A startup recruitment business is supporting the development of life-changing inventions in the neuro sector by sourcing the high-level talent to drive their ventures forward.
Hanison Green has established a niche as the only recruiter dedicated to neuromodulation and in its first eight months of trading has already helped globally-significant, early-stage businesses including ONWARD, the Swiss-based venture which hopes to launch devices within the next four years to enable paralysed people to regain the ability to move and walk.
With a specialism in supporting startups within neuromodulation, Hanison Green is working globally from its London base, with a primary focus of supporting companies in the US and Europe.
Founded by Lindsay Hartland, formerly a partner in global recruitment business SThree with over 18 years’ experience of permanent STEM leadership recruiting, he decided to form Hanison Green during the pandemic with a mission to ‘do recruitment differently’.
And the business is quickly building its reputation in neuromodulation through bringing in key new figures to leadership teams at strategically important times, maximising their chances of long-term success.
For Lindsay, while establishing a business in a new and unknown sector mid-pandemic was admittedly a risk, it’s one he was eager to take.
“If you’d have asked me eight months ago what neuromodulation was, I would have looked at you blankly, I didn’t know – but I’m a fast learner and we are already very well-connected in this exciting space of medtech” he says.
“I’ve always been really into tech and I’ve recruited in the STEM field for years, and medtech is seeing such huge and rapid development.
“It’s an area which has so much meaning to so many people. I’ve never worked in an industry space where people care so much about the end result, and I find this hugely inspiring.
“My dad had a car crash many years ago, and while he has recovered, he has constant back problems – I’ve found out that neuromodulation could be a treatment that could help.
“This technology can be genuinely life-changing, and it’s still so new that we’re only now starting to understand the possibilities. The potential is limitless.”
In addition to its specialism, Hanison Green’s approach is one that also makes it stand out from the crowd. Keen not to be regarded as a ‘typical recruiter’, its proactive approach is seeing them solve the recruitment problems businesses face, often before they have realised it themselves.
“We have a very pinpointed approach, we aim to be incredibly relevant to the company we approach and are very strategic,” says Lindsay.
“When I approached ONWARD, I had already researched their work and saw they were several years away from commercialisation, and also noticed they didn’t have a strategic commercial leader in place as yet. Anticipating that this was something likely to be under consideration, I approached them with someone I knew could help them prepare for market.
“It’s normal for CEOs to wear many hats within the business they are leading, particularly within a startup environment, but that takes them away from what that should be doing.
“We realise that and through our strategic approach, we can anticipate a leader they will be needing to guide them through their next stages of growth, and we provide that talent proactively.”
Lindsay’s highly strategic approach also extends to sourcing the candidates for these businesses.
“Generally, the talent we find is headhunted – very, very rarely are they on jobs boards, or engaged with other recruiters. Our goal is to work with the best talent, irrespective of whether they are actively on the market or not,” he says.
“I’ll tend to look for someone who has been with the same company for around four to eight years, with several promotions achieved during this time. It shows loyalty, that they’re serious about their career and are good at what they do. For me, this profile already tells me they are likely a great candidate.
“Recruitment is often seen as a numbers game, and admittedly doesn’t have a great reputation. It’s seen as an area where the recruiter throws hundreds of CVs out there in the hope something sticks, where candidates are farmed out all over the marketplace – but we want to be known for our relevance, and for the calibre of the talent we represent.”
A new and dynamic business, Hanison Green was set up during the pandemic at a time when Lindsay had the opportunity to think about the future for his family, and to see where the journey of setting up his own business would take him.
And for Lindsay, he’s happy to let that journey continue, and be guided by the opportunities and the marketplace.
“I’ve come from a corporate world where it’s all about business planning, growth, profit, all kinds of stuff like that. Everything is mapped out and fixed, and everything has to get signed-off – but I’m now really excited about the unknown,” he says.
“We’re occupying a great space in the market and will continue to build that further. We will not deviate from neuromodulation but beyond that, I don’t really have a plan for the future.
“I’m back to frontline, hands-on recruitment, which I had been out of for some years through being a partner, and I think in my older age too and having kids, I felt the need to become a role model to them, and to put my experience to better use.
“To work in something as big as this, where the end result is saving and improving the quality of people’s lives, is very meaningful indeed.”
