By Susan Elise Campbell
John Harvey, the founder and owner of the one-man search firm, High Peaks Executive Search, LLC, hunts for the world’s top scientists and executive talent in the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech industries like a miner digs for gems. And just as striking a vein in the rock can lead to a valuable find, Harvey’s disciplined networking approach leads to a cache of candidates who are the most accomplished in their fields.
“These are doctors and scientists who are finding cures and saving lives,” said Harvey. “Most recruiting is in research and development, and the manufacturing of drugs and medical devices for pre-clinic and clinical research and for commercial products.”
Harvey started the company in 2017 after having been a recruiter for two large pharmaceutical search firms. His career prior was as director of human resources for Native Textiles when it was in Glens Falls, which remains home to a number of companies serving the three growing industries for which Harvey recruits.
“I came up through the HR field, so I have recruited for sales and human resources positions as well as for scientists throughout my career,” he said.
Success as a recruiter in this niche depends on identifying candidates with a narrow skill set, and that requires “a lot of hard work and networking,” said Harvey.
“When you narrow down the candidates you may find there are only 20 or 30 people in the world for the job,” he said. “Then I might have to convince them to relocate.”
To date he has convinced more than 300 to make such a change to executive positions around the U.S., Canada and Europe.
“I never placed a candidate that the company didn’t like or that was let go,” said Harvey.
People in Glens Falls do not switch jobs as often as in the pharmaceutical hubs of San Diego, Philadelphia, Boston and other cities where competition is very high, he said. But there has been increased turnover in the industry in the past 10 years.
“There was more stability a decade ago when people stayed with one or two companies their whole career,” Harvey said. “People are jumping jobs all the time now.”
Harvey cited several reasons for the change, including “more of an acceptance for that.”
“In the old days, if you saw someone switching jobs every few years that would be a red flag,” he said. “Today you think it’s pretty good that a person stayed at a company four whole years.”
Also, he said, the biotech industry in particular is very risky. The drugs being developed may fail in clinical trials and the whole company could go under, driving more scientists and upper level professionals back into the work force.
“The size of the company, whether they are private or public, their fundraising, are all factors,” he said. “But more importantly, the economy isn’t good now.
“There is a lot of restructuring going on and many of the bigger companies are letting a lot of people go,” said Harvey.
High Peaks Executive Search is hired to fill the most senior level positions. Harvey said his clients want him “to dig and come up with a slate of candidates.”
“If I gave them three perfect candidates, they interviewed all three and picked the best one of the three, that would be an ideal world. But it’s not,” Harvey said. “I may contact a couple hundred people, get a dozen resumes, interview the top eight and submit five or six.”
“It’s a complex process and very hard work,” he said. “But companies retain me because despite a poor economy, there is a low supply of skilled candidates for the type of positions they need to fill.”
Harvey said that for local businesses in the medical field he is compensated on a contingency basis rather than placing them on retainer. He also said that he has filled and may be open to searches for mid-level positions as well, where there are “many candidates out there to sift through.”
To make a good match, Harvey said he vets candidates very carefully, obtaining names through his network. Often a referral comes through someone he already knows or from a past candidate, he said.
“Before I even talk to the person I reference very thoroughly and ask my contact, why are they so good,” he said.
He also relies on the professional advice of Peter Benoit, a former head of HR at Delcath Systems in Glens Falls and who has been a mentor to Harvey.
“Personnel issues can be very complex and I have someone to bounce ideas off of when evaluating or negotiating a job offer,” he said. “He helps me be a better recruiter.”
Harvey said he used to enjoy traveling anywhere in the world to meet every candidate and sitting with them over a meal to get to know the person well. Since Covid, all interviews start with a Zoom interview.
“In-person interviewing has really gone by the wayside unless the candidate is local,” he said. “Video conferencing is easy and more effective than a phone call, and it hasn’t hurt my business.”
Through the process Harvey gets a glimpse into the science of oncology drugs or the medical devices his clients are researching or manufacturing.
“It’s all about asking questions,” he said. “I understand the job functions very well, but I’m not a scientist.”
There are large recruiting firms working on contingency that can be deemed as competition for Harvey, but he said “it would be rare” to find someone like him who specializes in all three industries: pharmaceutical, medical devices and biotech.
High Peaks may refer to the professional aspirations of the C-level personnel and directors Harvey places, but the name of his company holds another meaning for its founder. Harvey is an Adirondack 46er having summited all 46 New York Adirondack High Peaks over 4,000 feet during the summer months. He is currently working on his Winter 46.
More information is available at www.highpeakssearch.com.