1) The Snapshot

Client: Affiliated Primate Research and Services Platform
Structure: Multiple interrelated entities under shared ownership
Business Lines: CDC Quarantine & Import, breeding colonies, GLP CRO services, bioproducts manufacturing
Engagement Type: Multi-year strategic recruiting partnership
Scope: Senior leadership and individual contributor placements across multiple sites and divisions

2) The Situation

The organization operated several interconnected primate-focused businesses that had grown rapidly over time. While the platform had expanded in size, services, and complexity, leadership structures had not evolved at the same pace.

Challenges included:

• Regulatory complexity across quarantine, breeding, CRO, and manufacturing environments
• Scarcity of qualified leadership with primate-specific expertise
• Challenging relocation markets
• Legacy market perception driven by outdated press
• A transition from family-owned, small-business operations to a more unified, multi-site platform

Ownership and senior leadership needed partners who could not only recruit talent, but also understand how leadership decisions in one entity affected the entire platform.

3) The Target Profiles

Across the platform, RPM ReSearch recruited and placed leaders at multiple levels:

Senior leadership roles:

• Site Directors with full operational and strategic responsibility
• Attending Veterinarians overseeing clinical programs and regulatory compliance
• A Site Director / Chief Scientific Officer for the bioproducts division
• Head of Sales to build commercial infrastructure and active business development

Individual contributor roles:

• Laboratory Animal Clinical Veterinarians
• Sales professionals supporting bioproducts growth

Across all roles, success required:

• Deep primate experience and credibility
• Comfort operating in highly regulated environments
• Ability to lead in growing, evolving organizations
• Cultural fit for long-term retention, not short-term backfill

4) Our Approach

This engagement was executed as a single platform partnership, not a series of isolated searches.

Role definition from scratch:
 For every position, RPM ReSearch built job descriptions, success metrics, and leadership expectations through direct conversations with ownership and senior leaders. No searches began with a pre-existing job description.

Platform-level insight:
 By working simultaneously across CDC quarantine operations, breeding colonies, CRO services, and bioproducts manufacturing, RPM ReSearch developed a holistic understanding of:

• Business goals
• Cultural dynamics
• Leadership gaps
• Organizational maturity

Market execution:
 With little to no inbound applicant flow, all searches were conducted through proactive executive search, relationship-building, referrals, and sustained networking across the primate and laboratory animal medicine ecosystem.

5) Proof of Work

Placements across the platform included:

• CDC Quarantine & Import Facility
  • Site Director
  • Attending Veterinarian
  • 4 Laboratory Animal Clinical Veterinarians
  • Support during expansion into breeding capacity and multi-building growth
• Primate Breeding Organization
  • Site Director (to lead through a growth inflection point)
  • Breeding Colony Manager
  • 5 Veterinarians
  • Introduction of a specialized expert with experience in genetically modified pig breeding, IVF optimization, and model development — significantly improving breeding efficiency
• Bioproducts Manufacturing Division
  • Site Director / Chief Scientific Officer
  • Head of Sales to transition from passive to active business development
  • Senior Sales Professional to support commercial scale
• Additional Support
  • 5 Laboratory Animal Clinical Veterinarians placed within affiliated operations that were later consolidated onsite

Total placements:

• 6 senior leadership hires
• 10 individual contributor hires