Beat the talent shortage in Regulatory Affairs

The Life Sciences industry has seen record levels of investment in recent years, largely due to the pandemic. More money means more new products, all of which require regulatory approval. The regulations themselves have had to evolve rapidly, too, creating a regulatory environment that is both thriving… and suffering from a talent shortage. Here’s how you can stay one step ahead of competitors in the race to hire top talent.

The Regulatory Affairs global market is expected to more than double in size, from $15 billion to $31 billion, between now and 2030. There is huge expected growth in medical devices in particular, although biologics and drugs also contribute to the upward trend. As far as specialties go, Oncology and Cardiology lead the sector by share, with Neurology and Immunology close behind. 

The regulatory bodies themselves are fighting to keep pace with technological and scientific innovation. Increasingly, patient engagement is changing as clinical trials take place remotely. But overall, the trends are positive - especially for patients. The industry is focussing on improving outcomes using P4 medicine (predictive, preventative, personalised and participatory), while new treatments, technologies and real-time data access are all pushing up standards.

The role of Regulatory Affairs professionals in Life Sciences

Regulatory professionals can, quite simply, make or break a Life Sciences organisation. Their work is a crucial element of every aspect of development, approval and distribution, and of course critical when thinking about inspections, audits and non-compliance issues. It is not an area in which you want to be short staffed.

However, the candidate profiles for this type of work reflect the technicality of the roles. Even at associate level, more than 50% of workers have seven or more years of experience, and more than half have post-grad degrees. 

An Young Taylor, PhD is a Scientific Consultant here at Kelly. She told us “In the world of Regulatory Affairs, it is in the field of medicines/vaccines that there is the greatest demand for specialists, with the least demand in medical devices. This is entirely understandable as the pandemic triggered a surge in requests for evaluation of vaccines to get them to market quickly. There are currently more than 1,600 vacancies in France, ranging from trainees to managers and in Germany there are over 2,000 vacancies, ranging from junior to Directors.

“The most in demand are Regulatory Affairs specialists with two to three years of experience, or Regulatory Affairs Managers with more than five years of experience. Due to the high demand for specialists and considering that these types of positions can be worked remotely, more and more candidates are choosing to freelance instead of working for a single company. Therefore, companies and recruiters must entice candidates with attractive contracts. It is also worth noting that finding freelancers for small contracts or short projects is what gives balance within the search for specialists.”

So how can you identify, attract and retain candidates with the skills and experience required when everyone else is trying to do the same?

Look beyond academic qualifications

Knowledge about regulatory frameworks, requirements, legislation and processes is a vital resource to retain in house. And often, science degrees confer the skills required to really handle this technical information.

Soft skills in high demand among these employees include detail orientation, communication, prioritisation, multitasking, organisational, report preparation and managing digital projects. You can see why post-grad qualifications are so common; they’re an excellent predictor of most of these skills. 

But science-focussed academic achievements are not the only predictor. 

Regulatory Affairs professionals are in high demand across a range of science and technology industries, so make sure you’re not narrowing your focus too much. Try looking for the specific skills, competencies and experience you need wherever it may be found, instead of only sourcing talent from your immediate industry. Some roles may demand that sector-specific knowledge, of course, but for many there will be transferable skills. Give the right candidate the right training and you may find that they thrive in a new environment!

We spoke to a successful RA Director in our network and she told us that she always looks out for the following things: total commitment to the role, huge respect for timelines and deadlines and someone who takes control of things. Accountability and organisation are both crucial. 

And remember, this is an area where job titles, companies and terminology vary a lot, so spell things out very simply in your job ads and person specs to make sure everyone who is suitable, knows it!

When to outsource?

Outsourcing is a great way to bring ready-baked talent into your organisation without the lengthy hiring process. It costs more, but - especially if you’re in a difficult spot - it can be well worth the extra cost per day to have someone come in and hit the ground running.

To make the most of contractors and avoid some of the pitfalls, try to apply the following rules:

• Use contractors for defined projects. A big move to a new system, overhauling content, etc.
• Have a back-up plan in place. Unforeseen situations, like the contractor moving on early or the project overrunning, are unfortunate, but not impossible to prepare for.
• Give your contractor a well-defined brief and set measurable goals to ensure they know what’s expected and you can check that it’s being delivered.
• Build and maintain relationships with a pool of contractors to help increase speed when sourcing them, and to reduce the risks you’d otherwise have when working with someone new.

While outsourcing is often used for technical specialist roles or projects, you can also bring in lower-level associates to support your team while you recruit the right people to fill the roles you need.

And finally, contractors are often tapped into a wide network of organisations and people. Why not consider extending your internal referral bonus to your contractors? If they recommend someone for a permanent role, a one-off bonus fee is a small price to pay.

How to look after the talent you’ve got

We’ve talked about how to retain and nurture your own internal talent pool before. Think of your own Regulatory Affairs professionals as your ‘advance access’ candidates when you’re looking to fill a role. If it’s done well, internal mobility offers a huge incentive to your team to stay and build their careers with you, while also reducing your recruitment and onboarding costs and helping you to retain that knowledge and expertise.

Other schemes, like cross-training and offering referral bonuses when you hire someone on an existing employee’s recommendation, can also help you bolster that internal talent pool further.

Working with specialist recruiters

Choosing a specialist Life Sciences recruitment partner, like Kelly Life Sciences, can help you reduce the time you spend on recruitment. Make the most of your partner’s network and experience by investing time into building a deep relationship where the consultants you work with know your company inside and out: your culture, your facilities, your unique requirements. 

The more they know, the more they can share with potential candidates - which in turn saves you time, and allows the candidate to come to a decision about whether to apply (and how to show themselves in the best light) as quickly as possible. So - before your competitors get to them!

Pandemic consequences gave the industry the opportunity to think outside of the box and change how things get done. We need to apply that same approach to recruiting talent!