Compass fills life sciences roles through a six-step recruitment process: strategic intake, AI-powered sourcing and screening, curated matching, fast presentation with 48-hour feedback loops, offer strategy and onboarding, and ongoing partnership. That process is what enables us to guarantee full-time hires in six weeks and contract or fractional talent in two.
Each step in our hiring process has a clear owner, output and handoff. Here is what happens at every stage, what we need from you, and what you walk away with.
Within days of our first conversation, we meet with you and your decision-makers to understand the full scope of the role: the skills you need, the outcomes the role achieves, your company culture, and how success will be measured. Our recruiters have spent all or most of their careers in life sciences, so we're able to move through this conversation quickly.
What we need from you: time with the hiring manager and anyone involved with the decisions, a compensation range, and your view of what a strong first 90 days looks like.
What you get: a documented hiring strategy with milestones, which becomes the foundation for the guarantee.
We combine AI-driven sourcing tools with a curated talent pool built over years of relationships in biotech and pharma, across clinical, commercial, medical affairs, R&D and regulatory functions. That reach includes specialized, hard-to-find candidates who aren't actively applying anywhere.
What we need from you: sign-off on the target profile and any must-have or deal-breaker criteria.
What you get: visibility into your pipeline as we build it, plus ongoing market insight on availability and compensation.
We evaluate candidates against your objectives, assessing their functional expertise, leadership capability, communication style, and fit with your stage of growth. This process allows us to identify the strongest matches and build a curated shortlist, with clear reasoning behind each recommendation.
What we need from you: Any additional context or changes to your hiring priorities that may help refine our evaluation.
What you get: A carefully vetted shortlist of candidates selected for their ability to deliver meaningful impact in the role.
We present your shortlisted candidates to you for review, sharing the qualifications and insights behind each recommendation. From there, we coordinate interviews and request feedback within 48 hours to keep candidates engaged and the hiring process moving forward.
What we need from you: Interview availability and feedback within 48 hours of each conversation.
What you get: A coordinated, transparent interview process that maintains momentum and keeps you informed of each candidate's progress.
We build each offer on current life sciences compensation data, so you can close your top candidate quickly and competitively. We then support onboarding to make sure the new hire integrates well and the momentum carries through to day one.
What we need from you: offer approval and any flexibility on compensation or start date.
What you get: an accepted offer and a hire who is set up to succeed.
After the placement, we track retention outcomes, gather your feedback and refine your hiring playbook. Because we already know your team, its dynamics and its standards, each new search starts further ahead and moves faster.
What we need from you: a check-in after the hire settles in.
What you get: a recruiting partner whose knowledge of your organization grows with every search.
You don't need a polished job description to begin, and our Disciplined Intake Framework white paper explains why. These four things make the intake call faster and the search sharper:
The six steps apply for every engagement, from a single hire to a contingent workforce partnership. What changes is the clock and the type of talent.
| Hire type | Guaranteed timeline | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time and executive search | 6 weeks | Permanent commercial, medical affairs, clinical and scientific roles |
| Contract and contract to full time | 2 weeks | Defined, non-permanent roles, often at full-time hours |
| Fractional leadership | 2 weeks | Part-time senior leaders, including CMO and CCO roles, during clinical transitions or launch planning |
Not sure which model fits your organization? Read our guide to flexible hiring models, or see how the Compass flexible model compares to an RPO.
Our recent case studies show the quality of talent we've found, the speed at which we've placed them, and the outcomes those people have gone on to achieve for companies across the life sciences industry.
View case studiesTell us about the role, the team and the timeline. We'll leave the first conversation with a clear read on the profile you need and how fast we can deliver it.
Schedule your intake callCompass guarantees full-time hires in six weeks and contract or fractional talent in two weeks. Intake typically happens within days of the first call, and candidates are presented within days of the shortlist. Some searches move much faster. We recently filled a senior role in six days.
At Compass, the work follows six steps: strategic intake, sourcing and screening, curated matching, candidate presentation with structured feedback, offer strategy and onboarding, and ongoing partnership. You work with recruiters who specialize in life sciences from the first call through onboarding.
No. Many clients start with a conversation. Because our recruiters work only in life sciences, we can usually define the role, success criteria and target profile during intake, then document it as your hiring strategy.
You receive a curated shortlist of candidates who match the role, your team and your stage of growth. Each one comes with a clear assessment of fit and expected 90-day impact.
We ask for feedback within 48 hours after each interview. It keeps the process on schedule and keeps strong candidates engaged.
The six steps stay the same. Contract and fractional searches run on a two-week guarantee, and fractional leadership covers senior roles such as CMO and CCO.
