Background:
A large global Quality Assurance company approached Shirley Parsons North America, seeking assistance help find their new Director of Toxicology.
They needed a new Director of Toxicology to grow/promote this part of their food and nutrition business. Some of the key roles of this position included; leading and guiding clients on matter related to food/animal feed ingredient compliance, client relations, guidance and applicable statutes related to ingredient approvals on a global basis (with a primary focus on the North American market). This role combined global regulatory affairs with the knowledge of food toxicology.
The ideal candidate needed a minimum of master’s degree, and a PhD was considered a plus. Another requirement was having professional experience using GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe), which we found not be too common. However, it was required for this position as it was for a division within the company that regulated farm Animal feed.
Implementation:
As this was a very specific search, we had to narrow down potential candidates to a small list of 30 that had the requirements. This was a remote based position which allowed us to reach out to more candidates. After speaking to the eventual candidate, who was ready to leave his previous employer, which was a competitor company, he was very clear with what he wanted and this was communicated to the client company. He had a PhD, and all of the requirements and also had many years of professional experience with GRAS, working in a similar role for that company.
Outcome:
The candidate did receive another offer, but thanks to our communication with the client, they were able to present the candidate with everything he was hoping to receive, and he signed on and returned the offer almost immediately upon receiving it. The hiring team was so excited to fill this role, as it had been open for some time prior to Shirley Parsons beginning our search.
The new Director of Toxicology will use their expertise to create projects and submission to help the organization grow their consulting services in this industry. Not having someone in this role would greatly affect the team and delay progress on growing this section of their consulting services.