Rare Disease Recruiting Case Study: 135 Hires Across a National Talent Ecosystem

29 Oct, 2026

Building a national rare disease organization requires more than recruiting a commercial sales force. Life sciences companies need experienced professionals across Commercial, Medical Affairs, Market Access, Patient Education, and Leadership, often within overlapping hiring timelines.

BEC Search partnered with a leading life sciences company to recruit 135 specialized professionals across eight role types, supporting a major national expansion. Through our Direct Recruiting Outsourcing® (DRO) model, BEC coordinated the recruiting effort while directly targeting experienced professionals for each position.

Results at a Glance

• 135 Specialized Hires across a national rare disease organization
• 59-Day Average Time to Fill from the date each position was assigned
• 99.3% Offer Acceptance Rate across the recruiting initiative
• 8 Specialized Role Types spanning five functional areas

Positions were released in staggered phases throughout the engagement.

The Client: A Growing Rare Disease Organization

A life sciences company expanding its national rare disease organization needed to build teams across multiple functions and territories.

The hiring initiative included field sales, medical affairs, strategic accounts, reimbursement, patient education, and regional and national leadership positions. Each role required specialized experience, and the organization needed a recruiting partner capable of managing a large-scale expansion while meeting hiring and training schedules.

The Challenge: Recruiting Specialized Talent Across Multiple Functions

Building a national rare disease team presents challenges beyond the number of open positions. The client needed a recruiting strategy that could:

• Recruit Specialized Talent: Identify and engage experienced professionals in competitive rare disease talent markets.
• Coordinate Cross-Functional Hiring: Manage recruiting across Commercial, Medical Affairs, Market Access, Patient Education, and Leadership.
• Meet Training Schedules: Coordinate hiring as positions were released in phases, keeping new hires aligned with scheduled training dates.
• Adapt to Changing Priorities: Adjust recruiting strategies as territories were restructured and organizational needs evolved.
• Maintain a Consistent Process: Provide an organized hiring experience across multiple teams, hiring managers, and territories.

The challenge was managing the scale of a national expansion while maintaining the individual attention required for each specialized search.

The Solution: Direct Recruiting Outsourcing® (DRO)

BEC supported the expansion through its Direct Recruiting Outsourcing® (DRO) model, combining the coordination of a large-scale recruiting initiative with direct-target recruiting for every position.

Working as an extension of the client’s internal Talent Acquisition team, BEC provided:

• Direct-Target Recruiting: Identified and engaged experienced professionals, including those not actively seeking new opportunities, with backgrounds aligned to each role and therapeutic area.
• Specialized Life Sciences Recruiters: Assigned experienced recruiters to searches across Commercial, Medical Affairs, Market Access, Patient Education, and Leadership.
• Integrated Hiring Coordination: Worked directly within the client’s applicant tracking system (ATS), maintaining visibility across candidate pipelines, interviews, and hiring activity.
• Flexible Recruiting Support: Adjusted searches as territory boundaries and hiring priorities changed throughout the engagement.
• Consistent Communication: Worked closely with Talent Acquisition and hiring leaders to coordinate candidate activity, maintain alignment, and meet scheduled training dates.

This approach allowed BEC to manage a high volume of specialized searches while remaining responsive to the client’s changing needs.

The Results: 135 Specialized Hires Across Eight Role Types

BEC successfully placed 135 professionals across five functional areas, helping the client build a coordinated national rare disease organization.

Commercial and Sales

• 94 Sales Representatives
• 7 Strategic Account Managers

Medical Affairs

• 16 Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs), including Academic MSLs

Market Access and Reimbursement

• 5 Field Reimbursement Managers
• 4 Federal Account Directors

Patient Education

• 4 Patient Education Liaisons

Regional and National Leadership

• 4 Regional Business Directors
• 1 National Director, Site of Care

The Impact: Building a Complete Rare Disease Organization

The results extended well beyond filling positions on a national sales team.

BEC helped the client build an organization spanning Commercial, Medical Affairs, Market Access, Patient Education, and Leadership. These teams serve distinct functions, but each plays an important role in supporting a company’s broader commercial and patient-focused objectives.

With 135 professionals placed, an average time to fill of 59 days, and a 99.3% offer acceptance rate, the engagement demonstrated BEC’s ability to manage a large-scale recruiting initiative while maintaining a targeted approach to each search.

Despite staggered hiring schedules and territory adjustments, BEC worked alongside the client’s internal teams to meet planned training dates and support the national expansion.

For rare disease companies preparing for commercialization or expanding an established organization, this level of coordination is essential. Recruiting across multiple functions requires specialized talent networks, an understanding of each role, and the ability to adapt as business needs change.

Partner With BEC Search

Since 1979, BEC Search has partnered with life sciences and healthcare organizations to recruit executive leaders, specialized professionals, and national teams.

Whether preparing for a first commercial launch, expanding into new therapeutic markets, or building teams across multiple functions, BEC provides Executive Retained Search, Professional Search, and Direct Recruiting Outsourcing® (DRO) services tailored to each client’s hiring needs.

Planning a national expansion or building a specialized life sciences team?

Contact BEC Search to discuss your recruiting needs.