RSA Viewpoints
Five key factors to consider when finding the right CEO for your company
The CEO is the apex decision-maker in an organisation, facing pressure from the board, investors, employees and the market, while trying to stay aligned...
Inspiring leaders | Paul Gaudin
Paul Gaudin is a serial entrepreneur, board chair and investor. After originally training in mechanical engineering and then working in furniture design, Paul’s extraordinary...
Harnessing talent to realise the potential of cannabinoids and psychedelics
Rising from taboo to treatment, pharma companies are testing cannabinoids and psychedelic molecules for an increasing range of indications. The results could provide new...
Has Britain got talent? Building a strong skills pipeline for UK pharma
Our Senior Consultant Kerry Hillier shares her key takeaways from the “Britain’s Got Talent?” panel discussion held at Pharma Integrates on 16th November 2023....
Fuelling the future of immuno-oncology talent
Cancer immunotherapy, or immuno-oncology, is already delivering a revolution in cancer therapeutics by finding functional cures through the power of the patient’s own immune...
Making the transition to a non-executive role
If you’re in a senior executive role, you may be thinking about taking up a non-executive role in another business. Non-exec roles can provide...
Inspiring Leaders | Susan B. Nichols
Susan B. Nichols is Chief Business Officer at Virocell, an innovation-driven CDMO that manufactures viral vectors to enable novel cell and gene therapies to...
Identifying, attracting, and retaining top talent in the biosimilars space
In May 2022, we launched our latest Talent Equity Report on the challenges and opportunities in the Biosimilars sector, based on interviews with several...
Rise of the centenarians
What do increasing life spans and age-related diseases mean for pharma? An industry is forming around human longevity to treat age-related diseases and extend...
Accelerating advanced therapies to market
Our Researcher Jamie Gould attended the “Advancing through the clinic to market” panel discussion at Advanced Therapies Integrates on 20th October. The discussion was...
Industry 4.0: how can smart manufacturing accelerate the delivery of medicines to patients?
The fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, is the realization of the digital transformation – harnessing the power of data and smart manufacturing to...
How to secure VC funding in a challenging economic climate
Our Consultant Lewis Aweyo attended the “VC judges: what is the X factor?” panel discussion at Advanced Therapies Integrates on 20th October. The session...
Inspiring Leaders | Dr Mehmood Khan, Part 2
Dr Mehmood Khan is the CEO of Hevolution Foundation. He is also a pilot, physician, and a great believer in Michelangelo’s wise words “I...
Sustainability Through Science – The Exciting Market of Cultured Meat
The life science industry is incredibly broad, encompassing many different scientific specialisations. Working in such a dynamic sector, I feel fortunate – over the...
Shifting the dial to early detection
Our Senior Consultant Kerry Hillier shares key takeaways from the “Mind Over Matter” panel discussion held at MedTech Integrates on 12th September. Neurological disorders...
Paul Duffy: The Interim Expert
Paul Duffy forms an integral part of our in-house Executive Interims team, leading the charge on our interim placements. He has a strong track...
Inspiring Leaders | Dr Mehmood Khan
Dr Mehmood Khan is the CEO of Hevolution Foundation. He is also a pilot, physician, and a great believer in Michelangelo’s wise words “I...
Tackling The Talent Shortfall In Cell And Gene Therapy
The Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) sector, an area of medicine specialised in gene, tissue and cell therapies, is expanding at an incredibly fast...
The Dynamic World of Interim Leadership
With an academic background in clinical science and clinical research from the University of Cardiff and a further Bachelor of Arts degree in English...
It’s Time to Change the Game
Amongst the many panel discussions that took place at the Bio Integrates event on the 17th of May, the headline session for me was...
BioTech’s Ultimate Challenge
Our Senior Consultant Kerry Hillier attended the “Value in, Value Out,” panel discussion at Bio Integrates on 17th May. The session was facilitated by...
Inspiring Leaders | Johan Luthman
Johan Luthman is Executive Vice President and Head of Research & Development at Lundbeck, a global pharmaceutical company specialising in brain diseases. With more...
A Lesson in Culture
On the 17th of May, I attended the Bio Integrates event – hosted by Life Science Integrates – at the Leonardo Royal Hotel in...
A Brave New World – The Emerging Scene of Medicinal Psychedelics
On the 11th of May, the first ever PSYCH Symposium took place in London. Industry leaders converged at the National Gallery to promote access...
Inspiring Leaders | Christian Joergensen
Christian Joergensen has been a CEO and member of executive management groups in several international high-performance companies. He has also been Chairman of the...
Embracing Change in the UK Biotech Sector – Insights from BioTrinity 2022
BioTrinity 2022 – The European Biopartnering and Investment Conference organised by OBN – took place 26-27 April 2022 in London. At this event, I...
How to navigate IR35 to secure top interim talent
In April 2021, the UK Government extended the off-payroll working (IR35) rules to the private sector; now affecting any medium and large organisations looking...
Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Day
Monday 11th April marks World Parkinson’s Disease Day: a day focused on raising awareness of a debilitating disease that often destroy lives. When I...
Talent in a virtual world – reflections from JP Morgan 2022
In January, I attended the 40th Annual JP Morgan Health Care Conference, the traditional kick off annual event for the global life science investment...
RSA People | British Science Week interview with Nick Stephens
Today’s feature for British Science Week is our Executive Chairman, Nick Stephens. In this interview, Nick describes the experiences that led him to where...
RSA People | British Science Week interview with Eleanor Davies
Overcoming Barriers for Women in Science From COVID-19 vaccines to space programmes to DNA, women are at the source of many of the scientific...
RSA People | British Science Week interview with Dr. Andy Theodorou
Dr. Andy Theodorou brings a unique profile to executive search, combining a strong and relevant academic & research background in Neuropharmacology with over 20...
RSA People | British Science Week interview with Nimra Butt
Nimra joined us as part of the Kickstart Internship Scheme and is a valued member of our Talent Acquisition Team. A recent Master’s Graduate...
International Women’s Day at RSA
Today, 8th March 2022, is International Women’s Day. It’s a time when we can reflect and be grateful for the women who have shaped...
Inspiring Leaders | Dr. Cameron Durrant, MD, DRCOG, MRCGP, MBA
Cameron Durrant, MD, MBA, has served as a member and Chairman of Humanigen’s Board since January 2016, and as the Chief Executive Officer since...
Inspiring Leaders | Riccardo Palmisano
Riccardo Palmisano is the president of Assobiotec, the Italian Association for the Development of Biotechnology. After graduating with a degree in medicine, Riccardo moved...
The future of pharma working practices
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to fundamental changes in the way we work. The sudden shift to remote working has created an unprecedented opportunity...
Growing The RSA Group Talent Acquisition team | An interview with Christian Simon
What is your role at RSA and what motivates you to do what you do? I’m head of Talent Acquisition at The RSA Group....
Productive People: how can talent keep pace with emerging pharma manufacturing trends?
New and emerging technologies, such as cell and gene therapies are incredibly exciting, but they are undeniably bringing with them a need for a...
Britain’s talent for technology: Do we have the right skills and capabilities in place to identify and develop the next generation of ATMP’s?
Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP’s) offer exciting new opportunities for the treatment of disease and injury. But in such a fast-evolving therapeutic landscape, do...
RSA 40th Anniversary Featured Story – Caroline Hardwicke
Caroline Hardwicke is a Clinical Development Consultant with over 35 years’ experience across the spectrum of clinical roles in all aspects of Phases I-IV...
Recognising and celebrating Extraordinary Connections at our 40th Anniversary Party
On Thursday 9th September, The RSA Group celebrated its 40-year anniversary with a special event at The Garden Museum in London. The venue was...
Inspiring Leaders | Jean-Luc Butel
Jean Luc Butel is an international executive with over thirty years’ experience in the global healthcare industry. He has worked solely for US Fortune...
Inspiring Leaders | Virginie Buggia-Prevot
Following a PhD in neurobiology and a post doc at the University of Chicago, Virginie Buggia-Prevot joined MD Anderson’s Neurodegeneration Consortium, managing strategic alliances...
Recruit, Reward, Retain – training and upskilling in the life sciences
The RSA Group’s Eleanor Davies leads an expert panel discussion at Bio Integrates 2021 Hands up if you’re working in life sciences and want...
Inspiring Leaders | Charlotte Casebourne
Charlotte Casebourne is the co-founder and CEO of Theolytics, a company that quickly develops oncolytic (cancer-killing) viruses. Since spinning out of the University of...
What makes a highly-effective, global board member?
A key step to personal growth and development is learning from your network and from those with experience of tackling the challenges you are...
Inspiring Leaders | Jackie Hunter
Jackie Hunter, PhD DSc CBE FBPharmacolS FMedSci, is a Board Director of BenevolentAI, which is applying its AI technology across the whole of Pharma...
Should people move to jobs or should jobs move to people?
When a talented person is hired by a life sciences organisation, where should they work? This isn’t a story about the pandemic, although undoubtedly...
Inspiring Leaders | Dr. Niven R. Narain
Dr. Niven R. Narain is Co-Founder, President & CEO of Berg, a Boston-based biopharma driving next generation drug and diagnostic development by combining patient-driven...
Inspiring Leaders | Swee Yeok CHU
With over 30 years of success in venture, growth and late-stage financing as well as private equity and fund investments, Swee Yeok Chu is...
Inspiring Leaders | Steve Harbin
Steve Harbin believes it takes good science, good people and good business to develop and grow a leading biotech. He joined Oncorus Inc. as...
Inspiring Leaders | Prof. Helga Rübsamen-Schaeff
A chemist by training, Professor Helga Rübsamen-Schaeff started her career as Scientific and Executive Director of an academic institution, the Chemotherapeutical Research Institute Georg-Speyer-Haus...
Inspiring Leaders | Dr Antonin de Fougerolles
With over 20 years of biotech R&D experience building out drug pipelines and helping drive several multi-billion-dollar companies from start-up, Tony is one of...
What will we need from life sciences leaders in 2021?
As a follow up to my recent blogs, I would like to share some further reflections about what Executive Leaders and Board members in...
Inspiring Leaders | Dr Melanie Lee, PhD, CBE
Begin Each Decade Anew – This is the incredible story of LifeArc’s CEO, Dr Melanie Lee, PhD, CBE. Prior to joining LifeArc Melanie pursued...
Inspiring Leaders | Michelle Tempest
Our next featured Inspiring Leader is the amazing Michelle Tempest, Partner at Candesic and author of ‘Big Brain Revolution: Artificial Intelligence Spy or Saviour?‘...
Inspiring Leaders | Angela Hildreth
Our next story in the Inspiring Leaders series comes from the phenomenal Angela Hildreth, Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer at Futura Medical. We...
Inspiring Leaders | Baroness Susan Greenfield
As a continuation of our Inspiring Leaders Series we were lucky enough to interview the amazing Baroness Susan Greenfield who is CEO and Founder...
Inspiring Leaders | Shiva Dustdar
We were honoured to speak to Shiva Dustdar who is Head of Division, Innovation Finance Advisory for the European Investment Bank. In this blog...
Inspiring Leaders | Jo Pisani Part Two
The professional world has evolved at exponential pace since I started my first role at BP and more women are pushing forward and moving...
Inspiring Leaders | Jo Pisani Part One
Early influences on my journey into science and leadership I always liked the sciences at school, and I also loved to take things apart...
My experience as a research intern during the pandemic
Like so many of my fellow undergraduates earlier this year, I felt disheartened and discouraged by the volume of rejected internship applications filling my...
From academia to industry: insights on how to make the move
Making the transition from academia to industry can be a challenging step, both for new graduates and seasoned researchers. In this blog, Daniel Cox,...
Further reflections from a Headhunter in life sciences who is (still) a realistic optimist
We all need a RQ (Reflective Intelligence Quotient) – we already have embraced IQ and EQ or ??? Having more time (no commute into...
Medical research charity Boards need to adapt to the new world or risk failure – Volume 2
In volume 1 of this blog, I looked at the tension caused by the growing demands on medical research charities and their heightened financial...
Medical research charity Boards need to adapt to the new world or risk failure – Volume 1
As we come out of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the issues affecting the Boards of medical research charities are, in many...
Reflections from a Headhunter in life sciences who is a realistic optimist – we need a new social contract!
In my self-isolating work from home arrangement since March, I am humbled that I have work to do and people to engage with. It’s...
What should pharma companies learn from the pandemic? Volume 2
Accelerated Evolution | The “New Normal” For the Pharma industry, Covid-19 has been a catalyst like no other. Even HIV in the 1980s wasn’t...
Never has the life sciences sector been more important – it’s time for Boards to raise their game
In recent conversations with investors, availability of the right people to join biotech Boards has come up as a recurring theme and the prevailing...
What should pharma companies learn from the pandemic? Volume 1
Now is the opportunity for leaders to create essential change
I’m often asked: “How are the best leaders behaving?” I observe that quicker decision-making, simplicity...
Key Learnings from the Coronavirus Challenge and innovating for a sustainable future
The life science sector is under extreme pressure to meet the global need for better, faster therapies to combat COVID-19 and The BIA is...
Interim managers can help when international travel is restricted
As the world faces an unprecedented global shutdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic, for life sciences companies it’s in the interests of everyone, not least...
IR35 postponement makes Interim Executives an option once again
This week’s government decision to postpone the implementation of the Off-Payroll Tax (IR35) to the private sector until April 2021 is a welcome announcement...
Considerations for leaders: managing teams remotely
Following last week’s announcement by the World Health Organisation that the spread of Covid-19 has officially reached ‘pandemic’ status, more and more companies are...
Could a different approach to head office teams drive better efficiency?
When done right, an interim manager can provide a cost-effective way to access the best talent to deliver a flexible solution, whilst transferring skills...
Nurturing new talent – top 5 benefits of an internship
The job market is becoming more and more competitive. Students who have spent the twilight of their teenage years grinding out essays in College...
JPM 2020 l The changing landscape of global healthcare in the new decade
I was struck by a resounding shift in attitude at this year’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference; less talk, more action. The atmosphere felt more...
Life science talent in China’s booming life science sector
Whatever statistics one reads about China, they never fail to impress with their scale and rate of growth. In 2007, China was the world’s...
Cell and Gene Therapy – leadership teams must grow fast
This is a great time for companies developing new cell and gene therapy medicines. The industry will need many more skilled people as the...
Private sector IR35 update on the horizon yet in change lies opportunity
Interim Management is the means by which an individual provides professional services to a client-base of their choosing. It is typically delivered by highly...
Attracting the Best Life Sciences Talent After Brexit
One of the reasons that the UK is a leader in life sciences has been its ability to attract, develop and retain a highly...
IQ might get you hired but EQ will get you promoted
The rise of EQ is interesting because it goes hand in hand with technological and sociological evolution. 20-30 years ago, leaders were sought (predominately)...
Who can put a price on cell and gene therapy?
Insights from the Endpoints UK Biotech Summit October 2019 Fifteen years ago, Health Economics Outcomes Research (HEOR) was the pharma industry’s new kid on...
Unleashing The Power of Interims
Businesses are dynamic; they grow, contract, fail and succeed. Research has firmly established that this process is vital to productivity and sustained growth in...
RSA Talent Talks debut Podcast
We’re seeing some of the most exciting new therapeutics emerge from the Cell & Gene Therapy Sector, it’s happening quickly and delivering meaningful results...
The Human Factor in MedTech
The medtech industry is growing rapidly, with projected compound annual growth rates of 5.6% worldwide from 2017, reaching $595 billion by 2024. This raises the...
Anyone for T?
The increasing demand for highly specialised skill sets in drug development Do employers prefer specialists or generalists? While many would answer ‘it depends’, the...
What’s the Outlook for MedTech in 2019? Key Challenges and Opportunities
This is a complex time for the MedTech industry, with many challenges and opportunities ahead. Innovative technologies are constantly evolving, and we’re seeing increasing...
Making the leap into self-employment? Don’t be an interim lemming
Deciding to work for yourself is a big leap of faith and varies considerably from the well-trodden path of employment. So, it pays to...
JPM 2019 |The fundamentals remain strong despite the doubters
I’ve taken longer than usual to write my JPM blog this year. It was a week when there was such a division of opinion...
RSA Viewpoint | 2019 Outlook
Smart thinking can overcome talent shortages in 2019 As we leave 2018, we’re living through fast growing surge of change, to which the Life...
RSA Viewpoint | Why we should stop talking about Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives
We know the life sciences sector desperately needs diversity across the board. The industry is facing a demographic time bomb: many of the current...
Launching your first medical product in Europe? How not to fail at the first step
So, you have your first product close to launch or are even on the market in the U.S. You’re planning to take it to...
AMRC | HR Benchmarking Report
In May 2018, the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) circulated a survey of 50 questions to member charity CEOs and formal representatives. The...
Brexit’s Uncertainty Principle
While the minutiae of the possible upcoming permutations for drug supply depending on various Brexit outcomes have been written about elsewhere, less thought has been...
Bringing fresh talent into the Alzheimer’s space
It’s more than 15 years since the pharmaceutical industry succeeded in launching a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, over 99% of...
Pharmafile | The Value of Measuring Board Performance
Nick Stephens of The RSA Group discusses the importance of stopping to quantify the effectiveness of board members within life sciences, and offers guidance...
Employers Using Social Media More and More to Screen Candidates
According to a new CareerBuilder survey, 70 percent of employers use social media to screen candidates before hiring, up from 60 percent just two...
Recruitment International | Becoming GDPR-ready
Nick Stephens, executive chairman at The RSA Group, discusses how the company became GDPR- ready before May 2018 and reveals the role AI is...
Executive Interims: A creative talent solution for medtech
After attending two recent medtech industry meetings, I was struck by the scale of the two opposing forces that the sector is currently experiencing....
Solving the life sciences talent puzzle in Asia
Living and working in the Asia-Pacific region for the past 7 years has given me a close-up view of the fast growth of its...
Who guards the Guards in life science companies?
This isn’t a new question; it’s been asked by every civilisation, from the Greeks on holding people in power to account, and the Romans...
Outlook: Medtech 2030
Having travelled in Europe in the last few weeks meeting clients and candidates, I wanted to share some reflections with you linked to one...
Swiss Biotech Day 2018: Themes, trends and thoughts
Last week I attended the Swiss BioTech Annual Meeting and their 20th Anniversary. The life sciences industry is facing a fascinating new era, and...
Where are all the medtech medics?
For many years now there has been a clear path for medical professionals who move from education to working in the pharmaceutical industry, both...
Finding talent for late stage neuroscience drug development
At a recent OBN/One Nucleus BioTuesday focusing on neurodegenerative diseases, I heard again the extent of the challenge faced by scientists wanting to develop...
Efficient engagement with executive search
When looking for a new role, you’ll have plenty of questions for a potential new employer. Ahead of any interview, you’ll do your due...
Lateral thinking for oncology leadership
The rapid growth in immuno-oncology therapeutics is causing talent headaches for the pharma industry Patients are already benefitting from pharma’s success in developing new...
New talent needed for a new era of market access in the medtech industry
The last decade has seen the unprecedented growth of innovative and improved medical technologies. In turn, this has led to the development of a...
RSA Talent Equity® | 2nd Annual Successful Biotech Boards
This is the second of our annual Talent Equity® reports analysing the performance of biotech Boards, CEOs and Chairs in Europe and the USA....
Pharmaceutical Market Europe | Adding value to company leadership
For a forward-looking industry, the life science sector is remarkably conservative, rarely looking outside for talent and often trying to home-grow its skills. In...
RSA Viewpoint | Life sciences leadership in flux
Leadership and talent agendas in the life sciences are adapting to major external influences on the life sciences sector – economic, political, technological and...
The UK is a leader in life sciences. How can we make sure that it remains No.1 in Europe?
After spending a day in mid-October at this year’s excellent UK BioScience Forum, I was left with one particular thought ringing loud and clear...
How hiring the best leaders maximizes biotech exit values
We’ve seen some major exits in the biotech market in 2017. Early in the year, in Switzerland alone, Actelion was sold to Johnson &...
Recruitment International | The key to success in life sciences
Alex Bennett, CEO of The RSA Group, discusses the current opportunities and leadership challenges in the life sciences sector – and how to succeed...
RSA Viewpoint | The Successful Leader
There’s no doubt the leader’s job is becoming increasingly difficult in today’s environment. We’re experiencing unprecedented levels of change – societal, political, economic and...
Engaging with executive interims – time for a fresh perspective
Habits are hard to break and all too often we return to established patterns of behaviour rather than looking for innovative ways to do...
Diversity: A call to arms for Biotech Leaders and Investors
A panel discussion, led by The RSA Group, at the recent BIA UK CEO & Investor Forum discussed the demographic time bomb facing biotech boards...
The value of engaging Pharmacoeconomic executive interims
So what is Pharmacoeconomics? Pharmacoeconomics, is the “scientific discipline which evaluates the clinical, economic and humanistic aspects of pharmaceutical products, services, and programmes, as...
Pharmaceutical Market Europe | Massive Uncertainty is the new norm
There’s a lot of change coming: changes of practice, thinking and behaviour, all of which represent challenge and opportunity. Those leaders who recognise it...
Hiring international executives and the (true) costs of failure
A tale of two …points of view? “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of...
Building talent and saving lives
London was the setting last week for the 25th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Cellular Therapy. The huge increase of clinical trials...
RSA Talent Equity® | Biotech IPOs and Deals 2016
In our latest Talent Equity® Report, we examine the performance of biotech leaders whose companies IPO’d or were active in deal-making in 2016. Leaders...
A Report from BIO-Europe Spring 2017
The blue skies and balmy weather of Barcelona were the perfect backdrop for BIO-Europe Spring this year. The 2,400 biotech pros at the conference...
Behavioural profiling in the search for medical affairs professionals
In pharmaceutical companies, medical affairs professionals play a vital yet complex role: acting as a bridge between the medical and commercial groups, and as...
Report from J.P. Morgan 2017
So, that’s the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference done for another year. For just a few highly energised days it felt as if nearly every...
A report from the 2018 J.P.Morgan Healthcare Conference
A quiet JPM18? I don’t think so. One thing I learned at JPM18 was that journalists see the world differently to me. There were...
Shaping up for growth in a world of change
The 34th FT Global Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Conference brought together life science and pharma companies as well as emerging new players. Discussions centered on industry challenges,...
Change for the better
Talent is more global now than ever. In light of the recent Brexit vote and the fact that demand for talent in Europe is...
A year of breakthroughs at ESMO as the big data revolution transforms cancer research talent
ESMO, Europe’s most important cancer congress concluded this week with a record breaking attendance of over 20,000 people. The buzz, not for the first...
Building a floating city on the Great Lake of data: Pharma’s 2016 challenge
The life sciences industry is a knowledge business. The data from scientific research, drug development, billions of interactions with customers and compliance with regulations...
Interim leaders are not ‘temps’ – choose wisely and reap the rewards
We’re all familiar with the concept – there’s an absence at work and we need some cover. A quick Google search and we send...
LEAP HR Life Sciences: HR with Impact and Agile Biotechs
Last week RSA attended LEAP HR: Life Sciences in Boston, Massachusetts. From past experience we were expecting a high value event and we were not disappointed....
Labelling of an Interim (or consultant; or freelancer)
I am often asked what defines an Executive Interim and the online community often seeks to debate this subject too. Veterans in the field...
What next for EU and UK biotech boards?
In light of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, it’s worth revisiting our recent Talent Equity® report on what makes successful biotech boards. The question...
Change in regulatory environment and the impact on talent
A view from the TOPRA Summit I approached the first TOPRA Summit in London at the end of May knowing that the world of healthcare...
Ipsen choose RSA Group as strategic partner for executive talent acquisition in Europe
We have been selected by Ipsen, one of the world’s leading innovators in patient care, as their chosen strategic partner in Europe for executive...
CRO talent: supplying scientific expertise
It’s hard to believe the speed of change in the preclinical CRO – pharma co. relationship over the recent years. Increasingly, preclinical contract research...
Consumer health – recruiting talent into a changing market
Fuelled by new technology and growing customer demand, consumer healthcare is burgeoning. Five-year forecasts predict growth of nearly 50% for the sector, up from...
Serving a changing market: agile approaches to modern problems
The life sciences industry is in a state of flux. An avalanche of change demands a radical response, redefining and (potentially) confusing the roles...
9th Annual European Life Science CEO Forum: the Impact on Talent: Advice to Clients
The ‘Davos’ of life sciences has been and gone for another year and the formal discussions focused on the evolving finance and M&A market,...
Future Talent Hard Data and Soft Skills
Imagine 1000 HR professionals in a theatre. Everyone with work and people challenges, mobile phones and email to answer. Cue Martine Wright, a survivor...
New thinkers needed – pharma supply chain management has entered a new world
Once seen as a less glamorous area of the pharma industry, supply chain management (SCM) is fast gaining a much higher profile. The talent...
Let’s face facts: it’s a candidate market for senior talent across life sciences
Tens of thousands of pharma jobs have been lost in recent years. So can smaller companies now select at leisure from an overflowing pool...
Biotech & Money, London, 2016
The meeting focused on harnessing the value of innovation and new models for collaboration. No small task. It had a strong UK focus but...
What Makes Successful Biotech Boards?
This report looks forensically at correlations between company performance and Board composition. From this we draw out lessons that can be learned from the...
New study looks at the impact of boards on biotech company performance
UK companies performing less well than those in mainland Europe RSA has published the latest of its Talent Equity® reports, an analysis of biotech company...
Report from JP Morgan 2016
The ‘Salmon Run’ of the life sciences is over for another year. Here are some take home messages. Public funding is uncertain but institutional investor coffers are full The withdrawal...
Talent equity is the long term value of biotech
Valuation of IP is familiar to every investor in the biotech sector and careful due diligence is essential before putting money at risk. We...
RSA’s Chris Molloy and Nick Stephens speaking at the Pharma Integrates Conferences – November 2015
Chris Molloy talks about the future of ‘big data’ in Pharma (INSERT VIDEO) Nick Stephens on ‘The people ingredient: mapping Pharma’s future’ (INSERT...
Talent: the key to biotech value creation
Everyone’s happy to talk about how important talent is to tech and life sciences companies but when it comes to valuation the financial community...
Avoid firing through better hiring
Luke Johnson, the serial entrepreneur and investor made a critical insight in his recent column in the Sunday Times. He wrote about how difficult and costly it...
Specialised Skills and Total Focus Driving Orphan Growth
By Chris Molloy, CEO of RSA, the world’s largest Talent Consultancy dedicated to the life sciences industry. It’s easy to be patient-focused when you’re...
Due diligence needed in exec hiring: the difference between success and failure
We recently showed the cost of making bad senior hires, with 48% going wrong in the first 18 months. To remind you of the enormity of...
Hiring new talent – it pays to be diligent
Companies hire new senior talent to fuel corporate success. Too often it proves to be an expensive failure. New data from Leadership IQ1 across...
Transformational leadership for Singapore health initiative
Investment in oral health The 23rd September 2015 saw the ground breaking for a new Institute of Oral Health in Singapore. We believe that this...
The executive interim community calls for a ‘conscious coupling’ of RPOs and interims specialists
A voice of choice is emerging from the executive interim community and this is as encouraging as it is concerning. Online forums are rife...
It’s a seller’s market
How the world has changed Twelve months’ ago the life sciences executive search market was driven by employers, the market was recovering from three...
Lowering the business risk of hiring senior talent
Hiring the wrong people into senior positions is a big financial and reputational risk. Recent research shows that 48% of new hires fail within...
New management talent needed to support biotech renaissance
2014 saw VCs plough $6.55bn into the biotech sector, with Europe alone seeing a year-on-year increase of $1.24bn. The figures tell a story of...
Talent: The Key to Biotech Value Creation
By Chris Molloy, CEO of RSA and first published in EPC in September 2015 and posted to the RSA website on 03.09.2015. Without exceptional...
RSA Launches ‘RSA Talent Equity Reports’
Reports highlight importance of People & Skills as a vital addition to Assets & Investments. RSA, the leading global Life Sciences Executive Search and...
Life Sciences in Asia: is the Tiger an Endangered Species?
Published in Recruitment International Asia in April 2015. The story of Western expansion into the Life Sciences in Asia has been one of rapid...
What’s Wrong with the Search Consultant-Client Relationship? Who is in Charge Here?
This article by Chris Molloy, CEO of RSA, first appeared on Recruitment International on 3rd February 2015. I just heard a senior exec say...
The Hunt for Talent in Asia: Mind the (Generation) Gap
As more global life sciences firms see their Asian businesses skyrocket, the search for strong, internationally savvy talent in Asia-Pacific has never been more...
Life science leaders see potential in coalition: but will it do enough to support UK talent?
Life science leaders believe the Coalition Government will improve the business environment in their sector, but remain downbeat about the UK’s ability to compete...
Appointing the Right General Manager for China
With substantial growth predicted in the life sciences industry, appointing the right General Manager (GM) in China has never been more important. But where...
Staying ahead in the competitive job market for high tech industries
With the economy picking up and mid-year bonuses being distributed, many people may now be considering moving onto greener pastures. The high technology industry...
The Human Remains
With my legal training, business career and over 15 years in senior level executive search my ears have been tuned to listen to the...
Singapore is a top destination for biomedical sciences careers
Latest survey by RSA Singapore reveals Singapore is a top destination within the region for a biomedical sciences career. RSA Singapore has revealed results...
Talent acquisition and M&As
Chris Molloy, CEO at RSA, believes that only by placing talent acquisition at the heart of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) can the maximum value...
Offered a Non-Exec Director Role? Ask These Questions Before You Accept
First published in Business Today Are non-exec directorships as good as they sound? Nick Stephens, executive chairman of life sciences specialist RSA Group, explains...
Diversity in Pharma: Why Risk Minimisation’ Has it all Wrong
The lack of women on pharma boards is well-known, so why are companies still slow to balance the genders? Nick Stephens tells us the...
RSA Client Eran Bashan, CEO of Hygieia Talks at TED About Disruptive Inventions: how to get them adopted and why horses are useful
Touch here to watch the video on Youtube.
Life sciences boards are recruiting more women, but lack of robust talent management slows progress towards greater diversity
RSA’s biannual survey of non-executive directors (NEDs) in the global life sciences industry finds industry values experience, networking and commercial acumen in its board...
The Interim Exec Community calls for a ‘Conscious Coupling’ of RPOs and Interims Specialists
Pharmaceutical companies have widely adopted strategies to outsource elements of their business operations, as part of an ongoing drive to deliver a more flexible...
RSA optimistic as demand for interim managers increases by 15 percentage points
RSA, the leading global Life Sciences Executive Search and Interim Management specialist, welcomed survey results from the Interim Management Association (IMA) which revealed that...
Board Level
Nick Stephens examines the power of the board. The sun is shining, investors are investing and the life sciences sector is going through an...
Trusted personal networks to make a comeback
RSA CEO Chris Molloy says senior executives are going dark on social media. RSA, the leading global Life Sciences Executive Search and Interim Management...
What’s trending in life sciences #recruitment
The life sciences industry is undergoing seismic change. Planning for the future is crucial at any stage, but right now it is everything. Companies...
Talent Pool
The pace of change and the many requirements affecting all those working in the life sciences industry have never been higher, particularly with regards...
The role and impact of HR in M&A
Much has been said and written about the objectives and success rate of mergers and acquisitions. A 2000 KPMG study showed that, across industries,...
A Q&A session Dafydd Wright was involved with for the IMA
Dafydd Wright is a highly regarded Interim Management specialist in the pharmaceuticals and life science sectors. His approach is to constantly challenge both himself...
Opening the door to tomorrow’s top talent
In today’s highly competitive life sciences industry, a critical success factor for executives is to fully understand the talent they have within their business...
Industry failing to actively manage talent, survey finds.
Worrying statistics released today has revealed that 72 per cent of organisations are operating without an active strategy in place. This is the headline...
Developing a long term talent plan
In today’s highly competitive Life Sciences industry, a critical success factor for executives is to fully understand the talent they have within their business...
Shifting Sands
Although the contract services sector has been recovering over the last few years, contract manufacturing organisations haven’t been so lucky. The answer is far...
Glass Ceiling: Addressing the Boardroom Gender Gap
The issue of gender balance on UK boards has moved quickly up the business agenda following last year’s publication of Lord Davies’ Women on...
Betting Big
As China looks to become a leader in the pharma scene, what should be done differently to create an R&D site culture that incentivises...
Leaders Say UK Life Science Needs Stronger Support
Leaders in the UK life sciences industry have shown their concern about the UK’s position as a centre for global pharmaceutical research and development....
Life sciences firms failing to manage talent
Over three-quarters of life sciences executives admit to not having a talent management strategy, despite 90% identifying it as a top priority, according to...
Hiring and firing is a different business in the US
What are the differences between executive search in the UK and US? Wherever the client office is, every search has to balance quality, cost...
Betting big on research in China
For eighteen out of the last twenty centuries, China has stood as the world’s most innovative and largest economy – only to have been...
Outsourcing roles develop – Career opportunities in next-generation contractor partnerships
The past few years have seen a significant shift in the depth and type of relationships that the pharma industry has with its third-party...
Financial Times – Executive Appointments: Thursday 17th March 2011
“Your Questions Answered – How can we help staff when we switch location?” In this week’s Executive Appointments supplement, Gill Plimmer tackled the issue...
Busting the international recruitment myths
International recruitment involves searching, hiring and deploying people to another location for a position where they can perform effectively. It is usually a complex...
Helping Archimedes Pharma to grow
Today’s Financial Times features a supplement dedicated to the issue of working in interim management. The supplement features a specific case study, written by...
RSA survey highlights the need to revisit the business partnership with HR
A new survey of nearly 400 life sciences executives found that over 90% identify talent management as a key priority for 2010. However, only...