The demand for roles supporting drug launches has increased, with a 38% year-over-year rise in sales, marketing, and medical affairs jobs posted last month on BioSpace, according to job posting data released on Jul. 23. The trend was discussed during the "From Clinical to Commercial: Talent Strategies for Biopharma Growth" webinar hosted by BioSpace and Amplity.
Margaret Blackwell, global head of talent acquisition and recruiting services at Amplity, said that finding the right commercial talent can be challenging due to high demand. "Candidates are evaluating employers as much as employers are evaluating the candidates," Blackwell said. She added that successful employers respect candidates' time and avoid delays in the hiring process to prevent losing prospective hires.
Kerry Need, a commercial and clinical development leader formerly with Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Seagen, said that changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic have made it harder to fill commercial roles. He explained that early-career professionals have matured into leadership positions but are less willing to relocate to larger cities.
Michael Campbell, chief commercial officer at Eyepoint, said company dynamics influence when and how teams should be built out. For small or medium-sized biopharma companies preparing for product launches after several years without commercialization experience, he emphasized the importance of making key hires early in the process. "I don’t have the luxury to not have everything in place at launch to be successful," Campbell said.
Panelists agreed that companies seek both hard and soft skills when building their teams. Campbell highlighted collaboration skills while Need looked for initiative among candidates: "I want fire in the belly, that intrinsic motivation," Need said. In oncology specifically, Blackwell noted a need for integrity alongside scientific understanding.
Retention remains an issue as competitors often poach employees from each other’s teams—especially in oncology and rare disease sectors—according to Blackwell. To address this challenge, Campbell advised creating an environment where employees feel valued: "It’s not that you’re not going to have turnover, but you do reduce your retention risk for sure." Need concluded by emphasizing investment in people: "People are our most valuable asset... Invest in your people like you do in the rest of your business."
