About The Search
Role was vacant for 6+ months
High urgency to find the right hire quickly
Interviewed many candidates through their own RPO Provider but could not find the suitable hire
About UCB
Founded in 1928 and headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, UCB is a multinational biopharmaceutical company that is inspired by patients, and driven by science. With more than 7,600 employees in approximately 40 countries, UCB is a truly global organization that invests roughly 20% of cutting-edge scientific research to meet unmet patient needs. Their research spans the fields of neurology, immunology and rare diseases.
UCB is driven by the goal to transform patients’ lives by pushing the boundaries of what is possible. To do so, their team connects globally with patients and their families living with the physical and social burdens of severe disease. These connections offer new perspectives, drive innovation, and offer a hope for a new generation of therapies that will help transform lives.
Because of this mandate, UCB has a strong data-driven, learning-anchored and talent-focused culture that continuously invests in digitization, data, analytics and the people who can best leverage those tools to drive innovation.
The Objective
To address UCB’s growing digitization, data and analytics needs, the company needed to find a world-class Head of Digital Transformation. This was a mission-critical search, with high urgency to find the right person quickly.
Unfortunately, the specific skill set that UCB needed to fill this role is in high demand. The ideal candidate needed significant experience in the pharmaceutical industry and a track record of delivering large scale, complex and challenging digital transformations.
They needed someone who could mobilize the organization and drive significant changes related to data, analytics and digitization, and someone who understood the technical infrastructure requirements for an organization of UCB’s size.
Also, UCB needed a leader with very strong communication, project management skills and emotional intelligence. This person needed to be able to build and lead large teams of technical and business talent to help support UCB’s digital transformation effort.
Lastly, the ideal candidate needed to be located in Atlanta, or willing to relocate for the role.
Because of these specific needs, and the competition for these specific skill sets, the Head of Digital Transformation at UCB was vacant for more than 6 months. The company had seen many candidates through their own RPO provider, but did not find any suitable candidates.
The Solution
Working closely with UCB, Press & Associates was able to gain a full comprehension of the problem, goals, and roadblocks that the company faced. Then, we created a tailored solution involving all key stakeholders to ensure a successful and transparent process. This process included the following stages:
Briefing → Week 1
Identifying Suitable Candidates→ Week 2
Interviewing and Qualifying → Weeks 2 - 3
Candidate Introduction→ Week 3
Client Interviews→ Weeks 3 - 7
Offer and Acceptance→ Weeks 7 - 9
The Result
By working through this process, in close collaboration with key stakeholders at UCB, Press & Associates was able to identify the perfect candidate for UCB who ticked all the boxes, and was based in Atlanta.
All senior leadership involved in the process have stated that the successful candidate was an exceptional hire, and that they were lucky to have them join the team.
