In Vitro Diagnostics and Laboratory Medicine recruiting and talent strategy.
Laboratory diagnostics are bought by a laboratory director and a supply chain committee on menu breadth, throughput and cost per reportable result. Instrument placements are usually tied to multi-year reagent commitments, and every assay runs on scientific validation and regulatory clearance. Assay and instrument R&D, field application scientists, regulatory, quality and commercial teams all carry the business.
- MedTech only, since 2001
- 25+ yearsMedTech only, since 2001
- Placements made
- 3,500+Placements made
- We search, listed below
- 8 areasWe search, listed below
Inside in vitro diagnostics and laboratory medicine.
A search usually sits in one of these areas, and often spans two or three.
Molecular diagnostics
Nucleic acid amplification and detection for infectious disease, oncology and inherited conditions, run on a distributed platform or sent to a central laboratory. Assay design, regulatory submissions and, for service labs, billing and coverage operations sit alongside instrument and assay sales.
- Molecular Assay Scientist
- Regulatory Affairs Manager
- Field Application Scientist
- Market Access Manager
Point of care testing
Testing at the bedside, in the emergency department, in a physician office or in a pharmacy, with results in minutes and a waived or moderate complexity designation. Products have to satisfy both workflow speed and quality control, which puts human factors, engineering and clinical studies at the core.
- Product Development Engineer
- Clinical Study Manager
- Clinical Specialist
- Territory Manager
Immunoassay and clinical chemistry
The high-volume core of the hospital laboratory, where automated analyzers run continuously and consolidating a site onto one vendor's track is the prize. Uptime, menu breadth, hands-on time and cost per test depend on instrument engineering, service and reagent manufacturing as much as on the commercial team.
- Instrument Systems Engineer
- Reagent Manufacturing Manager
- Technical Applications Specialist
- Strategic Account Executive
Genomics and sequencing
Sequencing-based testing for hereditary risk, tumor profiling and rare disease, offered as instruments and consumables or as a send-out test with its own coverage policy. Bioinformatics, laboratory operations and medical affairs carry as much weight as the scientific and reimbursement conversations in the field.
- Bioinformatics Scientist
- Laboratory Director
- Medical Science Liaison
- Director of Market Access
Liquid biopsy
Blood-based detection of tumor DNA for therapy selection, residual disease monitoring and early detection. Clinical validation studies, payer evidence and laboratory scale-up decide the business as much as clinical utility conversations with oncologists.
- Clinical Development Director
- Laboratory Operations Manager
- Reimbursement Specialist
- Oncology Account Manager
Microbiology
Culture, identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing, increasingly automated and paired with rapid molecular panels. The case is made with pharmacy and infectious disease over how much sooner a patient gets the right drug, so automation engineering, clinical science and technical support all matter.
- Automation Engineer
- Clinical Science Liaison
- Technical Applications Specialist
- Territory Manager
Anatomic and digital pathology
Tissue-based diagnosis, from histology and immunohistochemistry through whole slide imaging and digital sign-out. Going digital is a capital and IT project as much as a pathology one, which brings imaging, software and AI engineering into the work.
- Imaging Software Engineer
- Digital Pathology Specialist
- Product Manager
- Account Executive
Companion diagnostics
Tests cleared alongside a specific therapy to identify the patients who should receive it, developed and launched under a partnership with the drug sponsor. Co-development with pharma, regulatory strategy and launch alignment across laboratory, pathology and the prescriber define the work.
- Companion Diagnostics Regulatory Manager
- Assay Development Scientist
- Business Development Director
- Medical Science Liaison
Where in vitro diagnostics and laboratory medicine searches go wrong.
The assumptions that cost the most time, and what tends to be true instead.
“Hire a laboratory sales rep and the menu sells itself”
An instrument placement is a multi-year reagent commitment negotiated with supply chain and finance, not a product preference. The commercial lead has to model cost per reportable result, defend uptime and service terms, and hold the account through a contract cycle that outlasts most quotas. Candidates from capital equipment and group purchasing negotiations often fit better than assay specialists.
“Strong scientists can run assay development without regulatory depth”
An assay that performs in the lab still has to be designed, verified and documented for clearance, and changes later can trigger new submissions. Scientists who haven't worked under design controls and regulatory submissions slow programs down at exactly that point. Teams move faster when R&D leaders have taken an assay from feasibility through clearance.
“A test business needs the same leadership as a device business”
Send-out molecular and genomic testing is a service line with its own laboratory operations, billing, prior authorization workload and payer strategy. That adds laboratory, market access and revenue cycle leadership that a device company would never staff. Companies that skip those hires bill poorly and see collections lag volume.
“A big quota history means the rep can sell genomics anywhere.”
The number doesn't tell you if they're a hunter or a farmer. Both matter. A rep coming from the market leader may have built much of their number by growing an installed base. A startup launching a new platform needs someone who can win from scratch. I ask what they won versus what they grew.
Linda Ray, Genomics & Precision Medicine Practice Lead
Individual contributors to executive leadership.
The same vertical knowledge applies across commercial, clinical, R&D and engineering, regulatory, quality and operations, whether the seat is in the field, the lab, the plant or the boardroom.
- Executive
- Sales
- Marketing
- Clinical
- Regulatory
- Quality
- R&D
- Engineering
- Operations
- National Accounts
- Market Access
Four steps, every time.
The same sequence whether the seat is an engineer, a clinical lead or a territory in in vitro diagnostics and laboratory medicine, or the executive who builds the team around them.
- 01Define
A Talent Director who knows your specialty scopes the role, what it has to deliver and the profile that actually wins in your market.
- 02Search & vet
We reach passive candidates others can't, then screen for skill, culture fit and motivation before you see a single resume.
- 03Present
Three to five qualified, interested candidates with our written assessment. Interviews are coordinated for you.
- 04Close & onboard
Offer strategy, counter-offer prep and a 90-day check-in so great hires become long-term ones.
Two ways to work with us in in vitro diagnostics and laboratory medicine.
Next door to this vertical.
- How to tell if a genomics rep's book of business is realLinda Ray
- What great genomics commercial teams have in common: collaboration across every function that touches the customer, and a network that reaches well beyond their own companyLinda Ray
- Hiring commercial leaders for the move from research use only to clinical diagnosticsLinda Ray
- Landing your next commercial role after a biotech layoffLinda Ray
- Selling NGS platforms, robotics and related services into academic medical centers, clinical accounts, biotechs, government and pharmaLinda Ray
Filling seats isn't the objective. The business outcome is.
Tell us what this hire needs to make possible.
We'll bring you the in vitro diagnostics and laboratory medicine market before we bring you a shortlist.