Case Study: Urgent engineers needed to help a global life sciences company costly deadlines

The situation

A global life science company, with employees in 50 countries, needed urgent support in hiring multiple engineers in their Swiss teams.

They had an important project with tight delivery deadlines that they could not risk missing. Failure to reach the required number of engineers would result in a loss of finances and funding.

Not only did the hiring manager have increased pressure from their Senior Board to complete this project as further projects were already approved with specific dates, but they also needed niche skillsets in a tough candidate market for engineers.

They required CQV engineers with both downstream and upstream process equipment commissioning experience. They approached Hobson Prior to help them ensure they hit their schedule.

The Hobson Prior solution

After an initial briefing call and with timing detrimental to the project's success, we created a bespoke freelance recruitment model on a project basis and went out to our vast engineering network.

Delays in the hiring process would be incredibly costly, so our Swiss-based team prioritised a strict vetting process for all candidate submissions. With the need for niche skillsets, we extended our search across Europe, with full relocation support to ensure any submitted candidates were qualified and committed to the opportunity.

The roles were briefed on Monday, 8 CVs were sent by Tuesday, 6 interviews were conducted from Thursday and 4 offers and acceptances were confirmed by Friday afternoon. The new engineers were able to start working within 2 weeks of the initial briefing with Hobson Prior.

As full SECO labour licence holders, Hobson Prior’s Basel-based contract management team were able to fully support the compliance and relocation of two of the candidates who were moving to Switzerland. This included setting up right-to-work permits, management companies and assisting with flights and accommodation to ensure a smooth process.

The result

The initial engineering roles were filled within 2 weeks; with 6 of the initial 8 vetted candidate submissions continuing through to the interview stage. The client’s project was completed on schedule and within their budgets, avoiding delays and allowing the hiring manager to report success back to the Board.

The engineers were all offered extensions onto the company’s future projects and due to this success, other line managers from different departments reached out to us to further support their projects, including quality assurance and finance.

Hobson Prior continues to support this globally leading life sciences company with their projects and has a long-standing recruitment partnership moving forward.