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.