Executive Search Zurich

About our Zurich location

In Switzerland, DELTACON is based in Zurich and is headed up by our managing director, Thomas Heeger. As the face of Zurich Executive Search Services, he provides support to his Swiss and international clients for filling positions in executive and senior management as well as in recruiting the most suitable candidates for key positions in distinguished specialist areas and disciplines.

Clients of DELTACON Executive Search, Zurich, include world-renowned companies as well as hidden champions and the progenitors of future innovations which we will only be hearing about in the world of ‘tomorrow’.

Wirtschaftswoche - Beste Personalberater Executive Search 2022

On the basis of many years of management experience in the pharmaceutical, medical and diagnostic industries and proven expertise in a direct approach, applying excellent methodological expertise and tried-and-tested diagnostic tools, we at Zurich are able to find the TOP candidates best suited to your company. We have an outstanding network across our industries and supplement this pool of candidates with our Direct Search approach as well as intensive database searches. DELTACON stands for expertise in the industry, the highest levels of quality, reliability, and assurance for our clients. Our fulfilment rate is 98%, and we achieve this within just 6 to 8 weeks. It is these services that have led to us being recognised as the best Executive Search Consultancy in Germany in the ‘Executive Search’ area. You can place your trust in us.

Switzerland and Zurich rank amongst the most efficient and attractive economic locations in the world, and regularly take up the top positions in international rankings. There are countless reasons why companies from across all different sectors are established in Switzerland: innovative strength and technology, a liberal economic system, political stability and close ties with foreign markets, excellent education and health systems, first-rate infrastructure, high quality of life, as well as a competitive tax system. Many market-leaders on the world stage from different industries have established their global or regional headquarters here. Our focus areas include the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries. As can be seen in other sectors, digitisation and artificial intelligence are driving an acceleration in innovation in the fields of pharmaceutical and medical technologies. Switzerland has developed to become the leading industrial cluster in “Life Sciences” in recent years through new disciplines, such as health-tech and digital health, as well as innovations in diagnostics and gene therapy. A great many start-ups showing high levels of innovation are driving the market forwards. The labour market is correspondingly multicultural and diverse, and therefore particularly attractive for us as an Executive Search Consultancy firm for capturing the imagination of the most interesting candidates for our clients.

Advantages for you with DELTACON Executive Search Zurich

Industry and management experience

We speak your language; we understand your business and your expectations. All our Executive Search Consultants at DELTACON have countless years of management experience in their industries, have formed extensive networks, and can address top candidates on an equal footing. We work quickly, thoroughly, and reliably, ensuring absolute discretion and the very highest of quality standards. We ensure a very transparent recruitment process: week-to-week, you will know exactly where we are in the process – we guarantee honest updates on the current situation.

Methodological expertise

At DELTACON Executive Search Zurich, we apply our “PURE” diagnostic approach to measure the degree of consistency between the agreed target profile of our clients and the profiles of our candidates. We use state-of-the-art diagnostic instruments: DELTACON Profiling, Cultural Due Diligence, and evaluation of references. Our services include multiple-level and personal interviews, and we verify all candidate documents. In line with our PURE concept, we not only supply candidates from target companies, but also assess which of these candidates will be the best fit for the client.

Direct Search

More than 80% of all top candidates today need to be identified via a direct search, being actively and personally contacted by our Executive Search Consultants advising them on their next career step. We find the best candidates by creating a coordinated target-company list and identifying the most suitable candidates. Initial contact by qualified experts in tandem with skills-based interviews, supported by sophisticated diagnostic tools, mean we can regularly achieve excellent results: a silver platter offering you the best suited and most motivated candidates!

Do you have any questions about DELTACON Executive Search Zurich?

Would you like to find out more about executive search and personnel consulting?
Please feel free to contact us!

Thomas Heeger

Pharmaceutical Industry, Medical Technology and Diagnostics

+41 79 7863880 · heeger@deltacon.com

Key sectors of DELTACON Executive Search Zurichder Personalberatung Zürich

Executive Search Consulting in the pharmaceutical industry

For many years now, we at DELTACON Executive Search Zurich have been supervising ambitious executive search projects for our clients in the pharmaceutical industry. To ensure the best protections for people, our healthcare system has defined high ethical and regulatory standards, making research and development, approval and marketing of medicines very expensive, and hindering market access in the pharmaceutical industry. Costs and investments for market entry are correspondingly high for any companies involved. As a result, each provider focuses on its core competencies with increasing levels of specialisation and intensive competition. Working in this market environment, our customers need “the best candidates”. At DELTACON, we are the perfect partner for achieving this, as we have the best understanding of the market dynamics and can identify and attract suitable candidates with the necessary management qualities and scientific training in medicine and pharmacology for our clients.

Executive Search Consulting in Medical Technology

In the medical technology sector too, digitisation is accelerating technological progress and increasing both the complexity of products and the level of specialisation of companies. Digitisation has established itself on every level: artificial intelligence and big data, sensors, robotics, networked operating theatres, personalised medicine and e-health are all testament to this. In addition to the established “big players”, we find many different start-ups and SMEs that are gradually growing and expanding their businesses in their respective niches to develop from local providers to international enterprises. To achieve these expansion steps, companies need TOP-qualified employees with the right professional expertise, as well as commercial management and leadership experience. DELTACON has an outstanding network of international contacts, which has grown through the successful implementation of executive search mandates, and is constantly evolving through innovations in medical technology.

Executive Search Consulting in Diagnostics

Progress in medical diagnostics has experienced true quantum leaps. Not only can we diagnose diseases more safely and earlier than ever, but we can treat the symptoms of disease accordingly. Today, molecular diagnostics means we can locate and even cure the causes of hereditary diseases within our genetics. Gene therapy is a fantastic discipline that gives hope to the many chronically ill to be able to lead a normal life once again.
At the same time, the field of diagnostics has shown us how technology, digitisation and artificial intelligence interact, and how smartphones, apps, and special “smart devices” can monitor our health status and continuously collect data. The terms “digital health” and “health technology” describe a highly-innovative and rapidly-growing segment of the healthcare market. At our company, we find a great many start-ups with private equity and venture capital companies as investors, expressing a high demand for highly-qualified

Where to find us:

DELTACON Executive Search & Recruiting GmbH
Thomas Heeger
Max-Daetwylerstrasse 30
CH-8126 Zumikon

+41 43 8440428
heeger@deltacon.com

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Industry expertise at our Zurich location

Our Zurich location is focused on companies in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as in the fields of medical technology and diagnostics. All three sectors are extremely innovative and are driving the development of our healthcare system.
Here in Zurich, we would be delighted to be your first point of contact to reach out to other sectors of DELTACON Executive Search.

Frequently-asked questions about DELTACON Executive Search Zurich

What is the difference between biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical companies?ist der Unterschied zwischen Biotechnologieunternehmen und Pharmaunternehmen?

In contemporary language, the term “pharma” has become rather ambiguous. By definition, pharmaceuticals are medications with a chemical basis. The active pharmaceutical ingredient, or ‘API’, must have a low molecular mass, i.e. less than 900 g/mol. As such, we are talking about so-called ‘small molecules’. Examples include Losartan, a medication for reducing blood pressure, or acetylsalicylic acid, more commonly known as ‘Aspirin’. These rank amongst the very first medicines manufactured at the end of the 19th century.
In contrast, biopharmaceuticals (or ‘biologics’) are drugs that are produced on a biological basis. They can be of plant or animal origin: bacteria or enzymes, for example. Their molecules are termed ‘large molecules’ or biologics as they have a much more complex molecular structure and a molecular mass up to 100 times larger than small molecules. Their development and production is correspondingly complex, often involving hundreds of production steps.
Achieving an exact distinction between the two terms, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, is now practically impossible as many pharmaceutical companies now also produce biologics.

What is gene therapy?

Gene therapy takes a completely different approach to drug therapy. Gene therapy involves a direct intervention within the body’s cells: for example, it can repair defective genes and therefore cure genetic (hereditary) diseases. An intact gene is inserted into the genome of the target cell to replace a defective gene that is responsible for a disease developing.
In recent years, attempts have been made to repair defective genes using a more precise method: genome editing. Despite countless experimental clinical trials being carried out, only eight therapies were approved by the American FDA and/or the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2020.

What are the particular challenges for Executive Search and Recruiting in the pharmaceutical industry?

The pharmaceutical industry and pharmaceutical companies face particular challenges when recruiting and selecting candidates for their organisation; these challenges cannot be seen in any other industry in this form:

– Research-based pharmaceutical companies – in contrast to generic companies – are highly-specialised organisations. They focus on a few specific therapeutic areas, for example in the cardiovascular field, diabetes, oncology, or dermatology, where any given company will have built up many years of expertise. There is no single pharmaceutical company which can cover all the different therapeutic areas.
– The life cycle of a drug is very long. Research and development alone can take ten to fifteen years, and sometimes even longer. From the first time a product idea is generated in the laboratory to product launch, it takes 15 – 20 years before all the regulatory, safety and quality standards are met, and the product can be launched to market.
– This is the reason why pharmaceutical research is extremely expensive. Development of a new drug all the way to market maturity is estimated to cost around €600800 million.
– A pharmaceutical company cannot set any price it likes for its new product: there is a European Health Authority, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which oversees the regulatory process in Europe, and prices must be negotiated individually with each country. The same is also true outside of Europe.
– This is precisely the challenge faced by Executive Search & Recruiting:
– Scientific experts who want to see their drug – their baby – advance right from discovery to marketing authorisation must have a long-term outlook, and remain within the pharmaceutical company for 15 – 20 years.
– Following the protracted development phase, a successful product launch on the commercial side is crucial for the long-term financial success of the entire pharmaceutical company. Price negotiations with health authorities are taking on an increasingly important role. The new product must be able to demonstrate an effective therapeutic benefit over the competition which must be documented as part of clinical trials. For example: “works better, faster, or has less/no side effects”.
– In recent years, the “Market Access” department has established itself as a new discipline within pharmaceutical companies, and its function is of enormous strategic importance. Successful candidates will not only be able to demonstrate thorough scientific, medical/pharmaceutical education complemented by a knowledge of health economics, but will also be able to provide convincing proof of how their work has performed.

The above examples from scientific research and “Market Access” illustrate the particular challenges faced by Executive Search and Recruiting, which must be overcome in order to identify, target and win over the best and most suitable candidates in the market for pharmaceutical companies. It is not only the candidate’s professional education, experience, and scientific background, but above all their personality, their fit to the new company, their personal qualities such as communication and team-working abilities, and their future personal ambitions which must fit in with the pharmaceutical company’s structure.