Recruitment FAQ

Retained search is an exclusive engagement. You instruct one firm, pay a proportion of the fee at the outset, and that firm dedicates the resource to find the right person rather than racing to place a candidate before a competitor does. The recruiter's incentive is outcome, not speed. That single difference determines how the search is run from day one.

With contingency, multiple agencies submit CVs and the first placement earns the fee. The model creates pressure to submit quickly, which means submitting broadly. You get volume. Not relevance.

Retained search removes that dynamic entirely. One firm, one brief, one process. Because the fee structure doesn't depend on getting there first, Innotech can spend time on candidates who aren't looking, not just candidates already on a database. That's where the best hires usually are.

The upfront element funds the research phase: market mapping, identification, and direct contact with candidates who aren't actively looking. That work can't happen on a contingency basis. You're not paying for a shortlist in advance. You're funding the process that finds the people who'd otherwise never see your role.

Four stages. The briefing: Innotech takes a full commercial brief, not just a job description. That means understanding the business context, the team dynamic, what's failed before, and what the person will actually face in their first year. Then the research phase: market mapping identifies the relevant talent pool across the target geography and therapy area, and Innotech approaches candidates directly. Then assessment: candidates who progress are assessed using the SIGNAL framework before being presented. Then the decision stage: Innotech manages through to offer, acceptance, and start.

Through direct contact built on relationships maintained continuously, not assembled when a brief arrives. Innotech operates at director and board level across the UK, US, and Republic of Ireland in medical devices. The majority of candidates placed by Innotech weren't applying for roles when they were first approached.

That's what retained search is for. It's not a job board with better candidates on it.

A clear and honest brief. That means the commercial context behind the hire, not just the title and a list of competencies. Why is this role being created or replaced? What will this person actually face in the first twelve months? What have you tried before that didn't work?

The brief shapes everything. Innotech will push back on briefs that are too broad or misaligned with the available market. A brief that can't be executed doesn't serve either party.

SIGNAL is Innotech's structured assessment framework for senior commercial candidates in medical devices. It evaluates the specific capabilities that determine whether a commercial leader will succeed in a particular organisation and market environment. Not just whether they've done a similar job title before.

Every candidate presented to a retained search client has completed SIGNAL before the shortlist is submitted.

Commercial judgement, market navigation ability, leadership under ambiguity, and the candidate's behavioural profile in relation to your organisation's specific commercial situation. The framework draws on a structured interview methodology, candidate self-assessment, and reference intelligence gathered before the search concludes.

It's designed for medical device commercial leadership specifically. The indicators that predict success in a VP Sales role at a Series B orthopedic company are not the same as those that predict success at an established multinational with a mature sales infrastructure. SIGNAL accounts for that difference.

No. SIGNAL is Innotech's pre-presentation assessment. It determines whether a candidate reaches your shortlist, not whether they get the role. You interview the people who've passed SIGNAL. What it gives you is a richer briefing on each candidate before you meet them, so your interview time goes on the questions that matter to your specific situation rather than the ones the CV already answers.

Senior commercial leadership roles in medical devices. VP Sales, VP Marketing, General Manager, Managing Director, Commercial Director, Market Access Director, Country Manager, and C-suite commercial appointments. Innotech doesn't recruit below director level or outside the commercial function.

All medical device therapy areas with an active commercial leadership market in the UK, US, or Republic of Ireland. Innotech doesn't restrict to specific sub-sectors. The candidate relationships and market intelligence are built continuously across the full device landscape, not assembled at the point of each brief.

United Kingdom, United States, and Republic of Ireland. Roles based in or with commercial responsibility for any of these three markets. Innotech doesn't currently search for roles with primary responsibility in continental Europe or Asia Pacific.

The fee is calculated as a percentage of the placed candidate's total first-year compensation. The structure is typically one third at instruction, one third at shortlist, and one third at placement. Specific terms are agreed and confirmed in writing before the search begins. There are no hidden costs.

Innotech provides a guarantee period during which, if the placed candidate leaves or is asked to leave, Innotech will conduct a replacement search at no additional fee. The specific terms are confirmed in writing at instruction.

The overall retention rate across Innotech placements is 96%, measured over a two-year post-placement window. The guarantee is there. It's rarely needed.

From instruction to offer acceptance, most searches complete in ten to fourteen weeks. Searches in niche therapy areas or geographies with a small talent pool take longer. Searches where the brief changes after the research phase has started take longer.

Innotech will give you a realistic timeline at briefing based on the specific market. Not a number designed to win the instruction.

Add the likely notice period of the expected hire to the search timeline, then allow four weeks for onboarding. For a director-level appointment with a three-month notice period, instruct the search at least six months before the role needs to be filled.

Starting late is the single most common reason searches under-deliver. The talent pool doesn't expand because you're in a hurry.

Three things, almost every time. A brief that shifts after the research phase has started. Delayed feedback at shortlist stage, which signals to candidates that the process isn't serious. And an unrealistic compensation expectation for what the market is paying at the level being hired.

The briefing conversation exists partly to surface these risks before the search starts.

The most common failure points in retained search are a brief that was taken rather than built, candidates assessed on CV similarity rather than capability in your specific context, and a process that stopped caring at placement. Innotech's briefing takes time deliberately, SIGNAL is a structured and consistent assessment, and the 96% two-year retention rate reflects a stake in whether the hire works. Not just whether it completes.

Talk now. Understanding the available talent pool in your therapy area and geography, and what those candidates are likely to require in terms of proposition and commercial context, shapes your hiring strategy. That conversation costs nothing. It often changes the brief significantly before a search begins.

Book a call with Blair Anderson. The first conversation covers the role, the commercial context, and whether retained search is the right approach for your situation. If it is, Innotech will send a search brief and proposal within 48 hours. No search begins without written agreement on scope, timeline, and fees.