In most of plastics, changing a material is an engineering decision. In medical, it's a submission. That single difference shapes everything about who you can hire and how long it takes them to be useful.
Where we place
Materials & polymers
Medical-grade resin and compound development, biocompatibility, materials selection and technical service into device manufacturers.
Device manufacturing
Process and tooling engineering, validation, cleanroom moulding and extrusion, and manufacturing leadership in regulated environments.
Quality & regulatory
Quality management, design assurance and regulatory affairs across FDA and EU MDR routes.
Commercial
Technical sales, key account and product management selling regulated materials to a highly technical, risk-averse buyer.
Why this is not ordinary plastics hiring
EU MDR reset the demand curve
The move from MDD to MDR expanded the evidence, documentation and post-market surveillance burden across the industry at once. Quality and regulatory professionals with genuine MDR experience became one of the most contested groups in European manufacturing, and demand has not eased.
Validation experience is not optional
A brilliant process engineer from automotive or packaging can often make the technical leap into medical. What they can't shortcut is the discipline of working inside a validated process, where an undocumented improvement is a deviation. Assessing whether someone will thrive under that rather than chafe against it is most of a good technical interview here.
Change control slows the feedback loop
New hires in medical take longer to demonstrably add value, because the things they'd change take months to change. Hiring managers used to faster sectors sometimes read that as underperformance when it's the system working as designed.
Supply chain scrutiny reaches the material
Resin changes, additive substitutions and even supplier site moves can trigger requalification. That makes materials expertise disproportionately valuable, and makes losing it disproportionately expensive.
How we work
Retained for quality and regulatory leadership, site management and confidential replacements, with a twelve-month replacement guarantee, which matters more in a sector where a hire takes longer to prove out. Contingent for technical and commercial roles with an active market.
Questions we get asked
Can process engineers move into medical from other plastics sectors?
Frequently yes, on the technical side. The harder question is whether they will work comfortably inside a validated process where improvements require documented change control, that is worth probing properly at interview.
Why is EU MDR experience so in demand?
The transition from MDD to MDR increased evidence, documentation and post-market surveillance requirements across the industry simultaneously, creating sector-wide demand for quality and regulatory professionals faster than the pool could grow.
Do you recruit for medical packaging as well as devices?
Yes: sterile barrier systems and medical packaging sit in the same regulated environment and draw on an overlapping talent pool.
How long does a new technical hire take to add value in medical plastics?
Longer than in other plastics sectors, because change control governs the pace at which anything can be altered. That is a feature of the regulatory system rather than a signal about the hire.
Hiring into a regulated environment?
Tell us about the role. We'll be straight with you about who exists in the market and what they cost.
Book a Confidential Briefing →