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Industries
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Agency & Media
SALES & MARKETING RECRUITMENT
Agency & Media. Winning the client is half the job.
Fast briefs. Big ideas. Tight turnarounds. Plenty of opinions.
We find new-business, client-services and agency-marketing people who understand scope, margin and what the client is actually buying — not just how to pitch.
Pharma and Life Sciences
Clinical precision. Commercial pressure. Human consequence.
Recruitment for commercial roles across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, diagnostics, medical devices, healthcare technology, laboratory services and life-science suppliers.
SALES & MARKETING RECRUITMENT IN
SALES & MARKETING RECRUITMENT
Pharma and Life Sciences
Clinical precision. Commercial pressure. Human consequence.
Recruitment for commercial roles across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, diagnostics, medical devices, healthcare technology, laboratory services and life-science suppliers.
1 - BIG PICTURE STORY:
The Pharma & Life Sciences Economy
THE UK PICTURE:
The UK Life Sciences sector generates around £147 billion in turnover and employs approximately 360,000 people. Pharmaceutical manufacturing generated £20.4 billion in real-terms GVA in 2023, while pharmaceutical exports were worth £24.7 billion in 2024. (UK Government)
THE IRISH PICTURE:
Ireland has an exceptionally large Life Sciences sector. Medical and pharmaceutical exports reached €138.6 billion in 2025, representing 53.2% of all Irish goods exports. Around 100,000 people work across pharmaceuticals, biopharma and medical technology. (Central Statistics Office; IDA Ireland)
Commercial conditions vary considerably. A medicine, specialist therapy, diagnostic platform or medical device can involve very different evidence requirements, customers, access routes and buying processes.
£147bn
UK life-sciences turnover
96,848
Ireland pharmaceutical & medical technology employment, 2025
€211bn
Ireland pharma & medtech sales of goods, 2025
01 — THE SECTOR
Unique hiring considerations:
In Pharma & Life Sciences, a product can be clinically valuable, approved and even funded in principle and still be a long way from routine use.
There may still be questions around diagnosis, referral, budgets, procurement, staffing, training, service capacity or where the product actually fits within an existing pathway. Approval can make adoption possible without making it happen. That changes what strong commercial experience looks like.
Salespeople may need to understand far more than the person prescribing or buying the product. They learn how clinical, pharmacy, procurement, finance, commissioning and operational decisions connect, and where something that looks commercially promising can still become stuck.
Marketing works within the same system. It has to translate complex evidence accurately, support different audiences with different information needs and help create confidence around not only what a product does, but where and how it can realistically be used.
Two New Business Directors may both show major pitch wins and well-known clients. The same result can start at very different points in the buying journey.
The title tells us surprisingly little unless we know what the client was buying and how the agency made money from it.
CANDIDATE A
Strongest once the brief lands
• Builds strong credentials and pitch processes
• Coordinates senior agency involvement
• Converts briefs once the opportunity is defined
CANDIDATE B
Shapes the brief before it exists
• Builds senior relationships before formal briefs
• Creates preference while needs are still forming
• Qualifies carefully for fit, margin and win probability
02 — HOW WE ASSESS
Same CV. Different capability.
Two Key Account Managers may both show hospital accounts, clinical relationships and product growth.
One may work with an established portfolio inside clear access and prescribing pathways; another may operate in a specialist therapy where they need to understand clinical evidence, formulary, funding, referral barriers and several stakeholders before adoption is possible.
The title is the same, but the scientific, stakeholder and access complexity can be very different.
CANDIDATE B — SHAPES THE BRIEF BEFORE IT EXISTS
Manages complex specialist accounts
Maps clinical, funding and referral barriers
• Qualifies carefully for fit, margin and win probability
CANDIDATE A — STRONGEST ONCE THE BRIEF LANDS
Manages complex specialist accounts
Builds strong clinician and account relationships
Drives uptake in a well-understood market
02 — HOW WE ASSESS
Same CV. Different capability.
02 — HOW WE ASSESS
Same CV. Different capability.
Two Key Account Managers may both show hospital accounts, clinical relationships and product growth.
One may work with an established portfolio inside clear access and prescribing pathways; another may operate in a specialist therapy where they need to understand clinical evidence, formulary, funding, referral barriers and several stakeholders before adoption is possible.
The title is the same, but the scientific, stakeholder and access complexity can be very different.
SAME JOB TITLE - CANDIDATE A
Works within clear access and prescribing pathways
Builds strong clinician and account relationships
Drives uptake in a well-understood market
SAME JOB TITLE - CANDIDATE B
Manages complex specialist accounts
Maps clinical, funding and referral barriers
Coordinates pharmacy, finance and service stakeholders
SALES, NEW BUSINESS & CLIENT GROWTH
01
New Business Director
WHAT IT REALLY OWNS
Which pitches deserve the agency's time — not just winning them.
HOW IT VARIES
RFP-led in some agencies; relationship-led long before a brief in others.
WHAT WE'D PROBE
"Tell us about a pitch you walked away from."
02
Client Services Director
WHAT IT REALLY OWNS
The gap between what the client expects and what the fee covers.
HOW IT VARIES
Full P&L and renewal authority, or delivery lead with pricing held elsewhere.
WHAT WE'D PROBE
"When did you last renegotiate scope mid-year?"
03
Account Director
WHAT IT REALLY OWNS
Growth that doesn't turn into unpaid over-servicing.
HOW IT VARIES
Performance agencies build media economics; creative agencies build judgement on ambiguous briefs.
WHAT WE'D PROBE
"How did the account's margin move under you?"
MARKETING
04
Agency Marketing Director
WHAT IT REALLY OWNS
Attracting the kind of brief New Business actually wants.
HOW IT VARIES
Visibility and awards in some agencies; proposition and pipeline in others.
WHAT WE'D PROBE
"Which piece of thinking brought a client in?"
05
Communications Director
WHAT IT REALLY OWNS
The agency's reputation, and sometimes its clients' too.
HOW IT VARIES
Corporate narrative in-house, or crisis and media work on behalf of clients.
WHAT WE'D PROBE
"What didn't you say, and why?"
06
Content Strategy Director
WHAT IT REALLY OWNS
Connecting audience insight to measurable commercial outcomes.
HOW IT VARIES
Client-facing strategy lead, or the agency's own thought-leadership engine.
WHAT WE'D PROBE
"How did you prove it worked?"
We also recruit across media sales, partnerships, PR, performance and digital marketing, and sales & marketing leadership.
Discuss a role in this sector →
03 — ROLES
What the title doesn't tell you
We also recruit across media sales, partnerships, PR, performance and digital marketing, and sales & marketing leadership.
Discuss a role in this sector
→
MARKETING
04
Agency Marketing Director
WHAT IT REALLY OWNS
Attracting the kind of brief New Business actually wants.
HOW IT VARIES
Visibility and awards in some agencies; proposition and pipeline in others.
WHAT WE'D PROBE
"Which piece of thinking brought a client in?"
05
Communications Director
WHAT IT REALLY OWNS
The agency's reputation, and sometimes its clients' too.
HOW IT VARIES
Corporate narrative in-house, or crisis and media work on behalf of clients.
WHAT WE'D PROBE
"What didn't you say, and why?"
06
Content Strategy Director
WHAT IT REALLY OWNS
Connecting audience insight to measurable commercial outcomes.
HOW IT VARIES
Client-facing strategy lead, or the agency's own thought-leadership engine.
WHAT WE'D PROBE
"How did you prove it worked?"
SALES, NEW BUSINESS & CLIENT GROWTH
01
New Business Director
WHAT IT REALLY OWNS
Which pitches deserve the agency's time — not just winning them.
HOW IT VARIES
RFP-led in some agencies; relationship-led long before a brief in others.
WHAT WE'D PROBE
"Tell us about a pitch you walked away from."
02
Client Services Director
WHAT IT REALLY OWNS
The gap between what the client expects and what the fee covers.
HOW IT VARIES
Full P&L and renewal authority, or delivery lead with pricing held elsewhere.
WHAT WE'D PROBE
"When did you last renegotiate scope mid-year?"
03
Account Director
WHAT IT REALLY OWNS
Growth that doesn't turn into unpaid over-servicing.
HOW IT VARIES
Performance agencies build media economics; creative agencies build judgement on ambiguous briefs.
WHAT WE'D PROBE
"How did the account's margin move under you?"
03 — ROLES
What the title doesn't tell you
MARKETING
Makes the agency's thinking visible before a brief appears
Uses case studies to demonstrate decisions and outcomes
Builds reputation that helps the agency enter consideration early
Communicates a clear proposition rather than a capability list
Aligns agency marketing with the work New Business actually wants
SALES
Qualifies opportunities before consuming pitch resource
Understands what is really driving the client's decision
Sells the agency that will actually deliver the work
Understands how the pricing model affects account economics
Protects scope, margin and relationship quality as accounts grow
04 — WHAT EMPLOYERS LOOK FOR
Strength signals
SALES
01
Qualifies opportunities before consuming pitch resource
02
Understands what is really driving the client's decision
03
Sells the agency that will actually deliver the work
04
Understands how the pricing model affects account economics
05
Protects scope, margin and relationship quality as accounts grow
MARKETING
01
Makes the agency's thinking visible before a brief appears
02
Uses case studies to demonstrate decisions and outcomes
03
Builds reputation that helps the agency enter consideration early
04
Communicates a clear proposition rather than a capability list
05
Aligns agency marketing with the work New Business actually wants
04 — WHAT EMPLOYERS LOOK FOR
Strength signals we listen for
04 — WHAT EMPLOYERS LOOK FOR
Strength signals we listen for
SALES STRENGTH SIGNALS
Understands the whole clinical and commercial decision system
Distinguishes formal access from genuine adoption
Turns evidence into relevant customer and service value
Navigates complex multi-stakeholder accounts
Stays involved through implementation rather than stopping at approval
MARKETING strength signals
Understands the evidence and the limits of the claim
Makes scientific complexity understandable without distorting it
Adapts communication to different stakeholder groups
Connects positioning with access and implementation realities
Works across Medical, Regulatory, Market Access and Sales
40-person Belfast brand agency needed a Commercial Director during a major repositioning.
Result: 3-person shortlist. Successful hire remains in post today.
The brief required an unusual combination of strategic leadership, people management and new business ability. We mapped the relevant market thoroughly and narrowed a broad potential field to three candidates capable of operating across all three areas.
05 — A RECENT SEARCH
In practice
05 — A RECENT SEARCH
In practice
Pharmaceutical business needed a Brand Manager for a niche product in an international market.
The product required careful positioning, so we focused on professionals who could understand its real-world value and communicate that effectively across markets. The search produced several strong candidates with relevant international experience.
Native-language Brand Manager appointed to lead a key international market.
FOR EMPLOYERS
Discuss a Sales or Marketing Hire
For employers, we look beyond the obvious company, therapeutic area and job-title match and spend time understanding the products, stakeholders, evidence, access environment and commercial responsibility behind someone's experience.
We look beyond the agency name and title to the proposition, pricing model, account economics and real commercial ownership behind someone's experience.
DISCUSS A HIRE
FOR PROFESSIONALS
Considering your next move?
We help make sense of the experience you've built, what you're genuinely good at and where it might take you next.
REGISTER YOUR INTEREST
CALL TO ACTION
Hiring in Agency & Media?
A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER
[Sarah to write — one sentence]
Sarah, Founder
About MRKTSEARCH →
A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER
[Sarah to write — one sentence]
Sarah, Founder
About MRKTSEARCH →
A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER
[Sarah to write — one sentence]
Sarah, Founder · About MRKTSEARCH →
£147bn
UK life-sciences turnover
96,848
Ireland pharmaceutical & medical technology employment, 2025
€211bn
Ireland pharma & medtech sales of goods, 2025
06 — THE NUMBERS
The Pharma & Life Sciences Economy
FOR EMPLOYERS
Discuss a Sales or Marketing Hire
For employers, we look beyond the obvious company, therapeutic area and job-title match and spend time understanding the products, stakeholders, evidence, access environment and commercial responsibility behind someone's experience.
SOURCES
Advertising Association; Creative Communications Ireland.
£35.2bn
UK creative & media agency GVA, 2024
£46.7bn
UK advertising investment, 2025
€1.7bn
Irish advertising market, 2025
06 — THE NUMBERS
The agency & media economy
In Pharma & Life Sciences, a product can be clinically valuable, approved and even funded in principle and still be a long way from routine use.
There may still be questions around diagnosis, referral, budgets, procurement, staffing, training, service capacity or where the product actually fits within an existing pathway. Approval can make adoption possible without making it happen. That changes what strong commercial experience looks like.
Salespeople may need to understand far more than the person prescribing or buying the product. They learn how clinical, pharmacy, procurement, finance, commissioning and operational decisions connect, and where something that looks commercially promising can still become stuck.
Marketing works within the same system. It has to translate complex evidence accurately, support different audiences with different information needs and help create confidence around not only what a product does, but where and how it can realistically be used.
01 — THE SECTOR
Unique Hiring Considerations
In Pharma & Life Sciences, a product can be clinically valuable, approved and even funded in principle and still be a long way from routine use.
There may still be questions around diagnosis, referral, budgets, procurement, staffing, training, service capacity or where the product actually fits within an existing pathway. Approval can make adoption possible without making it happen. That changes what strong commercial experience looks like.
Salespeople may need to understand far more than the person prescribing or buying the product. They learn how clinical, pharmacy, procurement, finance, commissioning and operational decisions connect, and where something that looks commercially promising can still become stuck.
Marketing works within the same system. It has to translate complex evidence accurately, support different audiences with different information needs and help create confidence around not only what a product does, but where and how it can realistically be used.
01 — THE SECTOR