What The Steely Group does

The Steely Group is a privately held, women-owned life sciences recruitment and staffing firm founded in 2014 by Julie Heneghan and headquartered in La Grange, Illinois (Chicago metropolitan area). The firm serves biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device, and gene therapy companies across the United States, with a stated concentration in the Midwest and East Coast, placing professionals across the full drug development lifecycle from preclinical discovery through commercialization.

The company delivers services through three primary lines: Contingent Search (direct hire, contract, and contract-to-hire placements for scientific, clinical, and commercial roles), Retained Executive Search (C-suite and department head placements using structured, upfront-commitment fees), and Fractional Talent Solutions (part-time and interim professional engagements). The underlying technology stack is a recruitment and talent sourcing platform described as a robust candidate database with extensive industry networks, rather than a proprietary AI-driven matching engine. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is negotiated per engagement. The team of approximately 14-15 people includes a President & CEO, COO (Lisa Madden, ex-Randstad Life Sciences VP), CFO, SVP of Recruiting, directors, client partners, and specialized scientific and clinical recruiters.

The go-to-market model is sales-led and relationship-driven, with direct enterprise engagement of hiring managers at life sciences companies, supplemented by inside sales, a self-serve candidate job board (jobs.thesteelygroup.com), content marketing, LinkedIn presence, email newsletters, and a referral program. Revenue is generated through transaction-based placement fees, retained executive search fees, and usage-based fractional engagements. The firm has been recognized as #166 on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies, named one of Chicago's Best and Brightest Companies to Work For and Best Places to Work in Illinois, and holds WBENC certification as a women-owned business.

Name

The Steely Group

Legal name

The Steely Group

Website

https://thesteelygroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Steely Group is a privately held, women-owned life sciences recruiting firm offering contingent search, retained executive search, and fractional talent solutions to biotech, pharma, medical device, and gene therapy companies across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Oak Brook

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Contingent Search: Direct Hire and Contract Consultants supporting biotech, pharma, and gene therapy companies throughout all phases of drug development from Preclinical to Commercialization. Fee-based placement for scientific, clinical, and commercial roles.
2. Retained Executive Search: C-Suite executives, department heads, and mission-critical hires with measured, controlled approach. Retained search with upfront commitment for comprehensive search services.
3. Fractional Talent Solutions: Flexible talent solutions providing access to accomplished professionals who can seamlessly integrate into client teams on a part-time or interim basis without full-time hire commitment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Steely Group is a life sciences recruiting and search firm that places scientific, clinical, and commercial professionals in biotech, pharma, medical device, and gene therapy companies. Core offerings include Contingent Search (direct hire, contract, and contract-to-hire), Retained Executive Search for C-suite and critical leadership roles, and Fractional Talent Solutions for part-time or interim engagements, all delivered across all phases of drug development from preclinical to commercialization.

Product overview

The Steely Group is a life sciences recruiting firm offering a portfolio of talent solutions: core recruiting and search services for scientific, clinical, and commercial positions; Contingent Search for direct hire, contract, and contract-to-hire placements; Retained Executive Search for C-suite and critical leadership hires; and Fractional Talent Solutions for flexible, part-time professional support. These services are tailored for biotech, pharma, medical device, and gene therapy companies across all phases of drug development from preclinical to commercialization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Contingent Search - Direct Hire & Contract Consultants Staffing service supporting biotech, pharma, and gene therapy companies throughout all phases of drug development from preclinical to commercialization, offering direct hire, contract, and contract-to-hire placements in scientific, clinical, and commercial roles.
• Retained Executive Search Executive search service for C-suite executives, department heads, and mission-critical hires using a measured, controlled, and systematic approach. Specializes in placing heads of clinical operations, program management, biostatistics, medical writing, medical affairs, pharmacovigilance, quality, and other senior leadership roles.
• Fractional Talent Solutions Flexible talent solution providing part-time, interim, or project-based experienced professionals to life sciences companies. Offers strategic research talent scaled to client needs, particularly for organizations experiencing rapid growth but not requiring full-time leadership.
• Scientific, Clinical & Commercial Recruiting and Search Core recruiting and search services placing professionals in scientific, clinical, and commercial roles within biotech, pharma, medical device, and gene therapy companies.

Quantifiable outcome

• Transformed a stalled national sales expansion into a fully staffed, commercially ready field team in 8 weeks - national coverage achieved, hiring model rebuilt, expansion timeline protected, start dates met, costs significantly reduced

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Aerotek: Large multi-specialty staffing firm with a life sciences practice, placing scientific, clinical, and engineering talent. Comparable as a broad incumbent in life sciences staffing; Sr. Director Jay VanHousen began his staffing career at Aerotek.
• Aston Carter: Specialized staffing firm under the Allegis Group umbrella serving financial, healthcare, life sciences, and other professional domains. Comparable as a larger incumbent with overlapping life sciences and clinical practice areas.
• Insight Global: Large national staffing and talent solutions firm serving IT, healthcare, life sciences, and other verticals. Comparable as a broad incumbent with significant life sciences placements and substantially larger scale.
• Kelly OCG (Life Sciences): Kelly Services' science and clinical specialty practice placing scientists, clinicians, and lab professionals across pharma and biotech. Comparable as an incumbent with similar scientific/clinical placement focus.
• Randstad Life Sciences: The life sciences division of Randstad, the global staffing leader, offering contingent, contract, and direct-hire staffing across pharma, biotech, and medical device. Directly comparable to The Steely Group because it serves the same buyer base; multiple Steely leaders (Lisa Madden, Tracey Goldthwaite, Jay VanHousen, Ryan Dietman) came from Randstad Life Sciences.

Direct peers

• Planet Pharma: Specialty life sciences staffing and consulting firm focused on pharma, biotech, and medical device placements across clinical, scientific, regulatory, and engineering roles. Highly comparable as a direct peer in size and vertical specialization.
• AllSTEM Connections: Specialty staffing and consulting firm focused on life sciences, pharma, biotech, and engineering talent placements. Comparable as a smaller, vertical-focused peer in the same specialized recruiting space.
• CTC (Resourcing Solutions): Specialty staffing provider focused on pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device talent across clinical, regulatory, and scientific roles. Comparable as a direct niche peer in life sciences recruiting.
• Yoh (Life Sciences): Specialty staffing firm with a dedicated life sciences practice placing scientific, clinical, regulatory, and engineering professionals. Comparable as a niche life sciences recruiter serving similar buyer types and role categories.
• Real Staffing (Real Life Sciences): Specialty life sciences and healthcare staffing brand placing talent across clinical research, drug development, regulatory, and medical affairs. Directly comparable in vertical focus and service mix.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thesteelygroup

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Steely Group