Argentina
Here’s to your healthcare hiring aims
by Joe Metts
Marketing Intern at Charles Aris Inc.
The backbone of any successful start-up just might be that organization’s ability to address and resolve a customer issue. Not coincidentally, that’s also the case with developing practices in the world of retained executive search.
Identifying and then serving specific functional and industry spaces can be daunting for even the most experienced and expert recruiters, but understanding mission-critical hiring needs is a fantastic place to start. That is certainly the nature of the healthcare industry, as the demand for reliable medical devices, technologies and services is a constant. Healthcare also happens to be one of the more innovative industries in the world today. This combination of factors, paired with the right recruiter with the right mix of experience and skill, has given rise to Charles Aris Inc.’s Healthcare practice in the Sales & Marketing function.
Enter Brent Anthony, an exercise and sports science graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a master’s degree in exercise science from Appalachian State University. Brent joined the firm after three years as a senior account executive for Life Systems International, a global medical device company. There, he was responsible for marketing, sales and customer fulfillment throughout its eight-state Mid-Atlantic region.
With nearly a decade of additional experience as a hospital clinician and his time in sales and marketing, Brent was a natural fit at Charles Aris. He began his tenure as an associate recruiter, a role in which he worked with a variety of veteran practice leaders to develop a broad understanding of the business world and the nuances of executive recruitment.
“I wanted to start as an associate to really learn recruiting and gain a more general business sense,” Brent said. “Early on, there wasn’t much specificity in the industries I aimed to work in or the roles I was assigned to fill.”
He found his niche recruiting leaders at the intersection of healthcare and private equity, where he began to develop strong relationships with portfolio companies in the firm’s Private Equity practice.
After putting together a string of successes on the recruiting scene, Brent earned a promotion to senior associate practice leader. This move signaled his transition from recruitment across diversified practices to business development – in particular, taking the firm’s Healthcare practice to the next level.
“I went into the [healthcare] industry because I was interested in learning how to combat a variety of healthcare issues, and I ultimately wanted to help people,” Brent said. “Helping organizations fill those mission-critical roles in the healthcare sector is a natural extension of that desire to help.”
Along with senior practice leader Jody Karavanic, who places healthcare leaders in Strategy & Corporate Development for business-to-consumer organizations, Charles Aris Inc.’s Healthcare practice has grown by leaps and bounds since its creation in 2012.
After assuming his role as senior associate practice leader, Brent established a three-pronged approach to his practice:
- The first is the medical device arena, which encompasses all the basics found in a medicinal training room – all the way to more advanced equipment such as the electrocardiograph, designed to test for problems with the electrical activity of one’s heart and beyond.
- The second piece is technology – essentially, any current or innovative technological development that would fall into the medical space. With the industry’s inherent demand for ever-evolving tech solutions, this is a seamless fit in Brent’s practice.
- Healthcare services form the third sector, covering a variety of operations in service providers. This space includes physical practice and revenue cycle management. Service providers have operational processes which must be executed with precision, ideally with A-level talent at the helm.
Brent’s goal is to place the industry’s best in these critical roles with client organizations.
“My short-term goal is to continue to develop relationships at the private equity and portfolio levels so that my name is synonymous with recruiting excellence in the medical device field,” he said. “Regardless of who it is, they know our work at Charles Aris is a commodity where they will receive high-quality work at a fair price. I look forward to continuing to develop those relationships.”
Well on his way with the addition of clients in the form of P.E.-backed disposable medical device manufacturers, Brent remains focused on the long-term execution of his practice.
“There is a strong future in the medical device space; people will always need those helpful resources and the industry is surrounded by constant innovation,” he said. “Organizations need top talent to represent them in the marketplace, and I want to be that go-to, best-in-class recruiting partner for them.”
That primary focus does not take away from the practice’s other points of emphasis.
“Healthcare services are another area that I’m excited about,” Brent added. “There’s a lot of change regarding the landscape of the industry, and these companies have to be on the cutting edge. Billings, revenue cycles and value-based modeling are all things that require high-quality individuals to serve as the banner carriers in these organizations. I look forward to being a trusted adviser placing top talent in those essential client roles.”
To learn more, call Brent Anthony at 336-378-1818, extension 9126, or email him at brent.anthony@charlesaris.com.
