Life Sciences Recruiter Expands to the German Market
October 1, 2015 – Global life sciences search specialist Coulter Partners has expanded into Germany with the opening of new offices in Frankfurt and Berlin. The firm has appointed Anne-Monika Dürk as executive vice president, Thomas Pilz as research associate and Dr. Christoph Themel as principal.
“We have worked in Germany for many years and some of our work has been for major multinational pharma companies headquartered there with whom we have built global relationships, serving them in multiple locations including their home markets,” said CEO Bianca Coulter.
“We have seen major growth in activity there for our firm recently and met a like-minded Germany-based team who complement our global focus in the medical technology sector. So we decided to increase our investment in this key market. Germany always has been and always will be a hugely important marketplace for our clients, and therefore for us.”
Ms. Dürk will head the Frankfurt team with a focus on senior level international assignments across a broad range of functions in the medical technology, pharmaceuticals, and biotech sectors. Drawing on a record in manufacturing, and marketing & sales roles, she has more than a decade of experience in life sciences executive search. Most recently she was a partner within the global life sciences & healthcare practice in Frankfurt at CTPartners. Previously, Ms. Dürk was managing partner with Signium International, which she joined in 2012, following 10 years as an executive search consultant with Eric Salmon & Partners. She has additional search experience in the consumer goods, chemicals, cosmetics, food and agricultural industries and spent several years in academic research before embarking on a career in recruiting.
Mr. Pilz joins Coulter Partners with three years’ experience in international executive search, focused primarily on life sciences. He will work on board and senior level research assignments across a broad spectrum of the industry from VC-backed companies to large-scale pharmaceuticals. His previous experience in senior level research, project management and operations took place with Signium International.
Dr. Themel, who has been based in the Coulter’s London office for the last three years, will relocate to Berlin to grow the business in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). With an emphasis on recruiting C-suite and top level commercial, medical, clinical development and research professionals, he has conducted search work across the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical sectors. He recently completed a large number of searches in the DACH region, including a corporate VP respiratory medicine and oncology business unit head for a German pharma company; he is also helping to build the executive management team of a privately owned biotech organization in the region. He has over 10 years in life sciences executive search and joined Coulter Partners in 2012.
Coulter Partners has made nine new appointments this year to augment its dedicated life sciences research and delivery expertise. The team now includes PhD and MD-qualified researchers, language proficiencies in Russian, Bulgarian, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Danish and Swedish and specialized expertise in business psychology and human resource management. In addition to Germany, Coulter currently operates overseas offices in the U.K., Switzerland, and Denmark. In the U.S., the firm has offices in Princeton, Boston and Morristown.
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media