On 23rd July, I’m officially launching Sharon Shields Consulting — a specialist consultancy focused on executive research, market mapping and talent intelligence for life sciences organisations across the UK, Europe and the US. I also partner with executive search consultancies who need deep, reliable research support for complex senior mandates.

Fractional vs Interim in Life Sciences – Not the Same Thing I’m seeing more life sciences organisations explore fractional senior roles – and they’re often confused with interim roles. Interim: usually full‑time, time‑limited, covering a defined role for a fixed period. Fractional: usually part‑time, longer-term, adding senior expertise for a set number of days or hours without owning the whole role. In a milestone‑driven, resource‑constrained environment, fractional models

Five controllable factors that determine whether your next executive hire accelerates progress or derails your search.

Thoughts from the beach - Ageing, learning and seniorlytics! Last weekend, I spent a day at the beach with family and friends aged 6 to 70. The younger ones threw themselves into the sea and into sandcastle building—fearless, curious, and quick to learn from mistakes. The older adults contributed stories and thoughtful advice, grounding our fun in lived experience. Children are called “sponges” for good reason: their brains form up to a million new connections every second (H