing biotechnology companies in the United States, a leading global pharmaceutical company is pioneering cell therapy research, with a singular focus to treat and cure cancer. Founded just over a decade ago, the organization is now a leader and innovator in the industry for its FDA-approved cell therapy as a transformational treatment option for cancer. The company has been growing rapidly, resulting from recent approvals and developments, and is rapidly expanding its workforce as a result.
Scientific industries like biotechnology and pharmaceuticals have historically struggled with recruiting because of the high learning curve and technical skills required from each role. Many companies rely on external recruiters and agencies to fill open roles, which frequently requires heavy time commitments from the hiring team and high fixed costs for recruiting.
Similar to other pharmaceutical companies in the industry, the organization had relied on agencies to source and hire talent. But the biotechnology company recognized in a market that’s short of highly-skilled talent, it had to step up its recruiting approach. Partnering with NXTThing RPO has transformed the way the organization now sources and hires candidates — enhancing its ability to attract specialized talent and improving the results of its hiring outcomes.
Top Recruiting Challenges for the Biopharmaceutical Company
An Ultra-Competitive Industry
The biopharmaceutical industry is ultra-competitive for recruiting teams who are looking for qualified candidates. With a shortage of talent possessing the skills and experience needed to fill these specialized roles, companies with the best recruiting programs are most effective in attracting the right people. Scientists, regulatory, clinical, and operational employees are all limited in the job market, and are quickly scooped up by the most competitive employer.
| “Your passion comes through in every call and in every meeting.”
– Sr. Director, Global Talent Acquisition, Biotech
Prioritizing DEI in Hiring
A pillar value of the biopharmaceutical company is diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and its recruiting program needed to more accurately reflect this tenet. It was essential to prioritize DEI when sourcing and hiring candidates for the organization, so the talent team needed a partner that could match its commitment to DEI programs, and put added focus into all aspects of the recruiting process.
Skill Matching for Specialized Roles
The scientific and manufacturing industries have been hit hard by the labor shortage due to the highly specified requirements of their roles. Many positions require candidates to have certain skills, training, or certifications in order to be considered — and some positions require even more vetting. The company needed a more efficient way to source and screen a high volume of qualified candidates for these technical roles.
Increasing Hiring Outcomes by Partnering with NXTThing RPO
The organization looked for a recruitment services partner that could build its talent network with a broad diversity of skilled candidates to fill the growing list of technical requisitions. Partnering with NXTThing RPO was a natural fit to recruit and expand the high-quality teams required to work within the company.
After partnering together, NXTThing RPO quickly put together a world-class team of recruiters for the organization. A full-time team of around 25 people are now actively recruiting for the biopharmaceutical company to expand its talent networks, hire well-qualified employees, continuously improve the hiring process, and promote the company culture to potential candidates.
Building a Team of World-Class Talent Acquisition Professionals
Managing the entire hiring process from requisition creation to onboarding, the expert recruiters, sourcers, coordinators, and support teams from NXTThing RPO are deeply embedded in the culture of the company and its recruiting operations. They have created a competitive employer brand that leaves a lasting impression in a difficult industry to attract top candidates.
| “Wow – a double header – changing an employee’s life and changing lives of patients.”
– Sr. Director, Global Talent Acquisition, Biotech
Process Improvement for Better Hiring Outcomes
The NXTThing recruitment team gets feedback on the type of talent needed and specific hiring goals the organization is looking to meet, and works quickly to source and hire those qualified candidates, scaling up or down as hiring needs change.
Working with the organization directly, NXTThing helps to forecast hiring needs and predict when and how many positions will be required in the future. The end-to-end recruitment support that NXTThing provides does everything from opening a job through onboarding new hires. The team schedules interviews, communicates with candidates and hiring managers, and makes sure all the details are taken care of, including screening talent for technical skills, cultural fit, and more. And through it all, the team continues to move fast to minimize candidate attrition.
Direct Sourcing with Candidate Skill Matching
In such a technology-driven world, it makes sense that candidate sourcing and skill matching is done automatically by top recruiting teams. The talent team can take a list of requirements for a role provided by a hiring manager and source candidates that match the desired skills, experience, or training. This process improvement has enabled NXTThing to support the biopharmaceutical company in quickly finding the qualified applicants they need to build teams that drive ongoing scientific discoveries and business results.
Over 1,000 Qualified Employees Hired Per Year – And Counting
This RPO partnership has allowed the organization to recruit and hire critical roles like never before — across scientists, technical, regulatory, compliance, corporate, and lab technician roles. The recruiting team uses leading technology to search a wide talent network for the right candidates and matches them to positions that they have potential to succeed in.
Since starting the partnership nearly three years ago, the team has sourced more than 100,000 candidates, conducted more than 10,000 phone interviews, held approximately 3,000 interviews with hiring managers at hiring events, and hired over 1,000 qualified employees per year.
Building a Strong Employer Brand in a Highly Competitive Industry
Their recruiting teams are also helping build long-term talent pipelines by proactively engaging and expanding the organization’s talent networks.
Attracting and Converting Top Talent
Employer brands must be strong within the competitive landscape to stand out against other employers. And even though it is competing for the same pool of qualified candidates, the company has successfully carved out its name as a top employer in the industry. Working in lockstep with the NXTThing team of recruiters, sourcers, coordinators, and talent professionals, the biopharmaceutical company has successfully expanded its talent networks with the best candidates in the industry.
This team has prioritized the human aspects of recruiting in its strategy to best establish the company’s employer brand — with everything from attending recruiting events to hiring an expert in building diverse candidate slates. Dedicating resources to building a quality employer brand has given the organization the advantage of recruiting the most qualified talent.
Prioritizing DEI in Recruiting Strategies
Previously mentioned, the focus on DEI efforts within the organization was a top priority. The NXTThing recruiting team emphasized this effort in building diverse candidate slates and throughout candidate engagement campaigns to attract a wide diversity of talent. For example, the university recruiting program has helped in making the organization’s presence known as an employer of choice for post-graduate opportunities. This helps the company capture and engage diverse talent with highly competitive skills and experience early in their careers.
Together, NXTThing RPO and the biopharmaceutical company are building one of the most impressive teams in the industry. By directly sourcing and recruiting 1,000 hires per year, NXTThing has established meaningful relationships with talent throughout the organization. Aligning teams by specialty and functional area, NXTThing also ensures that flexibility is central in its recruiting approach to shift as needed based on annual headcount plans. The success that has resulted in its scalable recruiting approach will not only make a lasting impact on the organization itself, but greatly influence the contributions of its workforce in cancer treatment both now and for future generations.
How NXTThing RPO Can Take Recruiting to the NXT Level
Looking to learn more about how NXTThing RPO can transform recruiting within your organization? Discover how the scalable approach and blended service model of innovation, technology, and personal connections can improve your hiring outcomes. Read about NXTThing’s uniquely positioned recruitment services here.
