How to sell to Heads of People at Biotech companies
Heads of People in biotech are focused on talent retention, often measured by employee turnover rates. They respond to outreach that clearly addresses specific workforce challenges, such as the need for specialized skills in clinical trials or regulatory compliance. Understanding their struggle to maintain a skilled workforce amidst rapid industry changes can prompt a meaningful conversation.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 573 biotech company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- high employee turnover
- difficulty filling specialized roles
- increasing regulatory demands
- competition for top talent
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent funding announcements
Filter for biotech companies that have recently secured funding or launched new projects. These events often trigger hiring initiatives, making them more receptive to discussions about talent acquisition solutions.
- 02
Research talent gaps in clinical roles
Investigate the specific clinical roles that are difficult for these companies to fill. Use job boards and LinkedIn to identify common roles and skills that are in high demand but low supply, tailoring your outreach to highlight your understanding of these challenges.
- 03
Craft messaging around retention strategies
Develop your outreach to focus on how your solution can help improve employee engagement and retention, particularly in specialized roles. Mention trends in employee turnover specific to biotech to demonstrate your awareness of their unique challenges.
- 04
Follow up after industry conferences
Create a follow-up strategy targeting companies that attended major biotech conferences. Reference discussions or trends highlighted at these events to show relevance and align your outreach with their current priorities.
- 05
Propose a call to discuss workforce challenges
When reaching out, suggest a brief call specifically to discuss workforce challenges in the biotech sector. Make it clear that you want to understand their unique needs and explore tailored solutions, which can increase the likelihood of a positive response.
Can biotech companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 573 biotech companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 27% of 1–10-person companies against 84.3% of the largest — 57 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Talent retention in biotech
- Addressing clinical staffing needs
- Strategies for workforce stability
Questions
- Why do Heads of People in biotech ignore outreach about generic HR tools?
- Heads of People in biotech are often inundated with generic HR outreach. They tend to ignore messages that do not address the specific challenges of the biotech industry, such as regulatory compliance and specialized skill shortages. Tailoring your message to their unique needs is crucial for engagement.
- What are the common hiring challenges faced by biotech HR leaders?
- Biotech HR leaders frequently face challenges such as a limited talent pool for specialized clinical roles, high turnover rates due to competitive offers from other firms, and the constant need to adapt to evolving regulatory landscapes. Understanding these issues is key to effective outreach.
- How can I effectively position my solution to biotech HR leaders?
- Position your solution by demonstrating a clear understanding of the biotech landscape, including the specific skills in demand and the pressures of regulatory compliance. Highlight how your offering can directly address these pain points and improve their talent acquisition and retention efforts.
- What timing is best for reaching out to biotech HR leaders?
- The best timing for outreach is typically after major industry events or funding announcements, as these moments often lead to increased hiring. Additionally, consider reaching out at the start of the fiscal year when budgets for talent acquisition are being set.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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