GRAIL | Bowdoin

Client Opportunity

GRAIL is a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early when it can be cured. They focus on alleviating the global burden of cancer by developing pioneering technology to detect and identify multiple deadly cancer types early. GRAIL uses the power of next-generation sequencing, population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to enhance the scientific understanding of cancer biology and develop its multi-cancer early detection blood test.

They partnered with The Bowdoin Group to help grow their operations team with a Senior Vice President of Global Technology and Operations to oversee the facility expansion and operations in Menlo Park, CA, and a new facility in RTP. The client’s goal was to engage with a candidate with deep experience in operations and the ability to build and grow a world-class lab operation designed with automation and scale.

The perfect candidate:

15+ years of experience in Operations in the diagnostics industry, including the development of products from concept to commercial launch and scale-up
Strong leadership experience managing direct reports and influencing in a matrix environment, with a specific focus on clearly setting expectations and performance management
Demonstrated experience running lab operations for a high-throughput, high volume laboratory and with proven success delivering at scale
Proven ability to work cross-functionally and collaboratively with multiple groups, including R&D, Clinical Laboratory, Regulatory, Quality, and Commercial, to successful product launch and other organizations

TBG Process

Build a list of LDT/diagnostic companies in the Northern California area and identify all Lab Operations leaders that are Director level and above from these companies
Based on a limited candidate market within the Northern California area and the difficulty in relocating candidates, expand sourcing concentrically and eventually nationally
Network with leaders in the life sciences space

Services:
- Executive Search
Placements:
- Senior VP of Global Technology and Operations
Employee Count:
- 500+
Funding Rounds:
- Series D

Client Result

As a result, the team met with thirteen qualified candidates sent by the Bowdoin team and welcomed their new Senior Vice President of Global Technology and Operations in January 2022.