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  • Publish Date: Posted about 1 year ago
  • Author: Jake Thomas

Next Phase coming to the rescue!

Executive Summary

Our client, a leading Clinical Research Organisation (CRO) had identified a Clinical Project Manager (CPM) to join their team on a permanent basis to manage a business-critical phase III study. On the Friday before the CPM was due to start on the Monday, the CPM called in to say they had decided to take a different offer and would not be starting as planned. The phase III study was with our clients most important customer, and they had already waited 3-months for the CPM to join, this was now a critical problem.

Recruitment Solution

Next Phase having not worked with this CRO before, understood the situation through our network and reached out to the Clinical Operations team to offer our solution.
On the Monday, Next Phase organised a meeting with the hiring team, understood the full requirements of the CPM role, including the previous experience, team culture, project requirements and expected timeframes. Initially the hiring team were adamant that they wanted to only consider candidates on a permanent hire basis, citing concerns over the cost of using a contractor and given the importance of the project & concerns over any future changes in the point of contact with their customer.
Given our previous experience of supporting clients in this specific situation, we highlighted an alternative approach – to ensure a CPM was in position quickly, we provided a range of 3 candidates on the Tuesday morning from our existing network of contractors. These candidates were available immediately, in the right location and with the extensive experience needed to pick-up the phase III trial on short-notice. We completed the full resourcing of the position within a single day.
The hiring team were very impressed with the calibre of candidates and spoke with all three during the Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. They identified one candidate specifically that was a great match for what they needed but were still reluctant to move forward with a contractor.
Understanding the concerns, we proposed the following solution:
  • Onboard the contractor with a 12-month contract to give their customer the longevity in point of contact, crucially though with the flexible to finish the contract early if a suitable permanent employee was identified.
  • Through outlining all the full costs in onboarding a permanent CPM (including the full benefits package, employers NI and ongoing costs), we were able to show that
  • the costs for onboarding a contractor over the 12-month period were actually less.
  • Using our dedicated talent team, we began the search to find a permanent CPM for the role and could manage any transition/handover timeframes directly given our
  • involvement from both sides.

Results

The hiring team moved forward with contractor option, and working with Next Phase’s dedicated contracts management team, onboarded the worker the following Monday who was able to pick up the business-critical study immediately. From Friday and their Clinical trial in jeopardy they received their suitable replacements within one working day and completed the full recruitment process including starting within one week – ensuring the trial proceeded as planned.
Next Phase provided 5 suitable candidates for the permanent CPM position that were all interviewed by the hiring team over the subsequent weeks. The client identified 2 suitable candidates they were willing to offer permanently, however were so impressed with the standard of work from the contractor already on the study that they decided to keep this person, who after the initial 12-month contract decided to transition into a permanent role with the CRO.

Conclusion

This case study highlights the value of working with a recruitment company who has an extensive network of high-calibre contractors who are ready to deploy at short-notice. At Next Phase we have worked hard over a number of years to be in a position to support clients with business-critical needs and have built up the broader expertise to also support with long-term project solutions.

Contact Information

Telephone: 01403 216216
Email: jobs@nextphaserecruitment.com
Website: https://www.nextphaserecruitment.com/