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R&D Leadership Transformation, Large-Cap MedTech Company
THE CHALLENGE
Following our successful placement of a VP of R&D for one of their business units, this Fortune 500 MedTech company re-engaged us to elevate the next tier of R&D leadership.
Despite strong double-digit growth, the business was struggling with delayed, over-budget programs and a lack of breakthrough innovation. Quality issues persisted in parts of the portfolio, while other product lines were undergoing digital transformation.
We were hired to place three new leaders reporting into the VP – Director of Product Development, Director of Software Engineering, and Director of the PMO. Each search had its own challenges, but had the following difficulties in common:
- Strict location requirement in a high-cost area of the country
- End-to-end Class III medical device product development experience was a must
- Tight compensation range with no flexibility on title
THE SOLUTION
To help our client solve this problem and upgrade their R&D leadership team, we first needed to gain a deep understanding of the business, their products, their key objectives, major challenges, and more. Gathering this information was vital for three main reasons:
- It allowed us to compare their situation to circumstances we’d experienced with other clients previously, and make recommendations on how to think about ideal, but realistic, candidate profiles.
- It informed where we would look for the right talent, leveraging our understanding of which MedTech companies had already gone through a similar transformation and/or possessed the talent our client required.
- It allowed us to craft a compelling and honest story about the opportunity that attracted the best talent in the market.
Given the strict constraints on location, compensation, and title, we agreed with our client on the “must have’s” for the three roles: two technical and behavioral skills, each.
We targeted a range of companies (or business units) from those with a track-record of consistent innovation in Class III implantables, to those known for delivering best-in-class cloud-native, medical-grade software, to companies whose brand of leadership matched what our client needed.
Finally, we positioned the opportunity as a rare chance to revitalize a once-innovative business, still achieving high growth, but in need of bold R&D leaders to restore functional excellence and drive breakthrough innovations.
THE RESULT
In the end, this strategy enabled us to fill each of these positions in under 60 days. Our client was able to hire:
- Director of Product Development from one of the most highly regarded cardiovascular implants companies in the world
- Director of Software Engineering from arguably the most innovative connected wearables business in MedTech
- Director of PMO who married modern project management expertise with outstanding interpersonal skills necessary to align cross-functional teams
The impact
Together with the previous placement of the VP R&D, we completely transformed the R&D leadership of this business and positioned them to get back on track. Additionally, we gave the company peace of mind that they now had a bench full of strong potential successors for future VP-level openings.
