Case Study: A recruitment partnership for medical writing success

The situation

A top-five global pharmaceutical company, with one of the largest medical writing teams in the world, faced significant challenges in meeting their high demand for writing talent across the UK, Europe, and the US.

For the past three years, they have partnered with Hobson Prior to help identify experienced professionals capable of writing a range of clinical documents, including CSRs, IBs, and CTD modules, across therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Immunology, and Rare Diseases.

The Hobson Prior solution

To streamline the recruitment process, we assigned a dedicated expert with deep knowledge of medical writing, ensuring clear communication and minimising delays.

When the company encountered difficulties finding suitable candidates in their usual regions, we expanded our search to new talent pools, securing the specialised skills they required. Through proactive talent mapping, our expert identified a promising group of writers in Finland, resulting in three swift hires that enabled the company to complete its project ahead of schedule.

We also maintain a regularly updated pool of pre-vetted candidates, allowing us to quickly provide qualified talent without the need to start each search from scratch.

As our partnership has grown, we’ve gained a deeper understanding of the client’s needs, enabling us to match candidates not only by skill set but also by cultural fit, enhancing onboarding success and long-term retention.

The result

Since partnering with us, the client has successfully hired over 10 experienced writers across the UK, Europe, and the US. We have placed senior professionals, including Principal Medical Writers, Medical Writing Managers, and Associate Directors, achieving a 90% offer acceptance rate with most positions filled within six weeks.

By optimising our recruitment process, we’ve allowed the client to focus on their core operations while benefiting from priority access to top-tier talent. We remain their trusted provider for medical writing talent across all regions.