Recruitment Optimisation - SaaS Tech Scale-Up

Client: Sapio Sciences – USA & UK
Sector: Bio-Tech Life Sciences
Service: Transform with I.M.P.A.C.T
Phases Delivered: Discover, Design, Deliver inc. 6 to 12 month Continuous Improvement plan
Role: Consultant

• As Sapio Sciences prepared for global growth, it became clear that recruitment operations were not equipped to scale, with gaps emerging across capability, technology, process and governance
• The organisation had not yet selected an ATS and required a full market review, selection and implementation
• Manual technical assessments were slowing hiring and consuming large amounts of hiring manager time
• Hiring managers required consistent structure, guidance and tools
• The business needed to shift from reactive hiring to a scalable recruitment model that supported long-term growth

Sapio Sciences was scaling quickly but recruitment operations had not evolved at the same pace. Processes varied by team, technology wasn’t fit for purpose and hiring managers lacked the tools to deliver consistently. Manual assessments slowed decision making and added unnecessary admin and pressure to the recruitment process.

The Head of Recruitment was the only person responsible for recruitment delivery. This meant all time was spent filling vacancies, leaving no capacity for deep project work or strategic transformation. Specialist expertise was needed in a few areas, such as ATS selection, system configuration, assessment redesign and skills-first modelling.

Without additional support, the team could not deliver day-to-day hiring while also redesigning the recruitment model. Sapio needed external expertise to create a scalable solution across technology, process, governance and hiring manager capability.

Using the Transform with I.M.P.A.C.T framework, I led Sapio Sciences through a complete discovery, design and deliver programme to reposition recruitment as a strategic function.

This involved:

• Conducting a full ATS market review and leading an RFP process including demos, evaluation and shortlisting
• Selecting the preferred ATS and delivering an end-to-end implementation including configuration, workflows, automation and HRIS integration
• Consolidating career sites to improve candidate experience and consistency
• Introducing structured interview and assessment processes to improve fairness and quality
• Creating a comprehensive Hiring Manager Toolkit with guidance, templates and resources
• Developing hiring manager training frameworks to embed capability and confidence
• Establishing recruitment governance with SLAs, decision points and clear accountability
• Supporting HR with skills mapping to enable a skills-first approach
• Running an RFP for an online assessment platform projected to save 100 hours of hiring manager time
• Leading the full project with structured communication, stakeholder alignment and delivery oversight

Sapio Sciences achieved a significant uplift in recruitment capability, consistency and visibility.

• A fully selected, implemented and integrated ATS supporting global hiring
• A unified and engaging candidate experience through a consolidated recruitment journey
• Hiring managers equipped with consistent tools, interview guides and a complete Hiring Manager Toolkit
• Assessment improvements that increased fairness and reduced hiring manager workload
• Recruitment governance in place creating clarity, consistency and stronger operational discipline
• Strong foundations for skills-first recruitment through early skills mapping
• A detailed 6 to 12 month continuous improvement plan handed over to guide further optimisation