Life Search Technologies

What Life Search Technologies does

Life Search Technologies is a privately held, founder-owned executive search firm founded in 2002 by Glenn A. Davis and headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland. The company delivers recruiting services across three specialized verticals — Biotechnology & Analytical, Healthcare, and Information Technology — serving clients ranging from early-stage biotechs and healthcare providers to Top 5 Federal contractors. Its service portfolio spans six engagement models: Retained Search (paid in three installments), Partially Retained Search, Contingency Search, Contract Staffing (where candidates are employed by Life Search Technologies and billed hourly), Interim Staffing, and Temp-to-Direct Hiring. The firm targets executive, management, and specialized practitioner roles including VP-, Director-, and Manager-level placements, clinical and administrative healthcare positions, DOD/cleared IT roles, and scientific professionals across drug discovery, genomics, proteomics, bioprocessing, chromatography, and analytical instrumentation.

The firm's go-to-market is relationship-driven and direct: recruiters engage client companies and candidates through personalized outreach, phone-based inside sales, and a proprietary 'LST Network' cultivated over more than a decade via a monthly email newsletter and active referral sourcing. Marketing channels are limited to organic social (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), referral programs, and content on its website and newsletter archives. The company has no proprietary technology product, no AI/ML capabilities, no app or API, no patents, and no documented external funding or institutional ownership.

Revenue is generated entirely through professional services fees tied to placements and hourly billings for contract/interim engagements; pricing is not publicly disclosed and varies by engagement type and role seniority. The firm is operating and currently active as of October 2024. Competitive positioning rests on two decades of vertical specialization, multi-model service flexibility, and a long-tenured candidate network rather than technology or scale advantages.

Name

Life Search Technologies

Legal name

Life Search Technologies, Inc.

Website

https://lifesearchtech.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Life Search Technologies is a privately held, founder-owned executive recruiting firm founded in 2002, placing executives and specialized professionals across Biotechnology, Healthcare, and IT verticals in North America via retained, contingency, contract, and interim staffing models.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Executive Search & Staffing Services

NAICS

Executive Search Services (561312)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Healthcare & Life Sciences Leadership Search (BPACAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Technology & Product Leadership Search (CIO/CTO/CDO/CPO) (BPACAAAC), Confidential/Replacement & Succession Search (BPACAAAK)

Keywords

• Executive search services
• Biotechnology recruiting
• Healthcare staffing
• Information technology recruitment
• Talent acquisition

Headquarters

HQ city

Hunt Valley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Retained Search: Fully retained search where Life Search Technologies staff is completely dedicated to the search. Fee paid in 3 installments: one-third at commencement, one-third 30 days after search begins, and final adjusted fee upon hiring. No expense charges except client-authorized travel.
2. Contingency Search: Search performed in good faith where candidates are referred to client companies. Client pays only when they hire a referred candidate.
3. Partially Retained Search: Agreement with non-refundable engagement fee of one-third of estimated fee required to begin. Final fee is contingent based on placement of candidate. Engagement credited to account for future searches if client employs candidate directly.
4. Contract Staffing: Provides top-notch professionals for specific time periods or projects. Candidates are employed by Life Search Technologies. Client pays hourly rate for actual time worked, eliminating HR issues, taxation, Workers' Compensation, payroll, and unemployment liabilities.
5. Interim Staffing: Fills vacant critical positions temporarily. Client determines hourly rate, housing, transportation, per diem, and schedule. Client responsible for salary, reimbursement costs, and fees.
6. Temp-to-Direct Hiring: Allows evaluation of candidate's skill level, technical ability, and personality before making permanent employment offer. Used when open requisitions are unavailable but a candidate is needed immediately.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Life Search Technologies is an executive recruiting firm that identifies, attracts, and places high-impact talent for clients in the biotechnology, healthcare, and information technology sectors. The firm offers multiple engagement models—retained search, partially retained search, contingency search, contract staffing, interim staffing, and temp-to-direct hiring—and operates through three specialized vertical divisions (Biotechnology & Analytical, Healthcare, and Information Technology) serving North American clients.

Product overview

Life Search Technologies is an executive search firm offering a unified recruiting platform with multiple service delivery models. The core offering consists of executive search services across three specialized divisions: Biotechnology & Analytical, Healthcare, and Information Technology. The company provides various engagement models including Retained, Partially Retained, Contingency, Interim Staffing, Contract Staffing, and Temp-to-Direct Hiring. Their LST Newsletter provides monthly job opportunity updates to subscribed candidates. The company operates as a service business rather than a software product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Biotechnology & Analytical Recruiting National executive search service placing Sales, Marketing, Executive Operations, and scientific professionals in biotech, life sciences, and biopharmaceutical organizations; covers drug discovery, genomics, proteomics, chemistry, capital equipment, consumables, reagents, immunology, CRO/lab services, assay development, bioprocessing, chromatography, mass spectrometry, high-throughput screening, sequencing, and analytical instrumentation roles.
• Healthcare Recruiting Specialized placement of Executive Management and Practitioner-based positions in the healthcare and medical marketplace at Vice President, Director, Manager, and Supervisor levels; covers Administrative, Nursing, Ambulatory Surgery Center, Practice Manager, Urgent Care, Acute Care specialty Director, EMR/EHR Informatics, Quality & Risk, Revenue Cycle, Nurse Practitioner, and Physician Assistant roles.
• Information Technology Recruiting Placement service for IT professionals in public and private sectors, serving companies ranging from small start-ups to Top 5 Federal contractors; covers DOD/cleared positions, IT support, sales, marketing, software development life cycle, graphics/UI, and web/mobile development roles.
• Retained Search Engagement model in which Life Search Technologies' staff is fully dedicated to a single search with fees paid in three installments: one-third at commencement, one-third 30 days after the search begins, and a final adjusted fee upon hiring; no expense charges except client-authorized travel.
• Partially Retained Search Committed search agreement requiring a non-refundable engagement fee of one-third of the estimated fee to begin, with the final fee contingent on candidate placement; engagement fee is credited to the account for future searches if the client employs the candidate directly.
• Contingency Search Search performed in good faith with candidates referred to client companies; client pays the fee only when a referred candidate is hired.
• Contract Staffing Provides professionals for specific time periods or projects; candidates are employed by Life Search Technologies and the client pays an hourly rate for actual time worked, eliminating HR, taxation, Workers' Compensation, payroll, and unemployment liabilities.
• Interim Staffing Fills vacant critical positions temporarily; the client determines the hourly rate, housing, transportation, per diem, and schedule, and is responsible for salary, reimbursement costs, and fees.
• Temp-to-Direct Hiring Allows evaluation of candidate skill level, technical ability, and personality before making a permanent employment offer; used when open requisitions are unavailable but a candidate is needed immediately.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Hays Life Sciences: Specialist life sciences recruitment division of Hays, providing permanent and contract staffing across biotech, pharma, and clinical research. Similar vertical specialization and contract staffing capability as LST.
• DHR Global: Executive search firm with dedicated Life Sciences and Healthcare practices, executing retained and specialty search for senior leaders. Comparable niche executive search focus in healthcare and life sciences to LST's executive recruitment offering.
• Beacon Hill Staffing Group: Specialty staffing firm with dedicated Life Sciences, Technology, and Healthcare/HR divisions offering contract, contract-to-hire, and direct hire services. Closely parallel structure to LST across its three verticals and engagement model.
• Real Staffing: Specialist life sciences and biotech staffing and search firm offering permanent, contract, and interim placements across pharma, biotech, and medical devices. Closely comparable to LST's Biotechnology & Analytical Division in domain focus and service model.
• Medix: Specialized life sciences, healthcare, and IT staffing firm placing professionals across pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and health IT verticals. Directly comparable three-vertical structure (life sciences, healthcare, IT) and service-level mix including contract and direct hire.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Global executive search and organizational consulting firm with a dedicated Life Sciences practice. Directly competes with Life Search Technologies on biotech and healthcare executive placements but at significantly larger scale and brand recognition.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Large global executive search firm with a Life Sciences practice spanning pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical devices, and healthcare services. Comparable on senior-level executive placements to LST but operates at materially larger deal volume and international footprint.
• Russell Reynolds Associates: Global executive search firm with a Life Sciences and Healthcare practice and an IT Officers practice. Direct competitor on C-level biotech and healthcare executive placements via retained search engagements.
• Spencer Stuart: Premier executive search firm serving healthcare, life sciences, and technology sectors. Similar business model and confidential retained search approach; competes for the same biotech CIO, CTO, and executive management mandates as LST.

Regional players

• Insight Global: Large US-based IT staffing firm providing contract and direct hire placements to enterprise and government clients including DOD-cleared roles. Comparable to LST's Information Technology Division especially on cleared positions and federal contractor engagements, but serves much broader enterprise clients.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/lifesearchtech
• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/Life-Search-Technologies/249471025118219
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/life-search-technologies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Life Search Technologies