Recruits Lab places Regional Sales Directors, Enterprise Account Executives, VPs of Sales, Directors of Business Development, Field Applications Scientists, and Technical Sales Specialists at biotech, pharma, medical device, diagnostics, and life sciences tools companies. Average hire time: 14 days.
Life sciences sales is its own discipline. A great SaaS Enterprise AE often cannot sell into pharma R&D. A great pharma rep often cannot sell platform technology into biotech. The buyer is different, the cycle is different, and the technical fluency required is different. Hiring against generic sales titles fails.
Recruits Lab is a Life Sciences Sales recruiting firm working with biotech, pharma, medical device, diagnostics, life sciences tools, and lab automation companies. We place across the full commercial stack: BD, sales, sales engineering, and commercial leadership.
We screen on real signals: territory attainment, deal-size mix, buyer fluency (R&D, medical affairs, clinical, procurement), product technical depth, and the actual references that confirm the candidate produced the revenue on their LinkedIn.
Most candidates we place are senior commercial professionals at large pharma, medical device, tools, and well-funded biotech. We reach them with targeted outreach that references the specific product, buyer, and territory.
Our subscription model fits multi-role commercial team builds. Our flat 20 percent contingency fits one-off senior hires. Every placement carries a 90-day replacement guarantee.
Why this market is hard to recruit for. And how we solve each one.
R&D buyers, medical affairs buyers, clinical buyers, and procurement buyers each respond to different motions. We map on buyer.
Tools and platform sales need product depth. We screen on real technical understanding, not just demo skill.
Life sciences territories are geographically and account-based. We pre-qualify on territory residency and account portability.
Strong commercial talent gets retention packages. We manage the resign conversation directly.
Big pharma sellers sometimes struggle in lean biotech where they have to prospect. We screen for biotech readiness.
Plans vary widely across pharma, tools, and device. We translate against candidate earnings history.
The repeatable system behind our 14-day average hire time.
Call covering product, buyer type, ACV, territory, current pipeline, and team composition.
Map of commercial professionals matched to your buyer type and product technical depth.
Outreach that references your product, buyer, and territory. Response rates 3x generalist agencies.
5-7 finalists with attainment history, deal mix, buyer fluency, and reference flags.
We manage offers, comp plan translation, and start dates.
Directional 2026 U.S. base salary estimates for venture-backed companies. Excludes equity, bonus, and sign-on. Confirm with current market data before extending offers.
| Role | Base Salary Range |
|---|---|
| Field Applications Scientist | $130K–$175K |
| Technical Sales Specialist | $140K–$190K base |
| Enterprise AE (Life Sciences) | $160K–$220K base |
| Regional Sales Director | $200K–$280K base |
| Director, Business Development | $220K–$300K base |
| VP of Sales (Life Sciences) | $280K–$400K base |
Sources: Radford, Pave 2026 data and Recruits Lab placement benchmarks. OTE assumes 60/40 to 70/30 split typical for life sciences sales. Directional only.
Quick answers to the questions founders and hiring leaders ask most.
Hiring a Regional Sales Director requires buyer-matched sourcing, territory residency, and proof of quota attainment in the same buyer segment. Recruits Lab averages 14-21 days from kickoff.
A Field Applications Scientist provides technical pre-sale support, on-site customer training, and post-sale technical service for life sciences instrumentation, tools, and platforms. Most hold a PhD or MS and report into commercial or technical services.
A VP of Sales in life sciences typically earns $280K–$400K base with $500K–$750K OTE at venture-backed companies. Plus equity that varies widely by stage. See our VP of Sales Recruiters page for the full sales leadership comp picture.
Life sciences sales typically involves longer cycles, more technical buyers (R&D, medical affairs, clinical), and product technical depth. SaaS sales typically involves shorter cycles, business-side buyers, and product demo fluency. Candidates rarely transition cleanly between the two.
Needed to build a 6-person field commercial team across 4 regions in two quarters, including 2 Regional Sales Directors, 3 Enterprise AEs, and 1 FAS.
Recruits Lab embedded a dedicated life sciences commercial recruiter on subscription. Built region-by-region target maps and ran parallel outreach.
All 6 roles signed in 5 months. First closed-won deals in month 3 of ramp. Total cost was 35 percent of comparable retained search fees.
"Recruits Lab understands the difference between a tools seller and a pharma seller. Saved us months of bad slates."
"They built our regional sales team in two quarters. Internal HR had filled one role in six months."
Yes. FAS roles are within our practice and frequently paired with commercial team builds.
Yes. Medical device territory managers and capital sales reps are within our practice.
Yes. Most life sciences commercial roles are territory-based. We pre-qualify on territory residency.
Yes. We sign NDAs and run discreet searches.
90-day replacement guarantee on every placement.
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