Client - Creavo Medical Technologies
Roles - Director of Operations & Supply Chain
Overview
Creavo Medical Technologies Ltd is a UK-based, privately held medical device company engaged in the development of innovative imaging technologies relating to cardiology. The company was formed to commercialise sensor technology developed by Professor Ben Varcoe, Chair of Quantum Information Science at Leeds University and has facilities in Leeds and in Warwickshire.
Vitalscan received CE Marking and US FDA 510(k) approvals in 2017, to date the business has raised a significant PE investment and will commercialise in 2021.
The Role
Reporting to the CEO, the Director of Operations and Supply Chain would have control of the Quality and Regulatory functions and be responsible for developing the manufacturing and supply chain processes as the business prepares for commercialisation.
The ideal candidate profile was someone who had implemented robust quality processes from scratch and worked in capital equipment within medical devices. Culturally they would be someone happy to work as part of a small team with an entrepreneurial spirit.
Creavo’s offices are in Coventry and the role would be primarily based in the office when not travelling.
Approach & Outcome
Creavo engaged RMG to manage the campaign on a Retained Executive Search (headhunting) basis. This involved RMG identifying individuals with the relevant experience working for medical device manufacturers and proactively approaching them to discuss the role and establish their interest.
Within a month of the project brief being signed, RMG had delivered a shortlist of four candidates who had all been interviewed in person to Creavo,
Following a robust three-stage interview process from Creavo which involved meeting with the Chairman of the company, an offer was made to the successful candidate. They had an engineering background and had progressed within a medium sized medical imaging business from a field service role to heading up the operations function globally. Due to the high potential for growth with Creavo and the exciting nature of the technology RMG was able to entice the candidate away from a business they had worked in for 15 years of continuous employment.
An offer was accepted, and the candidate joined in July 2018. In 2019 the individual was promoted to ‘COO’ which included a seat on the board.
This is an excellent example of where RMG delivered a high calibre individual to our client who was not an active job seeker and did not have an updated CV when we made our initial approach. It is very unlikely that this individual would have been sourced through other means given they were not registered with recruitment agencies or indeed had even considered looking for a new role.
“Due to the success of a previous hiring partnership CREAVO engaged RMG to source a ‘head of supply chain and operations’, a key role in the organisation leading the regulatory, quality and product development teams taking our disruptive diagnostic technology through the R&D development stage and to manufacturing. After managing a thorough Retained Executive Search campaign RMG recruited the role and the successful candidate started with us in the Summer of 2018.
The successful candidate made a seamless transition into this new role, quickly adapting to our company culture due to his past experience of working in a start-up medtech business which grew rapidly and was subsequently promoted to take a seat on the CREAVO board. In the last 2.5 years he has established robust processes and infrastructure and led total product development and regulatory compliance.
Working at the forefront of technology in such a highly regulated market clearly has its challenges and to keep the team engaged and focused on the key milestones has been a key impact of the individual’s contribution. He has been a major factor in our drive towards commercialisation.”
– Creavo CEO Steve Parker