CDMO executive search

Retained search for contract development and manufacturing organizations. Site and technical operations, quality, MSAT and commercial leadership, from vice president to C‑suite.

Key roles we place ↓

Overview

What we do in CDMO

Metric Bio places senior and executive leaders across contract development and manufacturing organizations, from clinical-stage drug substance through commercial fill finish. Searches are retained and run from vice president through C-suite.

CDMO covers a lot of ground. A site director scaling a commercial biologics facility and a head of quality preparing for a first BLA come from different places and carry different risk, and we do not run those two searches the same way.

Roles

The roles we place in CDMO

Chief Executive Officer Chief executive appointments for CDMO organizations.
Chief Operating Officer Operational leadership across sites and manufacturing networks.
VP Business Development Commercial leadership selling capacity and technical capability.
VP Manufacturing Manufacturing leadership for single-site and multi-site networks.
VP Project Management Leadership of client project portfolios across development and manufacturing.
Site Director Full site accountability for operations, compliance and client delivery.
Head of Quality QA and QC leadership, from site quality heads to VP-level roles.
Director of MSAT Tech transfer and process robustness from clinical through commercial scale.
Head of Process Development Upstream and downstream development leadership.

+ many others

Within this sector

What CDMO covers

Biologics

Drug substance and drug product leadership, from clinical supply through commercial manufacture.

Cell & Gene Therapy

Advanced therapy operations where process and product are still being defined together.

Small Molecule & API

Active ingredient and finished dose leadership, including high potency and controlled substances.

Drug Product & Fill Finish

Sterile fill finish, packaging, and the supply leadership that keeps it running.

Market

Hiring in CDMO right now

Capacity has been the story in CDMO, and it is not finished. Onshoring, steady demand for biologics and sterile fill finish, and the supply chain risk the BIOSECURE Act put on boards’ agendas have pushed a lot of CDMOs into expansion at the same time. The effect on hiring is narrow. A small group of proven site and technical leaders is being approached again and again, often by three or four firms at once.

The shortage is worst where regulatory exposure is highest. Quality leadership ahead of a first approval, and MSAT leaders who have run tech transfer at commercial scale, are the two hardest briefs we get asked for. In both cases the market is small enough that our consultants can name most of it. That takes years to build and it cannot be put together on the day a role opens.

Most of the advantage in a hiring plan comes down to timing. Start a brief while the facility is still being committed and you reach the leaders who have done it before. Start it once the timeline is public and you are competing for the same handful of people as everyone else on that timeline.

Insights

CDMO leaders, in their own words

Ilya Koltover · Minaris Advanced Testing · CDMO Career Stories Podcast • 33 minutes Nicholas Shackley · Gannet BioChem · CDMO Career Stories Podcast Javier Lopez Belmonte · ROIS / Rovi Group · CDMO Career Stories Podcast

All episodes →

Common questions

CDMO hiring questions

The questions clients ask most often before briefing a CDMO search.

How long does a CDMO leadership search take?

We work to seven days to a shortlist on most briefs. How long the search takes after that depends on the role and on notice periods, so we set out a realistic timeline with you at the start.

Do you work retained or contingent?

Retained. Our CDMO consultants have spent years building relationships in this market, so most shortlists start from people we already know, and talent mapping, backed by our marketing reach, covers the rest of the market so nobody credible gets missed. Retained is what lets us give that kind of time to one brief.

Do you place below vice president?

Our focus is vice president and above, but we do take on director and senior manager searches where the role is critical, such as a lead process engineer, or a head of validation ahead of an inspection. What matters is whether it is a hire you cannot afford to get wrong.

Can you help if we are building a site from scratch?

Yes. Greenfield and expansion work is a big part of what we do. It usually starts with the site leadership hire, then builds the quality, technical and engineering layer underneath.