Biotech executive search firms · life sciences and pharmaceutical
Biotech executive search firms: 9 firms, profiled from each firm’s own site — not a ranking. We are one of the firms and say so: Fractional Quest, the publisher, is listed first and marked as ours.
Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 23 October 2026 · 12 sources linked below
Fractional seats our founder has held
Climatise
One Up Productions
CK DeltaIn the press
The agency
Every claim on a card links to the page that states it; anything a firm does not publish about itself is left out. If you would rather brief one firm, we come back with a shortlist of 3–5, each with rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
Biotech executive search firms appoint chief executives, chief medical and scientific officers, CFOs and board members for biotech, pharmaceutical and medtech companies. Most are boutiques or practices that work only in life sciences, because the candidate pool turns on scientific, clinical and regulatory experience a generalist firm may not test for.
This page lists life sciences and pharmaceutical executive search firms. Biotech executive recruitment covers fractional and interim leaders for biotech companies.
The firms below are life sciences executive search firms, profiles rather than a ranking: no firm here publishes the audited outcomes a league table would need, and we are one of the firms.
The firms
Numbers show position on this page — they are not a ranking. Every fact on a card comes from that firm’s own site, linked; anything a firm does not publish about itself is left out.
Independence. Fractional Quest takes no referral fees from any firm listed, and none of them is a partner or client. Firm sites change; each claim is as read on 23 October 2026.
Three seats
Three fractional seats our founder has held. Real companies, named with their permission; we state only what the seat covered.
Fractional seats our founder has held
ClimatiseFractional · go-to-marketA carbon-reporting software company that needed go-to-market leadership before a full-time hire.
One Up ProductionsFractional · go-to-marketA production company that needed both the go-to-market strategy and its execution.
CK DeltaFractional · technologyTechnology work: tech stack implementation.
These are seats our founder has held, not placements.
The scope
The fee basis, in writing. Retained search firms are paid in staged instalments whatever the outcome, and work exclusively; contingent recruiters are paid only if their candidate is hired, often non-exclusively; interim and fractional providers usually charge through the day rate or a retainer. Ask for the basis and when each payment falls due, in writing. We publish no fees: ours are agreed in writing per engagement.
Who vets, and how. Ask who runs the search day to day — at a retained firm, the partner who wins the brief is not always the person who calls candidates — and what each candidate is tested on beyond the CV. Our five-stage vetting is published.
What comes back. Named candidates with a rate or salary, availability and an IR35 position — or a database, a longlist or a marketplace to browse? Ours is a shortlist of 3–5.
IR35 on every brief. For an interim or fractional executive working through their own company, the off-payroll rules decide how the engagement is taxed, and a medium or large client makes the status determination (HMRC). Ask for the IR35 position on the brief, not after the contract.
Retained, contingent or day rate. Retained search for a permanent, board-level appointment; contingency for a role below the board with many candidates; interim for full-time cover for a fixed term; fractional for senior judgement on part of the week.
The process
Six steps, one accountable person at each. We don’t promise a shortlist by a date; the weeks below are what a well-scoped brief usually takes.
Against the alternatives
The firms on this page work in one or more of these models. Ask which one a firm proposes for your brief.
| Fractional Quest (the publisher) | Retained search firm | Contingent recruiter | Interim provider | Fractional provider | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How it is paid | Agreed in writing per engagement | Staged instalments, whatever the outcome | Only if its candidate is hired | Usually through the day rate | A retainer or day rate, or a placement fee |
| Exclusivity | One brief, one shortlist | Exclusive to one firm | Usually non-exclusive | Varies | Varies |
| Engagements | Fractional, interim, part-time, permanent | Permanent, sometimes interim | Mostly permanent | Full-time for a fixed term | Part of the week, ongoing |
| What comes back | A shortlist of 3–5, each with rate, availability and IR35 position | A shortlist from a researched market map | CVs of available candidates | Available interims matched to the brief | A matched leader, or a marketplace to browse |
| Best when | You want options across engagement shapes | A permanent, board-level appointment | A role below the board with many candidates | The seat is empty or a change needs leading now | You need senior judgement, not five days |
Against the alternatives
What each firm states about itself on its own site. Where a firm does not state something, we say so rather than fill it in.
| Type | Engagements it states | Where it states it is based | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fractional Quest | The publisher | Fractional; interim; part-time; permanent | Registered in Covent Garden, London |
| Biopharm Search | Life sciences search | Permanent search | Not stated on the pages we read |
| Precision Biosearch | Drug discovery search · London | Permanent search | London (Trinity Square) |
| Herring Partners | Life sciences search · Cambridge | Permanent search; NEDs | Cambridge head office |
| PartnerWise | Retained life sciences search | Permanent (retained); interim and fractional | Harrogate and London |
| Cpl Executive Partners | Life sciences search · interim | Permanent search; interim | Not stated on the pages we read |
| Barrington James — Board & Executive Partners | Life sciences search | Permanent search | Not stated on the pages we read |
| Tamarind Executive Search | Pharma search · Cambridge | Permanent search | Cambridge HQ |
| Exec Capital | Executive search | Permanent; interim; fractional | Not stated on the pages we read |
The decision
Match the firm to the hire, not the other way round.
Vetting
Five stages before anyone reaches a shortlist of three to five.
The full process is on how we vet.
which kind of firm
The biotech executive search firms above work in the models set out in the comparison table — retained search, contingent recruitment, interim provision and fractional provision — and several work in more than one. Start with the hire: permanent or a phase, board level or below, five days or part of the week. Then ask each firm which model it proposes for your brief, and why.
If you would rather brief one firm for every shape of the seat, book a call: we recruit fractional, interim, part-time and permanent executives, and the brief decides the shape.
Whichever you brief, the same law applies: the Employment Agencies Act and the Conduct Regulations cover executive search consultants as well as agencies, a firm must not charge a candidate for finding them work, and the fee you pay is a commercial agreement between you and the firm (gov.uk guidance on the Conduct Regulations).
method
Own-site facts only. Each firm is profiled from its own website, read on 23 October 2026, or from a primary register such as Companies House; every claim links to the page that states it. We do not repeat a firm’s fees, guarantees, client names or self-descriptions such as “leading” or “number one”.
Not a ranking. Numbers show position on the page. No firm here publishes the audited outcomes a ranking would need, and we are one of the firms — listed first because the page is ours.
Independence. Fractional Quest takes no referral fees from any firm listed, and none of them is a partner or client. Other biotech executive search firms exist; we add a firm only when its own site gives us facts to state.
The right route
Three taps. Say how much senior work there is, for how long, and whether it is one leader or a run of hires; the tool names the route.
A hiring plan to work through below the leadership team is a talent-acquisition job: a recruiter inside your business for part of the week, paid for their time. We don’t supply them; the page below explains the role.
Independent oversight and constructive challenge, not executive direction. We recruit NEDs through the same brief process.
Less than a day a week of senior input is advisory. Buy it as a scoped engagement; when it grows into a day or more, brief us for a fractional executive.
Four or five days for a fixed period is interim: cover for a departure, a turnaround or a transaction. The IIM puts the UK average at £907 a day and ten months.
Four or five days of work, ongoing, is a full-time seat. We recruit permanent executives through the same brief process.
Senior judgement for part of the week: a fractional CFO, CTO, CMO or COO on one to three days. We come back with a shortlist of three to five, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
We recruit executives. We don’t supply embedded fractional recruiters; where that is the right route, the tool says so.
Clients
From a company where our founder has held a fractional seat. Name and logo given with the client’s permission.
“Excellent fractional support for building both our go-to-market strategy and our execution.”
Charlie AndersonDirector, One Up ProductionsWhere we are
Where we are
Fractional Quest Ltd, registered in England and Wales, no. 17322105. This is our registered office; meetings are by appointment, and most briefs start on a 15-minute call.
Questions
Biotech executive search firms appoint chief executives, chief medical and scientific officers, CFOs and board members for biotech, pharmaceutical and medtech companies. Most are boutiques or practices that work only in life sciences, because the candidate pool turns on scientific, clinical and regulatory experience a generalist firm may not test for.
From firms whose own sites describe the service, profiled only from what each publishes about itself, each claim linked. It is not a ranking: no firm publishes the outcomes a ranking would need, and we are one of the firms, listed first and marked as the publisher.
Retained search firms are paid in staged instalments whatever the outcome; contingent recruiters only if their candidate is hired; interim and fractional providers usually through the day rate or a retainer. None of the firms on this page is profiled on its fees. Ask any firm for the fee basis in writing. Ours is agreed in writing per engagement.
Ask each firm who runs the search day to day and what each candidate is tested on. We put every candidate through five-stage vetting — pedigree screen, mandate fit, references we take ourselves, shortlist and kick-off — and send a shortlist of 3–5, each with rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
For scientific, clinical and regulatory seats a specialist is usually the better route, because assessing the candidate turns on the science. For finance, people or operations seats a generalist or function specialist can work, provided it understands milestone-driven funding.
Some do: Cpl Executive Partners describes an Executive Interim division, and PartnerWise describes an Interim & Fractional Leadership practice. We recruit interim and fractional executives as well as permanent ones.
We are one of the firms on this page, and its publisher. We recruit fractional, interim and permanent executives, including for biotech and life sciences companies; we are not a life sciences specialist. We take no referral fees from any firm listed.
Sources
The primary publisher for each number, linked. Where a figure is our own arithmetic, the page says so where it appears.
