02 — Interim

Senior interim specialists, first profiles within two working days.

Experienced freelance professionals on assignment for 3–12 months, from a few days a month to five days a week, in quality, regulatory, manufacturing, R&D and operations, with the Wet DBA built into the assignment from the first conversation, not bolted on at contract stage.

What we do

A market map of experienced independent professionals, built since 2010.

Axeleon places senior interim specialists who deliver defined outcomes rather than fill a chair: a validation lead for a facility start-up, a Qualified Person to cover an absence, a regulatory project manager for a submission, an operations director to steady a site through an integration.

They come from a map of independent life sciences professionals that Russell has built and maintained since 2010: people whose work he has seen, whose references he has taken, and whose availability he knows before you ask. That is why the first relevant profiles arrive within two working days rather than after a search.

When an assignment requires expertise beyond the existing network, Russell can draw on specialist sourcing support to extend the search. He remains responsible for assessing suitability and confirming availability before profiles are introduced.

How it runs

Brief on Monday, profiles by Thursday.

The two working days count from the briefing call, once the scope, the days per week and the rate range are clear. For rare profiles, Russell will tell you on day 1 if it will take longer.

Day 1

Brief

A thirty-minute call: the outcome you need, the environment, the days per week, the start date and the budget. We tell you the same day whether the market can deliver it.

Day 2–3

First relevant profiles

Pre-vetted freelancers from the market map, availability and hourly rate confirmed, with a note on why each one fits. Two or three people worth your time, rather than a long list.

Day 4+

Meet, contract, start

You meet them; we handle the contracting. Before anyone starts, we work through the assignment with you against the Wet DBA criteria: its scope and deliverables, the responsibilities it carries, how independently the freelancer will work, and the practical arrangements on site. That goes into the contract set, and if the scope changes during the assignment, we revisit it with you.

Compliance

Structured around the Wet DBA from day one.

Since the Belastingdienst resumed enforcement in 2025, the Wet DBA has been part of every interim placement we make. Russell has structured freelance engagements in regulated life sciences since 2010, and knows where they go wrong: an open-ended scope, responsibilities that drift beyond what was agreed, a three-month assignment that quietly runs for three years.

So each assignment is assessed on its own: the scope and deliverables, the responsibilities it carries, how independently the freelancer works, and the practical arrangements on site, with an agreed end or review date. That applies as much to an interim COO or Head of Quality, who will lead people and sit in the management team, as to a validation specialist on a defined project; the arrangements look different, and we set them up accordingly. They go into the contract set, and we keep an eye on them during the assignment, especially when the scope grows. If a request looks more like a job than an assignment, we tell you before anyone signs and suggest the route that does fit.

Freelancers on the map are established independent businesses with their own KvK registration and liability insurance. We check both before we introduce anyone.

The Belastingdienst judges how an engagement runs in practice, not only what the contract says, which is why we stay involved after the start. This is how we work, not tax or legal advice.

Recent work

Interim assignments delivered.

Interim Validation Specialist, remediation after an IGJ inspection

Interviews within the first week · started immediately after

An inspection by the Dutch health inspectorate left a manufacturer with findings on validation and quality that needed experienced hands, fast. Russell already knew which validation specialists were available that month and had the request out to them within an hour of receiving it. Interviews took place within the first week and the specialist was contracted and on site straight after, with a defined remediation scope and the contract structured around the Wet DBA.

Fractional Qualified Person, mid-size pharmaceutical company

Full-time search declined · fractional QP placed instead

A mid-size pharmaceutical company wanted a full-time Qualified Person. Russell worked through the actual certification workload with them: nowhere near a full-time role, and a full-time QP would have had too little to get their teeth into. He placed a fractional QP for a few days a month instead, with the assignment structured around the Wet DBA, at a fraction of the cost.

Three quality specialists, large biopharmaceutical manufacturer, Leiden

Delivered in three weeks · all started within a month

A large biopharmaceutical site needed three senior quality specialists at the same time — method validation, quality systems improvement and validation — with a start date weeks away. Russell delivered all three within three weeks, sourcing part of the team from outside Europe where the Dutch market was already stretched, and every one of them started within a month.

Interim Chief Operating Officer, diagnostics manufacturer

Delivered within one month

A diagnostics manufacturer needed operational leadership immediately, not after a permanent search. Russell delivered an interim COO from the market map within a month of the brief, giving the business a steady hand while the long-term structure was decided.

Interim Regulatory Affairs Specialist, diagnostics company

Permanent RA lead left mid-IVDR programme · defined project · structured around the Wet DBA

A diagnostics company lost its permanent regulatory lead in the middle of an IVDR programme, with technical documentation to upgrade and a notified body waiting. Replacing the role permanently would have taken months the programme did not have. Russell placed an experienced freelance RA specialist with IVDR experience from the market map, on a clearly defined project scope and a contract set structured around the Wet DBA, to pick up the programme where it had stopped while the business decided on the permanent structure.

Interim Technology Transfer Lead, biotech

Interim · a specialist manufacturing programme

A biotech company needed an interim Technology Transfer Lead for a specialist manufacturing programme. Scope, technical requirements and immediate priorities were agreed first, so the search focused on people who could contribute quickly. Through the biotech network and targeted referrals, Russell identified interim professionals and tested their hands-on transfer experience, availability and suitability. The conversations went beyond a list of skills: how each person would work with the teams involved, and what the programme's challenges, responsibilities and expectations really were, so both sides could judge the fit. An interim Technology Transfer Lead was placed on the programme.

References

In the client’s words.

Long-standing client

15+ year relationship.

“Russell has helped us finding the right (education, skills, experience) freelance consultant[s] for long-lasting assignment[s]. The service he provide[s] is done in a very timely manner. I’m very glad Russell and I, are doing business and can fully recommend him for his services.”

Former Site Quality Director and Operations Director, Tiofarma
Problems we solve

When interim is the right answer.

  • A leadership or specialist gap while a permanent search runs.
  • An inspection, submission or facility start-up that needs experienced hands for a defined period.
  • A post-acquisition integration or a scale-up phase that outruns the current team.
  • A function that needs fixing before it can be handed to a permanent leader.
  • Specialist capacity without permanent headcount cost.

Open now: interim roles and the network call

All roles and example briefs →
Partner experience includesBatavia Biomanufacturing · Johnson & Johnson · Teva · Sanquin · Prothya Biosolutions · Bilthoven Biologicals · HAL Allergy · HALIX · +13 more →

Need someone in weeks, not quarters?

Brief Russell today. If the market can deliver, you'll have the first profiles within two working days; if it can't, you'll hear that too.