Panda Perspectives: Daria Finikova

Daria didn't set out to build a career in recruitment. She set out to find work that combined two sides of her the analytical and the human and account management in life sciences turned out to be where that became possible.

She'd completed two bachelor's degrees, in Political Science and Neurobiology, before stepping into recruitment. Life sciences interested her, but she knew she didn't want a purely medical or laboratory path. What drew her to recruitment specifically was the chance to stay close to a field she found intellectually serious, while developing commercially in a very human-facing role.

Today, she leads Panda's relationship with a leading pharma client through Randstad Sourceright's MSP, where Panda was ranked the top-performing supplier in year one.

Daria's path into recruitment was shaped by a question she'd carried since university: how to combine the two sides of herself she didn't want to choose between. "I always knew I wanted a career that allowed me to combine the analytical, scientific side and the people-oriented, communicative side. Recruitment, and specifically life sciences recruitment, felt like the perfect intersection between those worlds."

The decision wasn't obvious to everyone around her. "There's a certain stigma sometimes around sales careers when you come from an academic environment," Daria says. "I remember questioning whether I was wasting my education. Looking back, I realise I was moving toward something that fit me much better as a person."

What she didn't expect was how human the work would turn out to be. "I initially thought recruitment was about 'matching' candidates to jobs. But especially in pharma and biotech, you eventually realise good recruitment is about understanding people deeply, what motivates them, what environments they thrive in, what they actually want long term, even when they themselves struggle to articulate it."

Two things drew her to Panda: specialisation and autonomy. "The company operated within a niche I genuinely cared about, but there was also an entrepreneurial culture around growth. From the beginning, it felt like your progression was in your own hands."

It was also deliberate. "After university, I was actually a very shy person, and stepping into a sales-driven environment pushed me far outside my comfort zone." What kept her there was trust given early. "The environment was never built around punishing mistakes; it was built around learning from them. I don't think I would have progressed to a managerial level this early anywhere else."

Starting from zero

When Panda first stepped onto the MSP programme with this large Pharmaceutical client, there was no foundation to build on.

"We were completely new to the end client. No existing reputation, no established relationships, no proven track record. What made it particularly important was the scale this was not a single-site operation. Building a strong reputation there had the potential to open a huge amount of long-term opportunity for Panda."

The early scope was demanding specialised roles across engineering, validation, supply chain, and automation, in an already competitive talent market. "It genuinely felt like 'all hands on deck.' Everyone understood that first impressions mattered enormously. It pushed us to operate at a very high level of consistency and teamwork from day one."

Inside an MSP, different talent suppliers like us compete for the same vacancies. What differentiates them is performance over time.

"Trust is not built purely on speed. MSPs are about consistency who communicates properly, who understands the roles deeply, who provides honest market feedback, and who reliably delivers quality over a long period of time."

The Randstad coordinators played a defining role. "We had regular check-ins where feedback was shared very openly, not just on performance, but on what we could improve, where we could sharpen our approach, and what the business needed more of from suppliers." For Daria and the team, that openness changed something. "It showed they were paying attention to the quality of our work and genuinely saw us as a supplier worth investing feedback into. We could feel that the relationship was evolving beyond simply sending CVs into a system."

What tipped the balance, Daria believes, was a willingness to listen. "Rather than becoming defensive when we got feedback, we took it very seriously. We constantly adjusted, aligned as a team, and focused on improving every aspect of the process. Strong communication, fast follow-up, transparency, and candidate care all compound over time. Eventually, stakeholders recognised that we were genuinely invested in helping the programme succeed long term, rather than simply competing for placements."

When the Top 1 ranking came through, it didn't feel like a single moment. "It was not one big placement that got us there. It was the accumulation of constant improvement, strong teamwork, and consistently showing up at a high standard."

Ask Daria what separates suppliers that climb the rankings from those that don't, and she doesn't hesitate.

"A supplier reacts to vacancies. A partner helps solve workforce problems."

"The difference is whether you're only participating in the process or genuinely contributing to the client's hiring strategy, market understanding, and operational stability. The strongest MSP partnerships happen when the supplier understands the business pressures behind the hiring need, not just the job description itself."

She's clear on where most suppliers go wrong. "A lot of suppliers see MSPs as overly restrictive or purely transactional. In reality, MSPs reward consistency, trust, and long-term thinking. The best supplier ecosystems happen when suppliers are treated as strategic contributors rather than interchangeable vendors."

For pharma companies setting up their first MSP, her advice is short. "Choose partners who understand your industry operationally, not just commercially. In pharma and biotech, recruitment decisions directly affect compliance, manufacturing continuity, quality standards, and business-critical timelines. Your MSP ecosystem should reflect that reality."

The part of the job Daria talks about most isn't the rankings. It's what happens after.

"A good candidate experience is built around transparency, communication, and consistency. Where many suppliers fall short is that they become too transactional once a placement is made. In MSP environments especially, the relationship shouldn't stop at onboarding."

That's where Panda Flex comes in. "Panda Flex creates a more supported, relationship-driven contractor experience. The goal isn't to place someone into a role and disappear. It's about continuity, guidance, and long-term partnership throughout the assignment lifecycle."

The support that matters most, she says, isn't usually what people expect.

"A huge number of candidates relocate countries for opportunities. People leave behind their homes, families, and routines to start a completely new chapter. In many cases, they are genuinely rebuilding their lives from zero. The support they value most is often very practical helping them understand onboarding, setting up bank accounts and BSN registrations, navigating housing, healthcare systems, or simply adjusting to a different work culture."

A lot of recruiters see those conversations as outside the "real job." Daria sees them as the job. "When someone relocates internationally, they don't just need a recruiter during the interview process they need someone who can help them feel stable during a major life transition."

What's next

Daria sees the contingent workforce market in pharma becoming more specialised, more project-based, and more globally interconnected. "The conversation is shifting from 'filling roles' toward workforce planning, scalability, and talent partnership. Candidate expectations are evolving too flexibility, transparency, and long-term support are becoming far more important, especially for highly skilled specialists."

For Daria, the Top 1 ranking isn't the proof point. The proof is harder to measure the contractor who arrived in a new country with nothing, and six months in has a bank account, a registered address, a routine, a place that feels like a life. The partnerships that don't show up in year-one data, but compound from there.

For her, that's not an abstract version of the job. It's the version she actually shows up for, one rebuilt life at a time.

Panda is proud to support a leading European pharmaceutical client as a top-performing supplier through Randstad Sourceright's MSP. If your organisation is running an MSP or considering setting one up and looking for specialised life sciences supplier capability, get in touch with us here, and a member of our team will reach out to start the conversation.