Life Sciences Staffing Agency Serving Biotech, Pharma, Medical Devices, and Diagnostics
Scientists, engineers, manufacturing, QA, regulatory, and clinical talent for the SoCal biotech corridor and every major U.S. life sciences cluster. Contract, contract-to-hire, and direct hire.
Last updated: May 20, 2026
KORE1 is a U.S. life sciences staffing agency placing scientists, engineers, QA, regulatory, clinical, and GMP manufacturing talent across biotech, pharma, medical devices, diagnostics, and cell and gene therapy. Headquartered in the SoCal biotech corridor, with active national reach.
Life sciences hiring rarely fits inside one category. A medical device sponsor in Irvine needs an R&D engineer who can also write a 510(k). A San Diego biotech opens a process development role and the only qualified candidates are 1,200 miles away. A pharma sponsor pushes a label expansion and the validation backlog is real this quarter. The boundaries between biotech, pharma, devices, and diagnostics blur faster than most internal TA teams can keep up with.
This is what a true life sciences staffing agency closes. Not a generic recruiter who learned the acronyms last week. A team that has spent twenty years inside cleanrooms, sponsor labs, IVD startups, and CDMO floors, and knows which person you are about to interview has actually built a process versus borrowed a slide deck.
Life sciences staffing sits inside our broader engineering staffing agency practice. Our reach connects deep SoCal biotech talent networks to adjacent specializations: biomedical engineers for device R&D, life sciences IT for clinical data systems, and pharmaceutical IT for GxP and 21 CFR Part 11 work. One conversation, one point of contact, every discipline a modern life sciences program needs.
Five Sectors. One Talent Practice.
Life sciences is shorthand for five overlapping industries. Each has its own regulatory floor, its own talent dynamics, and its own definition of qualified. We staff inside all of them.
Biotech & Biopharma
Drug discovery, cell and gene therapy, large molecule, and GMP biologics manufacturing. Scientist-bench to manufacturing-floor talent across all stages.
National biotech →Pharmaceutical
Small molecule and biologics from preclinical through commercial. CMC regulatory, validation, GxP IT, and clinical supply chain.
Pharma IT →Medical Devices
Class II and Class III device R&D, mechanical and electrical engineers, 510(k) and PMA regulatory, post-market surveillance and quality.
Biomedical engineering →Diagnostics & IVD
Assay development, IVD regulatory, CLIA-certified lab operations, and the QC chemistry that gets a panel through 510(k) clearance.
Clinical Research & CROs
Study directors, project managers, CRAs, clinical data managers, and the operations leaders who own delivery on the sponsor side and the CRO side.
The SoCal Life Sciences Corridor: Where We Started, Where We Hire Deepest
KORE1 sits inside the corridor that runs from Carlsbad through Sorrento Valley, Torrey Pines, La Jolla, UTC, and down to the Otay cell therapy cluster. Across the freeway, Orange County device makers in Irvine, Newport Beach, and Costa Mesa cover the Class II and Class III spectrum. North, the Los Angeles cell and gene therapy cluster pulls anchored teams out of UCLA, USC, and City of Hope.
Twenty years on the ground here means we know which Series B in Sorrento Valley just lost their head of process to a competitor in Cambridge, which Irvine device sponsor is paying $20K above market for a senior firmware engineer, and which OC diagnostics startup is about to need 40 QC chemists for a 510(k) launch. Per the California Life Sciences Association, the state hosts the largest life sciences sector in the country with San Diego alone home to more than 1,200 companies.
SoCal sub-markets we cover deepest
- San Diego biotech: Torrey Pines, Sorrento Valley, Carlsbad, UTC, La Jolla
- Orange County med device: Irvine, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Lake Forest
- Los Angeles cell & gene therapy: Westwood, Pasadena, Duarte, Thousand Oaks
- Inland Empire manufacturing: Riverside-Corona biologics fill-finish expansion
National coverage is real, but SoCal is where the recruiter knows the candidate before the search starts. For the broader metro picture, our San Diego staffing practice covers the full IT and life sciences corridor from Carlsbad to the Otay border.
Boston, Research Triangle, the Bay, and the Quiet Hubs Most Firms Miss
SoCal is home. National is where the search closes when local runs thin. Cambridge and Kendall Square. Boston Seaport for clinical and commercial. Watertown for cell therapy manufacturing. Research Triangle Park for CDMO and gene therapy scale-up. The Bay Area for early-stage and antibody discovery. Indianapolis where Eli Lilly anchors a regional ecosystem most coastal firms underweight. Maryland and the DC corridor for cell therapy and federal programs.
The hiring rhythm shifts hub to hub. Cambridge runs spiky, candidates churn 18 months in. The Triangle runs loyal, comp 15 to 20 percent below Boston, relocation case is strong. The Bay runs senior-heavy and stock-comp aware. We staff to those rhythms rather than pretending a sourcing motion built for one cluster ports to another.
For multi-hub biotech-only searches that start in one cluster and finish in another, the focused national biotech staffing agency practice handles those programs end to end.
U.S. Life Sciences Manufacturing Is Reshoring. The Talent Pipeline Has Not Caught Up.
The shift is real and the timeline is short. New biologics fill-finish capacity in North Carolina, Indiana, and the Midwest. Cell therapy CDMOs expanding in Holly Springs and Bothell. API and small molecule manufacturing reshoring out of India and China toward the Southeast and the Inland Empire. Diagnostics consolidation pulling assay manufacturing back to Carlsbad and Salt Lake. Cell and gene therapy specifically remains the hardest hiring picture: regulatory pathway depth, GMP scale-up experience, and FDA inspection exposure all sit inside a tight talent pool. The FDA Office of Therapeutic Products (CBER) framework drives what counts as qualified, and the candidate market still trails the regulatory expectations.
The candidate pool did not move at the same pace. A senior validation engineer with cleaning validation, CSV, and FDA inspection experience is one of the scarcest profiles in U.S. life sciences manufacturing today. Senior fill-finish operators with biologics scale-up exposure are clearing 90 days on the open market. Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational data, life and physical sciences employment continues to grow faster than the national average while specialized manufacturing roles remain in chronic undersupply.
Where reshoring searches actually stall
- Validation engineers with IQ/OQ/PQ and FDA inspection exposure
- QA leads with CAPA, deviation, and audit-readiness history
- GMP manufacturing supervisors for biologics and fill-finish
- Process development engineers who have scaled past 50 liters
- Senior regulatory affairs for 510(k), PMA, and FDA CBER pathways
We have been placing into these roles since well before the reshoring wave. The network was already there.
Three Things General Staffing Cannot Do
Therapeutic Area Screening
A cell therapy process engineer is not interchangeable with a small molecule process chemist. We screen for therapeutic area depth, not just the keyword on the resume.
Real-World Comp Calibration
Aggregator comp data is wrong six times out of ten in life sciences. We bring placed-base numbers from the last twelve months so the offer holds when it lands.
Relocation Is the Real Talent Pool
For senior cell therapy, gene therapy, and biologics manufacturing roles, the right candidate is rarely in your zip code. We screen for relocation readiness at the first call.
From the Bench to the Boardroom
The continuum of a modern life sciences program runs from discovery science to commercial launch. We staff every link in the chain.
Scientists & R&D
Senior research associates, platform scientists, process development, computational biology, and bioinformatics across discovery and translational research.
QA, Regulatory & Validation
Quality systems, CAPA, audit readiness, CSV, 510(k) and PMA submissions, FDA CBER pathway specialists, and the validation engineers reshoring depends on.
GMP Manufacturing
Operators and supervisors for upstream, downstream, fill-finish, viral vector, and cell processing. Tech transfer leads who have actually moved a process before.
Clinical & Commercial
CROs and sponsor-side clinical operations, study directors, CRAs, project managers, and medical affairs leaders for label expansion and launch.
Match the Model to the Program
A validation surge, a launch campaign, a permanent platform build, or a six-month IND sprint. Each calls for a different engagement model. We match the model to the program, not the other way around.
| Engagement Model | When It Fits |
|---|---|
| Contract | Validation surge, IND push, audit prep, fixed-duration manufacturing campaign |
| Contract-to-Hire | Growth roles with a measured evaluation period before conversion |
| Direct Hire | Permanent platform roles, leadership hires, long-term capability build |
| Project-Based | Defined technical objective with a fixed timeline and deliverable |
How We Run a Life Sciences Search
Diagnose the Real Picture
Stage of company, regulatory exposure, therapeutic area, comp band, and which sub-markets are open for relocation. We surface trade-offs early so we are not chasing candidates the role cannot pay for.
Source Across Hubs and Disciplines
Active and passive outreach across SoCal first, then Cambridge, RTP, the Bay Area, and Indianapolis when the search demands it. Cross-discipline reach means a scientist search can pull a biomedical engineer who got the job done last time.
Qualify, Present, Close
Scientific screening, structured interviews, and offer negotiation through close. Relocation logistics, spousal placement context, and comp calibration handled before the offer goes out.
Ready to Open a Life Sciences Search?
Start with a kickoff call. We’ll ask about the role, the therapeutic area, your stage of company, and where the search has stalled before. No pitch deck. No pressure. A direct conversation to figure out whether this is the right fit.
Common Questions
What is a life sciences staffing agency?
A life sciences staffing agency recruits, screens, and places scientific and technical talent into biotech, pharma, medical device, diagnostics, and clinical research organizations. Specialist screening matters because the categories overlap but the talent profiles do not. A small molecule QC chemist is not a biologics QC chemist, even when the resume looks identical at first read.
How is this different from a biotech-only staffing agency?
This page covers the full life sciences umbrella: biotech, pharma, medical devices, diagnostics, and clinical. Our national biotech staffing agency page is focused specifically on multi-hub biotech searches across Boston, San Diego, and Research Triangle Park. Our SoCal biotech staffing page runs deepest on Southern California biotech specifically. If your search spans device R&D and biologics manufacturing, start here. If it is purely biotech, the biotech pages run more focused.
How long does a typical life sciences search take?
Most placements close in 14 to 24 days. Specialized senior roles run longer. A senior validation engineer with cleaning validation and FDA inspection experience is a small pool, expect six to eight weeks. We commit to an honest timeline at kickoff instead of promising numbers the search cannot hit.
Do you staff onshoring and reshoring manufacturing programs?
Yes. Reshoring is the single biggest demand pull on U.S. life sciences manufacturing right now. We staff validation, QA, GMP supervisors, fill-finish operators, tech transfer leads, and senior regulatory affairs for the programs that are bringing API, biologics, cell therapy, and device manufacturing back to U.S. soil. The candidate pool is thin and getting thinner. Most of the talent worth interviewing is passive.
Which life sciences disciplines can you cover in one engagement?
Scientists, biomedical and process engineers, QA and regulatory, GMP manufacturing, clinical operations, and the IT systems that connect them: clinical data, LIMS, MES, and 21 CFR Part 11 validation. Most clients land here because they want one staffing partner across scientific, engineering, and IT instead of three. The handoffs disappear and so does the duplicated screening work.
Are you focused on Southern California or national?
Both. SoCal is the home market and where the recruiter relationships run deepest, from Carlsbad through Sorrento Valley, Torrey Pines, La Jolla, and across to the Irvine and OC device cluster. National coverage extends into Boston, the Research Triangle, the Bay Area, Indianapolis, and the Maryland-DC corridor when a search demands it. The reach is built around where the candidate is, not where the office is.
Do you work with early-stage startups or only established life sciences companies?
Both. Series A biotechs hiring their first head of process. Mid-cap pharma hiring twenty associates for a launch. CDMOs scaling for a new sponsor contract. Series C diagnostics startups building a 510(k) team. Screening criteria shift dramatically by stage. Startup hires need ambiguity tolerance and scrappy infrastructure habits. Established company hires need to navigate hierarchy and an existing quality system. We screen for stage fit, not just technical skill.