Business Director, Germany

DOCS is a leading provider of resourcing solutions for the Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Medical Devise and CRO industries.

DOCS have been a market leader in this sector for in excess of fifteen years, proving local and global resourcing solutions to their clients.

DOCS was established in The Netherlands in 1997, building an extremely successful European business, prior to being acquired by ICON plc in 2007 and merged with ICON Contracting Solutions, their resourcing division.

http://www.iconplc.com/news-events/news/icon-acquires-docs-intern/index.xml

Currently DOCS employ over 1000 professionals, with offices in 25 countries.  They offer a comprehensive range of resourcing solutions, from single individual needs to international teams.

DOCS Functional Resourcing

DOCS are leading the way in the increasing trends towards the use of functional teams of in-sourced staff to support research programs.

DOCS invest the time to understand their clients’ unique needs in order to ensure that they can develop teams whose skills and experience are aligned to client needs, from both a Clinical Research and a Sales and Marketing perspective.

Docs success has been based on a commitment to:

• Greater Flexibility
• Increased Scalability
• Efficiency and Productivity

DOCS Flexible Resourcing

DOCS ensure that all their staff are qualified, experienced and above all well motivated.  Consultants are sourced based upon client needs and their specialist recruiters work closely with their partners to define:

• Candidate profiles
• Job requirements
• Personal goals
• Team focus
• Organisational ability
• Cultural fit

DOCS Permanent Recruitment

With the established expertise, capacity, process and focus to identify qualified candidates, DOCS dedicated team of recruitment consultants are able to provide a comprehensive recruitment process.
A dedicated client Recruitment Consultant will determine the most effective recruitment strategy and develop, with their client, realistic timelines.
Docs experience, database, network and dedicated consultants are able to ensure:

• Consultants with expertise in client market sector
• Access to a proprietary, global database providing constant candidate inflow
• Traditional headhunting techniques to support other methodologies
•  All candidates are assessed using competency based interviews by qualified consultants

DOCS Training and Professional Development

In order to ensure that all DOCS candidates remain at the forefront of clinical research, they receive continuous development and structured professional development.  DOCS have their own unique Clinical Research Academy – CRAcademy providing:

• Training and Education
• Traineeships
• Coaching
• E-learning

The training programs provided by CRAcademy are diverse, including:

• Patient recruitment and retention
• Negotiation, communication and investigator relationships
• ICH/GCP EU directives
• Medical statistics
• Pharmacovigilence
• Investigator meeting organisation
• Company specific systems and procedures
• DOCS – Client Value
• Flexibility
• 100% utilisation
• Quality
• Speed
• Scalability

For additional information relating to DOCS Global, please go to www.docsglobal.com

The Role

Primary Purpose of Position

DOCS, a global leader in resourcing and recruitment in the clinical research market, is currently looking for a Business Director for their Germany operation.  Germany is one of the key territories for DOCS in Europe and this role is critical to their continued growth, development and expansion.

You will be ultimately responsible for all recruitment and assignment activities, for managing local P&L and ensuring contractor retention

You will manage a large team of recruitment consultants and researchers to provide high quality work combined with responsiveness and a sense of urgency

You need to be results-driven and tenacious, have a positive and upbeat outlook, be able to motivate a team to high performance and be solutions-oriented

Strong business acumen and professional attitude are also imperative

This position reports to the Senior Director Resourcing, EU

In order to be considered for this role, you must have strong resourcing/recruitment industry experience ideally within the pharma/biotech sector.  You must also have excellent communication skills in both German and English, be able to drive and motivate teams, be comfortable working under pressure with challenging objectives and be a change agent.

This will be a key role in the short, medium and long term future of the business and the leadership succession planning.

Key areas of responsibility will include:

Leadership

• Service Delivery
• New product / service development
• Financial Management
• Human Resources
• Quality Control
• Operations

Key Functional Responsibility

• Provide strategic direction and leadership for the DOCS business within Germany, and German speaking countries, working closely with your counterparts in other regions (UK, France and Netherlands)
• Provide support to the business development teams’ activities to encourage their continued activities to add new clients, build a portfolio of work, develop compelling value propositions and manage a pipeline of opportunities
• Provide leadership to key client projects and internal development projects
• Contribute to the development of service offerings and to the creation of thought leadership
• As a member of the European Leadership Team,  you will be expected to contribute to the overall strategy and direction of DOCS business within your region
• Ensure the alignment of the German led businesses capabilities and capacity with the other DOCS countries and businesses
• Develop and maintain state of the art capabilities in all areas of staffing and resourcing
• Support new initiatives and business directions with a high level of confidence and technical expertise
• Ensure that all activities are managed in line with company standards, policies, internal and external quality systems
• Provide leadership and direction to the team, ensuring a shared vision for the business unit and motivating and developing the people and their skills to meet the demands of the business and your clients
• Maintain operational effectiveness and efficiency within the business, encouraging a climate of continuous improvement and outstanding customer satisfaction

Key Performance Indicators

• Turnover, profitability and gross margin
• Cost responsibility
• Development of new “high value” and “high quality” accounts
• Quantity and quality of candidate database
• Efficiency/effectiveness use of financial resources
• Efficiency/effectiveness use of human resources
• Quality of fulfilment of client resourcing needs
• Repeat business
• Client / candidate and Employee satisfaction

Person Specification/Experience

The successful candidate is likely to have the following background and personal qualities:

• A university degree, ideally with an additional commercial / business qualification
• Significant experience and a proven track record within a resourcing organisation, including significant expertise within the Pharmaceutical and Life Science sector
• Excellent understanding of client resourcing requirements within an R&D / clinical development environment and ideally additional expertise within Pharmaceutical Sales and Marketing team building
• Ability to translate business issues to be resolved into projects
• Conversant with problem identification, methodologies, analytics, benefits to be delivered and solutions
• A strong strategic thinker with the vision and leadership skills to develop and manage the DOCS Germany business and develop a strong and successful brand
• The long term vision to build the business over the next five years through significant growth and achievement
• A driven leader with a track record of success in managing rapid growth and building profitable organisations, combined with a good overall understanding of clinical development and commercialisation
• Project management experience with the ability to lead multiple teams
• Ability to deliver top-quality projects and work to tight timelines
• Excellent understanding of R&D and Commercial business processes
• Proven track record of success and management
• Broad drug development and commercialisation knowledge within Europe
• Ability to listen to client needs, identify challenges and create compelling solution propositions that clients recognise as value adding
• Consultative yet comfortable with taking decisions
• Ability to take ownership, initiative and ‘make things happen’
• Desire for success

Skills and Competencies

• A team player with well developed leadership and people management skills and a successful record of team leadership and development
• Excellent interpersonal and networking skills and a record of leading from the front in building business relationships
• The authority, communication and persuasion skills to influence key players, combined with a natural entrepreneurial style and drive to look for new business within your region
• Excellent “consulting” skills – experience of developing novel and creative solutions to meet the needs of clients
• Ability to manage conflict and seek win/win situations
• Strong project management skills
• Ability to work within and lead multi disciplinary teams
• Exhibit a high degree of resourcefulness and possess excellent organisational skills
• Ability to structure complex deals to maximise the likelihood of success
• Self-motivated with the ability to work autonomously
• Ability to work as part of a team and build credibility with diverse groups
• Ability to work in a dynamic environment
• Ability to manage a diverse team of independent thinkers
• Excellent presentation skills with the ability to instil confidence in both customers and colleagues
• Comfortable juggling many responsibilities simultaneously and good prioritisation skills
• Analytical with attention to detail

Personal Characteristics

• Natural leadership skills and decision making ability.
• Team player capable of working independently and with others.
• Desire and ability to sell and drive the business
• Self-motivated
• Highly results focused
• Comfortable with managing and being managed against financial targets
• Comfortable with internal and external client relationships
• Open and transparent working style
• Excellent prioritisation skills
• Consultative and flexible approach
• Highly credible
• Ability to lead by example
• Experience to mentor and motivate an experienced, stable and talented team of professionals
• International and cultural awareness
• Desire for success
• Ambition to succeed and create an environment for others to succeed
• Experience of working within dynamic and growing environments
• “Hands on” and “can do” attitude
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to “think on your feet”
• Excellent customer skills
• Approachable, personable and supportive of others
• Excellent attention to detail and well organised
• The ability to think both analytically and creatively and to use your initiative
• Comfortable admitting to gaps in your knowledge and seeking assistance
• Ability to juggle a complex and heavy workload and prioritise as appropriate

Competencies

• Written communications that are accurate and consistent.  Commitment to following up on issues in a timely manner
• Ability to explain complex information to team members.  Conveys thoughts clearly and accurately.  Listens carefully and asks questions when necessary to ensure understanding.
• Conveys information in a clear, concise, and accurate manner
• Demonstrate professionalism and present a positive image of the organisation to clients
• Understand customer needs before presenting a solution
• Effectively handle difficult customer situations
• Maintains a high energy level when interacting with customers
• Solicit and apply performance feedback.  Conduct on-the-job mentorship and leadership.  Provide constructive feedback to team members and adapt coaching and mentoring approach to meet the style or needs of individuals
• Share best practices and transfer knowledge to others.  Identify and address performance issues and training needs of direct reports when applicable.  Conduct or contribute to ongoing performance evaluations
• Seek input from others when faced with a difficult situation.  Make sound decisions within the scope of responsibility.  Focus on resolving problems
• Demonstrate strong leadership skills.  Maintain positive relationships with clients and colleagues.  Demonstrate honesty and integrity in dealing with others.  Work effectively with different types of people.  Accept and give constructive feedback
• Portray sound knowledge of pharmaceutical R&D and clinical development processes
• Demonstrate commitment, dedication, cooperation, positive behaviour, adaptability and flexibility with changes in responsibilities and duties

Package

• Competitive base salary, dependent upon experience

Additional benefits to include:

• Holiday Pay
• Christmas allowance
• 13th month salary
• Company Car – business and personal use
• Private pension
• Mobile phone / BlackBerry
• Personal Accident Insurance
• Travel Insurance
• The package is negotiable, based upon the level of experience of the individual.