Contract Senior Recruiter, Europe

Cytokinetics is a late-stage, specialty cardiovascular biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing first-in-class muscle activators and next-in-class muscle inhibitors as potential treatments for debilitating diseases in which cardiac muscle performance is compromised. As a leader in muscle biology and the mechanics of muscle performance, the company is developing small molecule drug candidates specifically engineered to impact myocardial muscle function and contractility.

At Cytokinetics, each team member plays an integral part in advancing our mission to improve the lives of patients. We are seeking tenacious, compassionate, and collaborative individuals who are driven to make a positive impact.

Cytokinetics is seeking an experienced Senior Recruiter to join our Global Talent Acquisition team on a long-term contract at our European office in Zug, Switzerland. The ideal candidate will bring a deep knowledge of recruiting practices across Europe, and will thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced growing environment. You'll partner closely with regional and country business leaders, HR stakeholders, and external agencies to attract critical talent that aligns with Cytokinetics' mission, core values, and culture.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead full-cycle recruitment for a variety of roles across European countries, including sourcing, screening, interviewing, and managing the offer process. Proven track record managing the end-to-end process—intake, sourcing, screening, interviewing, offer negotiation, and onboarding. Experience with both commercial (sales/marketing) and scientific/medical (MSL, regulatory) profiles
• Develop and execute tailored sourcing strategies to attract talent in markets to build and enhance Cytokinetics' brand.
• Sourcing and market mapping: Skilled at building pipelines for hard-to-fill roles using LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean search, and targeted outreach. Experience conducting competitive market intelligence on talent availability and compensation across European countries.
• Stakeholder management. Partner with European business leaders and HR leader to understand business and hiring needs and develop tailored recruitment strategies.
• Manage external recruiting agencies, especially high-volume hiring (e.g., sales teams), ensuring alignment with hiring goals and budget.
• Help shape and implement EU-specific recruiting processes and workflows, balancing global standards with local nuances.
• Manage and optimize recruitment processes within our Applicant Tracking System, Workday Recruiting. Support the transition from Greenhouse to Workday Recruiting, contributing to system setup and optimization.
• Build and maintain pipelines of qualified candidates for current and future openings.
• Collaborate closely with the broader TA and HR team to ensure a consistent, high-quality candidate and hiring manager experience.
• Provide market insights and recruitment analytics to help guide data-driven decisions.
• Ensure compliance with local labor laws, internal policies, and any evolving employment needs across the countries supported

Qualifications & Experience

• Minimum 7 years of full-cycle recruitment experience within a global organization, ideally in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or life sciences industry.
• Demonstrated experience recruiting across multiple European markets, with a deep understanding of local hiring practices, regulations, and cultural nuances. Familiarity with local recruiting practices, labor laws, and candidate expectations in key markets (UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy). Ability to manage multi-country recruitment with attention to language and cultural nuances.
• Experience managing and collaborating with external recruiting partners and volume hiring campaigns.
• Hands-on experience using Workday Recruiting or similar applicant tracking systems.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence, be agile and flexible, and advise hiring leaders.
• Project management skills with the ability to lead, collaborate, and partner with our HR colleagues across various teams
• Familiarity working in a fast-paced, matrixed, and evolving environment.
• Fluent in English; proficiency in other European languages (such as German, French, Spanish, or Italian) is a plus.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, matrixed environment with limited infrastructure.
• Based in or near Zug, Switzerland, with ability to work onsite or in a hybrid capacity.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting a commercial launch and expansion in Europe. Knowledge of employer branding and sourcing best practices across diverse European markets
• Project management skills and ability to build and execute scalable recruiting processes.

Our employees come from different backgrounds, and we celebrate those differences. We are looking for the best candidates for our open roles, but do not expect applicants to meet every qualification in order to be considered. If you are excited about what you could accomplish at Cytokinetics and believe you can add value to our team, we would love to hear from you.
Please review our General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) policy PRIOR to applying.
Our passion is anchored in robust scientific thinking, grounded in integrity and critical thinking. We keep the patient front and center in all we do – all actions and decisions are in service of the patient and their caregivers. We champion integrity, ethics, doing the right thing, and being our best selves.

Fraud Warning: How to Identify Impersonated Cytokinetics Job Postings and Offers
Recently, there have been fraudulent employment offers being sent to candidates on behalf of Cytokinetics. Please be advised that all legitimate offers from Cytokinetics will come directly from our official email domain ) and will only be made after completing a formal interview process.

Here are some ways to check for authenticity:

• We do not conduct job interviews through non-standard text messaging applications
• We will never request personal information such as banking details until after an official offer has been accepted and verified
• We will never request that you purchase equipment or other items when interviewing or hiring
• If you are unsure about the authenticity of an offer, or if you receive any suspicious communication, please contact us directly at

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Cytokinetics is an Equal Opportunity Employer