Why Real Staffing?
As a STEM talent specialist, Real Staffing partners with dynamic companies working at the cutting edge of biotech, digital health and medical devices, all for the greater good of society.
Among our clients is medical devices start-up Manus Neurodynamica. The company is radically innovating healthcare management in the emerging field of diagnostics for neuromotor impairments, initially in Parkinson’s Disease. It has created the Neuromotor PenTM, a handheld device that gives doctors a much deeper understanding of a patient’s motor symptoms. This novel tech also offers a faster, more accurate diagnosis, which brings efficiencies and cost-savings and ultimately improves the patient experience.
Knowing the difference its product can make to streamlining patient care, the goal of Founding CEO Rutger Zietsma is to make it more broadly available to the public internationally. Zietsma wanted to recruit someone who could take on a key commercial leadership role within the business. Real Staffing had previously partnered with Manus Neurodynamica to fill a regulatory lead role in the US. And Zietsma says he was “impressed with the recruitment process with the team in the US” so he got back in touch for more help in the UK.
The requirements
Zietsma wanted to recruit a VP of Sales, to take the lead in the sales efforts and commercial development of the company in Europe. Manus Neurodynamica has just launched in Italy, through a new partnership within the prevention screening space. “I needed someone who could really help drive sales for the business,” says Zietsma.
Roberto Marcucci immediately stood out to Zietsma, with his “ample experience in the neurology clinical markets, and existing connections with distributors in this field”. Zietsma adds: “Roberto also has both direct sales and distribution management experience and he is very driven, as well as relational. It was felt he would be an excellent fit with our team."
Being based in Italy and speaking the language is extremely helpful for the company’s ongoing activities there, according to Zietsma: “To be able to have conversations in Italian as well as fully understanding the culture is a huge benefit going into a physician’s practice or pharmacy.”
Anjam Khan, Principal Consultant at Real Staffing, who worked closely with Zietsma to find the right candidate, says: “It was a tough role to fill as the skills needed were a blend of commercial sales, strategic commercial planning, knowledge of direct sales, distribution and to top it off, neuro market expertise.”
How we helped
Khan contacted a huge number of potential candidates across Europe and put together a shortlist of UK and European candidates before finding someone who ticked all the boxes. For us, it’s always about finding the right person who will fit with the business; it’s not just about their skills and experience.
We kept up a continuous dialogue with our client to figure out who the right person was for the role. Zietsma appreciated the number of “strong candidates who came through very quickly”. He says: “You were very good at identifying candidates across Europe. Even though you are quite a big company, the experience has felt very personable and you really get to know your clients.”
The impact
Marcucci started in the job on 1 June 2023 and will expand the sales pipeline, to establish growth in the EU clinical and pharmacy retail market segments and, in due course, expand the sales team and further Manus Neurodynamica’s commercial plan for Europe.“With Roberto’s background in medical device engineering in neurology, it’s relatively easy for him to understand the product and the utilities, so he can easily talk to neurologists and immediately make a good connection,” says Zietsma.
“Anjam's support throughout the recruitment process has been crucial. Straight after reading the job description, I felt I had the right experience and attitude for the role. Anjam was also convinced of this after our first interview. I am grateful to Anjam and Real Staffing for helping me land on a job that is extremely stimulating and rewarding in terms of the potential future impact on patients and society.” - Roberto Marcucci
At Real Staffing, our vision is bringing skilled people together to build the future and this client falls so aptly into this, says Kirsty Shillan, Business Partner at Real Staffing. “This collaboration really means something to us. Manus Neurodynamica is a company with real purpose, which will have such a positive impact on a growing number of people, and we have contributed to that ripple effect and also to Roberto’s career.”