How Digital Science made 61 hires with Funded.club and saved €511k on recruiting costs
As an umbrella organization for multiple scientific research and life sciences brands, Digital Science relied in Funded.club to support their hiring managers in making critical hires across the US, Europe and APAC.
Our Results
![Screenshot 2024-06-06 at 08.47.56](https://funded.club/hubfs/Screenshot%202024-06-06%20at%2008.47.56.png)
35.95
Avg days to hire
![Screenshot 2024-06-06 at 08.48.04](https://funded.club/hubfs/Screenshot%202024-06-06%20at%2008.48.04.png)
100%
Project success rate
![Screenshot 2024-06-06 at 08.47.42-1](https://funded.club/hubfs/Screenshot%202024-06-06%20at%2008.47.42-1.png)
75%
Reduced hiring costs
![Rocket Black](https://funded.club/hubfs/Rocket%20Black.png)
2440
Hours saved (hiring team)
Digital Science
"Digital Science was launched in 2010 after our founders realised that science had yet to seize the opportunities offered by digital technologies transforming our lives. The software that researchers, academic institutions, publishers, funders, and industrial research organisations used at that time, was largely home-built or niche. We believed we could develop and deliver the high-quality software tools that researchers deserved.
We started off with a team of five people. Today, we have more than 500 colleagues in over 20 countries worldwide, and we work with hundreds of partners to deliver value and success.
Over the years we have added a broad range of trusted software, insights, analytics, and content to meet the community’s needs. Digital Science is now a vibrant mix of the companies that we’ve invested in over the last decade, and our customers benefit from the deep domain expertise associated with each of the products.
Today, Digital Science is a trusted partner providing research workflow solutions and data and analytical insights."
![digital-science-social-logo-1](https://funded.club/hs-fs/hubfs/digital-science-social-logo-1.png?width=512&height=512&name=digital-science-social-logo-1.png)
Main objectives
- Help each portfolio company reach its growth and revenue goals through sales and specialist hires
- Build and protect Digital Science's portfolio of brands in the candidate marketplace
- Support central HR's long-term goals for hiring support
The challenge
When we met them in 2021, Digital Science were already a significant player in scientific research and life sciences, but they had limited resources for talent acquisition.
The central HR team were supporting HR administration and strategy. Hiring managers were largely left to hire for themselves and were struggling to find the right candidates through job ads or networking their own contacts. Leadership teams were also spending too much time reviewing poor quality candidate applications.
A key challenge in hiring for a diverse range of portfolio companies was understanding the talent landscape for all the skills they needed for different teams in different countries - UK, Germany, US, Australia...
Our dedicated recruiter had to figure out "Who were their key competitors? Which companies had talent and in which countries that we could source from?"
We also needed to collaborate closely with the VP of HR and help the central HR team help their hiring managers better in the long run with.
![standard-quality-1](https://funded.club/hubfs/standard-quality-1.webp)
The Solution
Collaborating closely with the management team since Jan 2021, Funded.club has supported multiple portfolio companies of Digital Science with critical business, marketing, management and specialist hiring.
With our global team of recruiters, we were able to match each requirement with a local recruiter with the same industry knowledge in scientific research, life sciences or technology.
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Kick-off calls for each candidate search with the key decision makers at each portfolio company. Such detailed conversations and preparation were critical to deciding the tactics for each hire including sourcing channels, locations, screening process, salaries etc.
- Advance payment: We sent an invoice for a small advance against the fixed project fee before starting each search. This payment validated our Exclusivity for each search and ensured the customer had some "skin in the game".
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Headhunting and job promotion: With a dedicated recruiter for each specific search, we got to work on headhunting specific candidates through outbound messaging and calls. We used a mix of different channels for our candidate research (not just Linkedin!) and some magic tools to get a candidate's attention.
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Candidate screening: After pitching a candidate on an opportunity, our recruiters moved through their screening process with qualifying questions and used scorecards to decide on a shortlist of candidates for each role.
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First candidates in 7 days: We presented a number of qualified candidates for quick feedback and iteration on the search.
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Shortlist of candidates in 14 days: 3-5 candidates per search were shortlisted with all our screening notes and recommendations.
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Interview scheduling: We scheduled and coordinated all interviews to ensure a smooth process.
- Weekly calls and reports: 20-min calls were booked each week to ensure we stay in sync with hiring managers and keep the process moving forward. Every search also generated a weekly report by email on a Friday to ensure all stakeholders were kept in the loop.
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Final selection, offer and negotiations: We helped Supernova negotiate fair offers and conditions for a wide range of candidates in different countries.
- Candidate database pools. Several hires were made form "older" searches where hiring managers reached out to former candidates and offered jobs 6 or 9 months later when new requirements emerged.
All hiring managers were able to track the progress of their search in our free Applicant Tracking System (ATS) at any time, being able to see all notes and recommendations on all candidates - not just those on the shortlist. Such transparency helped in rapid decision and prevented FOMO in the recruiting process :)
Each project was "owned" by an experienced recruiter with the same local and industry knowledge.
This dedicated recruiter interviewed all candidates and also kept the hiring manager updated. Such close project management by a single person allowed us to calibrate the search between the hiring manager's expectations and the candidate market.
Each project was also overseen by our VP of Recruiting to keep project timelines on track and to act as a backup for the dedicated recruiter.
The Result
Digital Science helped their portfolio companies and hiring managers grow their teams efficiently and keep up with the ambitions of their founders and CEOs.
We helped Digital Science negotiate salaries in the UK, Europe, US, Australia etc and to source candidates with a proven track record of getting results in a remote or hybrid team, keeping the business lean and poised for more rapid growth.
Digital Science paid a low fixed fee per search, committed to Exclusivity on a job-by-job basis under Funded.club's standard terms. This approach allowed the group of companies to hire the best talent in the world while also saving approx €511k in recruiting costs compared with traditional recruitment agencies.
Over 3 years of close cooperation, our candidate sourcing speed - based on our growing market knowledge - improved a lot and averaged 35 days overall from kick-off call to hire.
Job titles filled:
Business Development and Sales: Business Development Manager, Business Development Manager - Publishing, Corporate Business Development Manager, Corporate Business Development Manager, Figshare Business Development Manager, Global Business Operations Associate, Corporate Sales Manager, Corp Sales Mgr, Sales Manager - Corp, Sales Executive - Academic, Senior Account Manager - Science & Technology - Government Sector, Solutions Sales Account Manager, Sales Solutions, Client Success Specialist
Analysis and Data: Acct/Fin Analyst, DATA ANALYST, Data Analyst, Digital Data Consulting Scientist, Senior Pricing Manager, Federal Account Manager, Life Science Vendor, Academic Account Manager
Specialized Roles: Product Solutions Chemistry, Product Solutions Specialist, Software Quality Assurance Engineer
Marketing and Communications: Digital Marketing Manager, Marketing Manager, Sr. Marketing Exec
Management and Leadership: Change Manager, Recruitment & Onboarding Manager, Sr. Project Manager, Global Proposals Manager, Executive Assistant
61
Hires made
35
Avg days to hire
100%
Success rate
511787
€s saved on hiring
Let's talk about scaling your own teams:
How Funded.club Can Help You
- Determine and define project scope and objectives
- Predict resources needed to reach objectives and manage resources in an effective and efficient manner
- Prepare budget based on scope of work and resource requirements
- Track project costs in order to meet budget
- Develop and manage a detailed project schedule and work plan
- Provide project updates on a consistent basis to various stakeholders about strategy, adjustments, and progress
![img-prof](https://funded.club/hs-fs/hubfs/funded-images2022/img-prof.png?width=500&height=500&name=img-prof.png)
Ray Gibson, CEO & Founder
Let's TalkTestimonials
"Funded.club was absolutely an integral piece of our process to find-test-hire people for our company lately. This not only saved us quite literally munltiple months of work in pre-screenings, but also efficient in finding candidates that we basically removed the need for a recruitment team altogether. this allowed us to focus resources on more critical things that every company should be doing, like building the product!"
![jiri-testimonials-draft-image-for-funded-club-recovered_orig-1](https://funded.club/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported%20sitepage%20images/jiri-testimonials-draft-image-for-funded-club-recovered_orig-1.png?width=237&height=230&name=jiri-testimonials-draft-image-for-funded-club-recovered_orig-1.png)
Jiří Třečák
CEO & HEAD OF TECHNOLOGYSUPERNOVA(Y COMBINATOR ALUMNI W19)
"Working with Funded.club has been a wonderful experience. The staff is highly experienced, saved us tons of time and are results driven. All of it is a fraction of traditional recruitment agency costs. Highly recommended for fast-growing startups and scale-ups!"
![johannes-testimonials-draft-image-for-funded-club-recovered_orig-1](https://funded.club/hs-fs/hubfs/johannes-testimonials-draft-image-for-funded-club-recovered_orig-1.png?width=250&height=240&name=johannes-testimonials-draft-image-for-funded-club-recovered_orig-1.png)
Johannnes Koeppel
CO-FOUNDER & CEOWETRAVEL
"We were struggling to find the right person for our senior dev role and so got in touch with Funded.Club. They quickly found candidates that fitted with our requirements and culture and we were able to fill the position. Thanks to Emma for your effort which saved us lots of time and cost."
![Tony Stanley mSupply Testimonials draft image for funded-club](https://funded.club/hs-fs/hubfs/Tony%20Stanley%20mSupply%20Testimonials%20draft%20image%20for%20funded-club.png?width=255&height=244&name=Tony%20Stanley%20mSupply%20Testimonials%20draft%20image%20for%20funded-club.png)
Tony Stanley
PEOPLE AND OPERATIONS MANAGERMSUPPLY, NEW ZEALAND
"At Tesseract.io we are constantly looking for talents to join our ever-growing team. The Funded.Club team has helped tremendously in our hiring process. In addition to the responsiveness, they provide weekly summaries throughout the hiring progress. Candidates presented were pre-screened and of good quality. Candidates start streaming in very quickly after our kick-off meeting, usually within the same week. They've helped us with multiple technical positions that we previously struggled to fill. We will definitely use them for future hires. "
![Colin Lee Tessearct Testimonial FundedClub-1-1](https://funded.club/hs-fs/hubfs/Colin%20Lee%20Tessearct%20Testimonial%20FundedClub-1-1.png?width=261&height=250&name=Colin%20Lee%20Tessearct%20Testimonial%20FundedClub-1-1.png)
Colin Lee
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICERTESSERACT.IO, SINGAPORE
"We worked with Bulent and Funded.club to successfully recruit a Senior Software Engineer. Bulent advised us on the brief, provided valuable insights on salary ranges and then worked diligently to provide us with an excellent shortlist of candidates. Bulent is a great communicator and provided straightforward advice which helped us rapidly conclude our search confident we had the best candidate in the market for our brief."
![Julian Thorne circle](https://funded.club/hs-fs/hubfs/Julian%20Thorne%20circle.png?width=337&height=337&name=Julian%20Thorne%20circle.png)