Talent trends in UK pharma: What are CDMOs looking for?

With each passing year, UK pharmaceutical companies are outsourcing a greater share of their processes to contract manufacturing and contract development manufacturing organisations (CMOs and CDMOs). This trend has only accelerated in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading CMOs and CDMOs to invest heavily in top talent. As well as the pandemic, added pressure for speed comes from growing cost pressures, the expansion of the small molecule drug discovery market and increasing active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) complexities. To keep pace with client demand, contract organisations are increasingly setting their sights on top researchers, chemists and development professionals.

Clients demand increased speed to market

The pandemic has placed enormous pressure on CMOs and CDMOs to accelerate the development-to-production process. Shorter deadlines have led pharmaceutical companies to stop relying on multiple external parties, instead favouring suppliers who are able to control the end to end development and manufacturing processes. Multiple suppliers make processes vulnerable to uncontrollable delays, pushing pharmaceutical companies to opt for one-stop shop services. 

CDMOs work across the various stages from pre-formulation and formulation development, through to clinical trials and commercial production. Each CDMO wants to hire the best talent to help get it right the first time around, and to work with industry leaders to help boost their service sales. This has created an incredibly competitive job market, in which professionals frequently move from pharmaceutical companies to contract organisations or from CDMO to CDMO. As service providers, CMOs and CDMOs attract and retain industry leading talent by offering candidates greater flexibility and more competitive salaries. This in turn typically feeds through to superior service solutions for new and existing clients. 

As client demand in the pharma sector continues to drive speed to market, one other key space to watch is the growing adoption of artificial intelligence technology. AI has enormous application across research and development, manufacturing, clinical trials, and more; it has also been leveraged effectively in the race to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. We are likely to see more companies prioritising effective use of AI to produce better quality products, faster

However, a shortage of top talent in the AI space will continue to pose a challenge, not just in the UK but across the world. As Subroto Mukherjee, GSK Consumer’s Head of Innovation and Emerging Technology for the Americas, noted in a recent interview with Forbes: “Getting the right resource and with the right background is very challenging. We have a limited data science-skilled pool in the market, which delays hiring and getting them up to speed.”

An increasingly competitive landscape

Client satisfaction has been key to the level of success CMOs and CDMOs have enjoyed in recent years. The knock-on effect of this is that contract organisations are experiencing continuous pressure from competitors, who aim to develop services which are better priced, specialised, one-stop shop, or which can be delivered within preferrable timelines. The task of CMOs and CDMOs is to strike a balance between remaining competitive, and maintaining the quality of their products, especially where faster timelines are concerned. To do this, companies need to be able to attract the right talent, and quickly. 

Attracting and retaining top talent is an ongoing challenge for all CMOs and CDMO. The stakes are high: failure either to hire for new projects, or to retain the staff driving success on those projects, could lead to delays, damaging company reputations, profits, and client relationships. 
Moreover, the finalisation of Brexit has led many CMOs and CDMOs to open new sites both in the UK and across the EU, with the goal of minimising disruption to the industry, creating a fresh need for top talent. Contract organisations often recruit staff at these new sites by outsourcing their hiring processes to specialist recruitment agencies. They are also investing in better talent retention through enhanced benefit packages and longer-term incentives. 

Recruiting for long-term success

Attracting top pharma talent is challenging, due to fierce competition and limited candidate pools, particularly when hiring specialist skill sets. There are many strategies which are effective at driving superior hiring outcomes, however, one of which is to partner with expert agencies. At Michael Page Life Sciences, we market-map relevant talent to develop a comprehensive competitor analysis, then work closely with our clients to select the perfect candidates. In our experience, flexibility is often the key to success, while overly rigid processes can prevent even the best contract organisations from hiring talent within the necessary project timelines, particularly at senior levels.

CMOs and CDMOs typically find it challenging to attract senior candidates with at least 4-5 years’ proven experience. This profile is, after all, essential to all contract organisations, who consequently work hard to retain those employees. To overcome this challenge, it can be helpful to expand hiring remits across the globe, sponsoring candidates where necessary.
Candidates looking for roles at a CMO or CDMO would be well advised to develop a deep understanding of other top candidates looking for the same positions, as this will provide a benchmark for your career. Are you progressing in the way you need to? Are you being paid your true market value? Is there a role out there for which your skillset would make you the perfect candidate? Be sure to share this information with your recruitment partners so that they can match you to the right roles faster. 

Meanwhile, companies looking for top talent should work hard to get their hires right the first time: positions which lie open for long periods of time create problems internally and are often perceived by candidates as a red flag. Hiring the right candidates on the first attempt requires considerable planning and a clearly defined strategy, however. Companies can often successfully expedite the process by enlisting expert support from specialist recruitment consultants who can provide insights into the talent landscape.

If you are interested in the learning more about trends in the global pharmaceutical sector, you can download our free comprehensive report. If you are looking for your next career move in pharma, or for top talent to help drive success at your company, you can reach out on the details below, or arrange an introductory conversation with one of our expert consultants. 

Emma Adams, Business Director for Healthcare and Life Sciences, Michael Page
Email: emmaadams@michaelpage.com