Experience matters
The Skills Alliance Leadership team bring an unparalleled depth of knowledge and passion to each of our client partnerships through our experience in the life sciences market.
Refreshingly
agile
Our clients often comment on our refreshingly flexible, “can do” approach as a key reason they choose to partner with us — we’ll provide you with an exceptional quality of service that meets your unique business challenges.
Empowered
by technology
Cutting-edge businesses require a recruitment capability that leads the field. We are proud to partner with innovative technology leaders to ensure our people are powered by the most forward looking and effective tools available — which means you always receive the most cost-effective and efficient service possible.
Long-term
partner
We believe in creating long-term partnerships with our clients. It enables us to provide flexible tailored talent acquisition solutions that match your time and budget requirements to meet your business goals.
Global reach,
local expertise
With our network of offices in London, Zurich, New York, Seattle, Frankfurt and Newport Beach and our network of specialist global partners, we’re able to provide a dynamic combination of local expertise and a global delivery capability.
Carl Marotta
Chief Executive Officer BSc (Hons) Physiology & NeuroscienceCarl is a seasoned recruitment leader with twenty years’ experience working within Life Sciences. Carl began his career in drug development & safety before moving into Executive Search & Staffing in 2004. Having taken three companies from start-up to investment across Europe and North America, including the private equity investment by Palatine into Skills Alliance in 2022, Carl is now driving the Skills Alliance Group forwards with the vision of becoming a global leader in the life science workforce solutions space. Alongside his core duties, Carl is future focused, embedding a sustainability framework into Skills Alliance through a transparent ESG programme designed to positively impact our clients, our employees, and the world around us, while creating value.
Global operations
management team
Claire Bligh
Director Global MarketingClaire leads and delivers on the global marketing strategy for Skills Alliance. She is passionate about the world of work and has over 20 years experience in Global Talent Acquisition, creating integrated marketing campaigns and engaging thought leadership for forward thinking Talent Acquisition leaders.
Christopher Cook
Managing Director Global OperationsChris leads our global Operations and the European Contract Division with over 12 years’ experience in Life Sciences. Joining a company of six people, Chris has owned the growth of the Contract business, developing a high performing team and supporting the build out of each vertical across the drug development life-cycle. He now also oversees our global Operations to ensure ambitious growth plans can be met and that our core service lines are offered to consistently high standards.
Bec Barnes
Director Global Talent AcquisitionBec has more than 9 years recruitment experience across a range of specialist markets and has worked in multiple countries including Australia, the UK & the USA. Bec joined Skills Alliance in 2017 and is responsible for our Internal Talent Acquisition function in the UK, Europe and USA.
Tanesha Brown
Director Global Compliance & Human ResourcesTanesha has over 7 years of Legal Compliance experience in the recruitment industry, she leads our global Compliance team who are responsible for ensuring we comply with all our Legal and contractual obligations regarding our clients’ pre-employment screening requirements. Tanesha joined Skills Alliance in 2018 and most recently has taken on the responsibility of our global HR function.
Isabella Morrison
Team Leader Talent AcquisitionIsabella joined Skills Alliance as a Graduate in early 2021, working as part of the Talent Acquisition team to assist with our graduate schemes, experienced hiring, TA branding and onboarding. Isabella works across our global offices, identifying high level talent in the UK, USA and our European offices.
Turgut Sami
Finance Director Global OperationsTurgut joined Skills Alliance in 2016 to oversee the global finance function, taking responsibility for all financial activities along with driving operational efficiencies across the group. Turgut started his career working for Gravita after completing his degree in Finance & Accounting and went on to qualify as a Certified Chartered Accountant in 2010. Turgut has over 10 years’ experience working in the recruitment industry, all within the Life Sciences space and as such has specialist expertise in supporting the growth of recruitment companies from a start-up stage through to investment. In 2022 Skills Alliance completed a private equity investment round, with Turgut leading on all financial and operational aspects of deal execution.
Staffing
management team
Harpreet Mander
Managing Director European PermanentWith over 9 years of recruitment experience, Harpreet started his recruitment career with Phaidon International. He began his career focusing on Medical Affairs and Clinical Development, going on to place several CMOs in the Biotech space. In 2018 he joined Skills Alliance and now leads our European Permanent teams having built the London division from scratch. Harpreet is focussed on growing our global staffing division, both in new and current locations.
Nicole Quirin
Associate Director GermanyNicole started her career in recruitment at Sthree in 2010 and has been working in Life Science industry since then. Building strong Teams from scratch is one of her fortes, and since 2021, she has been responsible for building the german office in Frankfurt. Professionally, her focus lies with the placement of professionals/executives into permanent positions in the areas of Quality, Regulatory, Medical, Market Access, HR and Supply Chain.
Caroline April Sargeant
Senior Vice President SeattleCaroline is a recruitment leader with fourteen years’ global Life Sciences experience. With a BSc in Psychology, she began her career specializing in European R&D recruitment solutions, specifically clinical operations, before joining Skills Alliance in 2015. She moved out to launch our Seattle office and is now driving the US business forwards with the vision of becoming a global leader in the life sciences sector. Caroline is passionate about helping SME biotechnology companies scale up rapidly and brings a wealth of people-centric solutions to her clients.
Mark Anderson
Director UK PermanentMark has worked at Skills Alliance since 2010. He oversees the UK Permanent Division, having previously managed the UK & European Clinical Operations Team for 5 years. Mark also recruits for senior clinical positions in the UK. The team places people from CTA to VP level in the UK and across the whole of Europe. He has over 10 years’ experience recruiting clinical professionals in the UK, Europe and the US.
Akbar Ali
Associate Director European Medical DevicesAkbar joined Skills Alliance in 2019 with 7 years proven Medical Device recruitment experience and has taken on a Team Lead role, focusing on the Medical Device Market and delivering searches across EMEA.
Rachael Parker
Vice-President New YorkRachael joined Skills Alliance in 2016 and possesses over 12 years’ of Life Science recruitment experience. Having successfully managed multiple teams with a global footprint from London, Rachael is now located in New York where she leads an office of experienced recruiters and heads up our East Coast staffing business across both contract and permanent hires.
Jim Bellicoso
Team Leader Procurement & Supply ChainJim brings 9 years of recruitment experience in procurement and supply chain, with a track record delivering at all levels from senior buyer through to VP Supply Chain/Chief Procurement Officer.
Supporting SME and global blue-chip life science organisations for these needs on either a permanent or contract basis. Global network that comprehensively covers the European and US markets.
Mark Damian Crosbie
Team Leader Computational Sciences and Professional ServicesMark Damian joined Skills Alliance in 2020, having focused the previous eight years on leading cross-functional staffing teams in FMCG, Energy, and Life Sciences. He currently manages our Permanent Professional Services and Computational Sciences teams across Europe and the United States; predominately focusing on dedicating his time to providing people-centric solutions that help businesses of all sizes to unlock hidden potential.
Jasmine Stewart
Team Manager ManufacturingJasmine focuses her expertise within in the manufacturing space in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and CDMO industries across France and Benelux. Having a scientific background, she has a passion for the industry and has successfully completed placements in niche areas within the Quality, Regulatory Affairs, Supply Chain, Technical Operations and Site Head departments. She specialises in management level positions to VPs/COOs.
Mos Francis
Team Leader Medical Affairs & Clinical DevelopementMos entered the pharmaceutical industry in 2017 specialising in end to end R&D, Medical Affairs and Commercial staffing solutions across Europe and US, with a proven track record in supporting Biotechs, SMEs and established Pharmaceutical companies. Mos is highly passionate about the candidate and client journey in all his processes, bringing the best people centric approach to his partners.
Lewis Nutley
Team Manager Quality & RegulatorySince joining in 2019 Lewis has supported quality and regulatory contract placements for global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. His team has specialists to support quality and regulatory at every stage of the drug product life cycle and his personal focus is assisting clinical stage biotech’s.
Executive
management team
Oliver Drew
Managing Director Executive SearchOliver has over 8 years’ Executive Search experience in Europe, North America, APAC, and LATAM. After joining Skills Alliance in 2016, he co-founded the Executive Search practice which he now co-leads. Overseeing the Global Delivery team, Oliver and his team have extensive experience leading senior appointments and project work across all functions and geographies.
Eleanor Mason
Manager Executive SearchEleanor has 4 years’ experience working in Chemistry and Life Sciences recruitment across the UK, EU & USA. She joined the Executive Search Delivery team as a Principal at the beginning of 2023 and is responsible for leading searches across all functions in start-ups, SMEs and established global Life Sciences companies.
Consulting
management team
Dan Shillingburg
President & Managing Director North America & ConsultingDan leads our global Consulting practice, which provides tailored enterprise solutions that enable our customers to engage with talent more effectively. He also serves as the President of our US parent company. Dan has been a leader in the talent industry for over a decade, with 14 years of experience bringing workforce solutions to the life sciences sector. His academic background includes a BS in Biology from the University of North Carolina and research in orthopedic biomechanics.
Justin Hoeker
Solutions Architect ConsultingJustin brings extensive experience in talent acquisition, program development, and operations to lead our consulting solutions design. He has implemented, and lead delivery for, RPO and MSP programs of varying scale and created tailored strategies for our client programs. Justin has a strong passion for Life Sciences and novel technology in the industry.
Nicole Romeo
Program Manager ConsultingWith Skills Alliance since 2017, Nicole is a lead Program Manager for both MSP and RPO solutions in North America and Europe. Nicole has specific expertise in continuous improvement and process excellence, and her team plays a key role in creating an outstanding customer experience. Prior to this role, Nicole was a leader in talent acquisition and compliance. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University.
Dave Watson
Vice President ConsultingDave leads the Sales efforts for Consulting. He comes with 20 years experience in creating workforce solutions that help our clients achieve their business goals and objectives. Dave is passionate in building long lasting relationships and delivering thought leadership to help client save lives. He prides himself in understanding the talent chasllenges in the world of world and creating customized soluitions for each client. Dave has BS in Business Administration, with a focus on Marketing and Finance.
