R&D and Technical Leadership Search

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Hiring for judgment under scrutiny and constraint.

Clinical and development roles sit at the intersection of science, regulation, operations, and leadership judgment. Hiring failures here rarely stem from lack of clinical knowledge. They occur when leaders struggle to operate effectively as complexity increases, feedback intensifies, and accountability becomes shared.

Searchlight helps organizations hire clinical and development leaders who maintain clarity, rigor, and momentum when the stakes are high.

Clinical hiring often breaks after the offer is signed, when regulatory feedback challenges assumptions, accountability becomes diffused across stakeholders, and decision-making slows under pressure.

These issues rarely appear in polished interviews. They surface only when responsibility, disagreement, and consequence are real.

Strong clinical leaders anticipate regulatory and operational feedback rather than reacting to it. They own decisions and outcomes even when information is incomplete. They communicate clearly under pressure and adjust course without losing credibility or momentum.

These behaviors determine whether programs advance or stall.

We define what successful execution looks like in the first year, not just what experience qualifies a candidate. We evaluate how leaders have handled real clinical decision points, feedback, disagreement, and accountability as conditions evolved.

This surfaces judgment and learning velocity before decisions are made.

Clinical development executives, medical affairs and operations leaders, boards and founders overseeing high-stakes programs, and TA leaders supporting regulated environments. 

If you are hiring for a clinical or development role where judgment, accountability, and adaptability matter as much as expertise, we should talk.