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Pharma’s Digital and Operational Talent Gap – How to Fill IT, Supply Chain & Commercial Roles
- Serendi
- Oct 1
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 2
Digital platforms, global supply chains, commercial agility…
These are no longer support functions in pharma and medtech...
They are strategic drivers of growth.
This is just one example:
A European pharmaceutical company, operating as a business unit of a global medical device giant, had everything it needed for rapid expansion - except the right people.
Despite strong financial backing and a clear strategic direction, critical hiring gaps were creating serious operational bottlenecks.
Niche Recruitment: The Challenge
"Even with the backing of a large parent company, this unit faced stalled projects and delayed market activities because critical roles sat unfilled." - Milica Lapcevic, Talent Acquisition Partner at Serendi.
The talent shortage manifested in three key areas, each creating cascading business impact:
1. In IT, vacancies for roles like Principal Information Systems Architect and IT Services and Systems Specialists in Switzerland slowed the rollout of digital platforms and systems integration.
2. On the commercial side, missing hires, such as Healthcare Digital Marketing Managers and Account Managers, delayed product launches and customer engagement.
3. Operationally, the company needed a consistent pipeline of multilingual Customer Care Specialists to support diverse European markets.
The internal talent acquisition team was capable but overwhelmed. They could handle standard hiring volumes, but lacked the specialized sourcing capabilities and market reach needed for niche talent acquisition.
The competitive talent market demanded a different approach.
Serendi brought the right solution…
Pharma Niche Recruitment Solution
The RPO model delivered a structured approach to pharma recruitment:
• Market mapping across industries → Instead of limiting searches to pharma-only candidates, the team identified transferable talent from regulated sectors like medtech, finance, and other compliance-heavy industries. This significantly expanded candidate pools for senior IT and commercial roles.
• Localized EVP strategies → The RPO team developed targeted Employee Value Proposition strategies for specific regions and roles. A Healthcare Digital Marketing Manager in Germany required different messaging than similar roles in France or the Netherlands.
• Scalable delivery engine → The solution balanced complex senior-level searches (like the Principal Information Systems Architect) with high-volume recruitment for multilingual customer care roles, all managed under a single, coordinated system.
• Real-time reporting → Real-time reporting gave HR and leadership teams clear visibility into sourcing progress, time-to-fill metrics, and pipeline health, making talent acquisition as measurable as other business processes.
The Results
• 30% faster time-to-hire across IT, supply chain, and commercial roles
• Improved hiring manager confidence through data-driven role scoping and reporting
• Stronger pipelines for multilingual and customer-facing roles across Europe
• Business continuity protected — no supply chain disruptions or commercial launches delayed due to hiring gaps
Key Lesson
This case demonstrates that successful pharma transformation requires treating digital, operational, and commercial talent acquisition with the same strategic focus as R&D and regulatory recruitment.
Even well-funded regional units of global pharmaceutical companies can hit talent bottlenecks that threaten business objectives. The companies that recognize this reality and implement scalable, specialized recruitment solutions position themselves to accelerate rather than just survive transformation.
By partnering with the right RPO services provider, the European pharma unit converted its biggest operational constraint into a competitive advantage, enabling sustained growth across multiple markets and functions.
Is talent shortage slowing down your organization?
Let’s talk about how an RPO model can turn recruitment into a growth driver.
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