Recruitment Agency Fees: What Pharma and Biotech Hires Really Cost

The percentage matters less than what the contract says about when you pay, what the fee is calculated on and what happens if the hire leaves. This guide covers the models, the arithmetic and a checklist to run through before you sign.

Most agencies price their work in one of three ways. The figures below come from published sources, not from Geeqers' own price list, and they vary by firm and by seniority.

Sources: SHRM, "How to Work Effectively with an Executive Search Firm" (2016, so treat its percentages as a baseline); Persevus, "How much do recruiters charge?" (July 2026, citing published rate cards from DAVRON and TruPath Search); Pin, "How to Negotiate Recruiter Fees" (May 2026).

Two things to notice. First, the ranges overlap, so a firm quoting 25% is not automatically cheap or expensive until you read what that 25% covers. Second, the model describes who carries the risk. Under contingency the agency bears the cost of a search that fails. Under retained search you pay for the work as it happens.

A fee is a percentage multiplied by a base. The base is the first-year pay of the person you hire, and it is where agreements differ most.

• Base salary only: the simplest basis, and the lowest fee.
• Base plus bonus: SHRM's description of both models refers to first-year cash compensation, which includes bonus.
• Total compensation: can add signing bonuses and sometimes equity, which raises the fee.

Here is a hypothetical illustration, not a quote. Say you hire a quality systems manager at a base salary of $160,000.

• At 20%: $32,000
• At 25%: $40,000
• At 33%: $52,800

Add a bonus to the fee basis and each figure rises with it. When two agencies quote the same percentage, ask each one whether the base is salary alone or total cash pay, because that can change the invoice by thousands of dollars.

Contingency suits roles where capable candidates are reasonably easy to find and you want speed. The trade-off is that a contingency agency may work your role alongside several others and you may be using more than one agency at once, so a candidate can reach you from more than one direction.

Retained search is built for roles where the pool is narrow, the search must stay quiet or a wrong hire is expensive. Pharma and biotech have plenty of these: a senior leader whose replacement the current team should not hear about, or a specialist for a site that lives or dies by one qualified person. The retainer pays for dedicated time before anyone is hired.

A simple way to decide: if you can describe the ideal candidate in a sentence and expect plenty of them, use contingency. If the search needs to be confidential, exclusive or pre-mapped, retained is more likely to fit. Specialist pools, such as validated-systems IT or a particular device specialism, are small, so ask any agency how it prices narrow searches before you assume the standard range applies.

A guarantee says what the agency does if your hire leaves soon after starting. The usual remedy is a free replacement search, sometimes a refund.

A Top Echelon survey of agency recruiters, published in 2019 and drawn from its own recruiting network, found:

• 90 days was the most common standard guarantee (44.9%), followed by 30 days (20.3%) and 60 days (20.0%).
• 61.4% of recruiters offer a replacement and no money back, 17.6% offer a pro-rated refund and 8.4% a full refund.

The survey is several years old and covers one network, so treat the shares as a guide rather than a current benchmark. Even so, a 90-day free replacement looks mainstream, not generous. What differs from one agreement to the next is how the guarantee works: when the clock starts, whether it covers resignations and dismissals, and what the conditions are. Pharma hires can come with long notice periods and onboarding, so check that the clock starts on the hire's first day of work, not on the offer date.

1. Fee percentage and basis. Base salary, cash pay or total compensation?
2. Trigger. Does the fee fall due when the hire starts or when they accept the offer? Offers get withdrawn.
3. No hire, no fee. For contingency, confirm in writing that nothing is owed if nobody starts.
4. Guarantee length. And whether it begins on the start date.
5. Guarantee remedy. Free replacement, pro-rated refund or both?
6. Guarantee conditions. Notice, same role, and what voids it.
7. Candidate ownership window. How long can the agency claim a fee on someone it introduced? One hiring guide puts the default at 12 months and recommends negotiating it down and defining an "introduction" as a formal written submission.
8. Exclusivity. Can you work with other agencies on the same role, and for how long?
9. Payment terms. When is the invoice due, and are there admin or expense charges?
10. Confidentiality. Who sees the role, and who is told your team is searching?

Pin's negotiation guide lists terms worth pushing back on. These are its recommendations, not market data:

• A fee triggered by an accepted offer rather than a start date.
• A guarantee shorter than 30 days.
• An ownership window longer than 12 months, or no end date.
• A percentage that rises if the final salary goes above a threshold.
• An agreement that renews on its own.

We're a US recruiting firm for pharma, biotech and medical-device hiring, and we think you should know how we charge before you ask.

• No fee until your hire starts work, and nothing if nobody starts.
• The fee is agreed with you in writing before we begin. It depends on the role and salary band and goes into your brief, so there's no surprise invoice. We don't publish a flat percentage, because the right figure depends on the role.
• A 90-day replacement guarantee. If your hire resigns, or you let them go for performance reasons, within 90 calendar days of their start date, we run the search again at no extra fee. The conditions are written into the agreement you sign before we start.
• A shortlist within 7 business days of a complete brief, and confidential searches on request.

Our employer page covers the process and how it works walks through it step by step.

How much do recruiters charge in pharma and biotech?

Published contingency rates mostly run 15–30% of the hire's first-year pay, and retained search is usually about 30–35% of first-year total cash pay, often with a minimum fee. Rates depend on the firm, the seniority of the role and the fee basis, so get the percentage and the basis in writing.

How does a recruiter get paid?

Under contingency, the agency is paid when you hire one of its candidates and they start. Under retained search, you pay in instalments during the search. Container search combines a smaller up-front fee with a success fee.

Do recruiters charge if you don't hire anyone?

Contingency recruiters do not, because their fee depends on a hire. Retained firms do, because the fee covers the search itself. Confirm which applies before you sign.

Is the fee based on salary or total pay?

It depends on the agreement. Some firms use base salary, others use base plus bonus or total compensation. Ask which, because it changes the amount you pay.

Are recruiter fees negotiable?

Often, in part. Terms such as the ownership window, guarantee length and payment timing can be worth as much as the percentage. A volume commitment can also give you room to negotiate.

Whichever agency you choose, make the same four points clear in writing: the fee basis, when you pay, what the guarantee covers and how long the agency can claim candidates it introduced. Ready to see what a screened shortlist looks like? Send us a hiring brief and you'll have your shortlist in 7 business days.

Image: "Close-up of two people discussing a business contract at a desk" by Kaboompics via Pexels, used under the Pexels licence. Fee figures were checked against the sources linked above in October 2026. Geeqers' fee rate for a given search is agreed in writing before work starts.