Synopsis: Pharma and healthcare industries are witnessing growth, driving demand for leadership talent. Companies are seeking expertise in areas like API manufacturing, global market business heads, and CROs. Key roles like CIO, CDO, site head, operations head, sales leaders, and CFOs are in high demand, alongside private equity investments and tech leaders.
The pharma and healthcare industries have been seeing strong growth and this has led to higher demand for middle- and senior-level officials.
Pharma earnings have clocked the best improvement in this quarter after a couple of years, says Tejinder Pal Singh, Founder Director & Senior Partner-Pharma, Healthcare & Life Sciences, TRANSEARCH India. An upswing in global market demand for generic drugs, domestic opportunities, macroeconomic factors as well as cost and structural rationalisation, and the confidence to invest and move up the value chain have propelled demand for leadership talent.
Key roles in demand
Talent movements are happening at the levels of chief information officer (CIO), chief digital officer (CDO), chief information and digital officer (CIDO), site or plant head, operations head, sales leaders and business unit (BU) leaders, says Prakash HS, Vice President, Pharma & Life Sciences at WalkWater Talent Advisors.
TRANSEARCH’s Singh says: “We have witnessed strong demand for talent in segments such as API manufacturing, human resource, research and development (R&D), quality, operations and business roles.” Companies are looking for global market business heads in US, Latin America & African regions. There is also demand for chief financial officers (CFOs) to lead initial public offerings, chief technology officers (CTOs), as well as roles in contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMs) and contract research organisations (CROs). He explains that multinational companies are investing in global capabilities centres, leading to more opportunities in the digital & analytics space.
The healthcare industry, too, has had an exciting run over the last couple of years. Singh pegs this on increasing awareness, high-margin growth, private equity investments, successful initial public offerings (IPOs) and development of capacities, including at tier-2 cities facilities.
He says they are seeing strong hiring for CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CHROs and leaders in tech and medical operations. The demand is coming from companies with private equity investments; post-IPO hospitals; single specialty chains in dental, ophthalmology, nephrology and such areas; fertility chains; diagnostics chains with high-end specialities; and the medtech space.
The qualification requirements for these roles open the doors of opportunity for people from various backgrounds.
The CIO, CDO and CIDO roles give preference to candidates with BE or BTech degrees with 15-20 years of experience. Prakash says companies give more weightage to people with expertise in development of technology platforms and solutions and having 4-5 years of leadership experience in the information technology function. The candidates should also have demonstrated experience in driving enterprise-wide IT or digital transformation, particularly in manufacturing, supply chain, R&D, quality and commercial functions.
Prakash explains that companies looking to hire a site head or operations head want candidates who are pharmacists or chemists with a BE or BTech in chemical engineering. These candidates should also have more than 15 years’ experience in relevant manufacturing operations with 3-5 years in leadership roles. The incumbent should possess plant management experience, functional knowledge in pharmaceutical manufacturing processes and robust knowledge of running mid-to-large manufacturing operations. This also includes awareness of statutory and regulatory audits, he clarifies.
For leadership roles in sales and business unit management, the incumbent should be a graduate in pharmacy or life sciences, a postgraduate in business or technical streams and also preferably have 15 years of experience in pharma sales and P&L management. This means having sizable experience in managing people at multiple levels. The incumbent must have expertise in identifying, establishing, and generating significant business opportunities across the assigned geographies, Prakash explains.
Compensation trends
The salary range varies depending on the organisation. But broadly, says Prakash, it is Rs 80 lakh-1.5 crore for CIO, CDO, CIDO roles; Rs 80 lakh-1.3 crore for site head, operations head roles; and Rs 60 lakh-1 crore for sales leaders and BU heads.
The compensation in the sector has risen 20-30% over the last year for traditional CXO roles as well as newer digitally driven roles in GCCs and companies with private equity investments, says Singh. There is a larger focus on variable pay and profit sharing. Typical functional heads or CXO roles command salaries of Rs 1.20-2.50 crore, while CEO roles range from Rs 2 crore to Rs 4 crore. It can be more in some places, he says. “C minus 2 levels” command salaries of Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1 crore.
Key responsibilities
The responsibilities of senior talent have evolved and have a higher degree of technology exposure.
CIOs, CDOs and CIDOs will, as usual, be responsible for developing IT and digital strategy. They will also have to provide thought leadership to ideate, design and execute transformation programmes to ensure the business is agile, efficient, compliant and gains sustainable competitive advantage, says Prakash. They will have to look at readiness in IT infrastructure, security, automation and enterprise applications.
Site head and operations heads who provide leadership to manufacturing units will be responsible for strategising capacities and capabilities to meet growth targets, for smooth manufacturing operations with international regulatory standards and for building a team capable of delivering business objectives.
Sales leaders and BU heads will have to create and lead a customer-centric sales team to achieve the organisation’s core objectives in sales and marketing. They should also have exposure to alliance management, with a proven track record in developing middle and senior management contacts for business opportunities. The incumbent must have demonstrated capabilities in revenue generation and relationship management across geographies.
Singh says the sector is seeing leadership ageing in manufacturing. So there is a need to groom younger leaders, implement strong succession planning and handle scarcity of talent. Global boards are insisting on diversity, sustainability and governance, and so companies have to also bring on board talent with a futuristic vision and the right business values.
Source: The Economic Times