The Difference Between Hiring for Go-to-Market Build vs Optimization

Hiring go-to-market (GTM) talent in life sciences is rarely a capability problem. More often, it is a timing problem.  

When companies hire strong profiles into roles that do not match their commercial reality, they attribute underperformance to individuals rather than stage misalignment. For example, A VP of Sales who scaled a $500M portfolio might struggle in a pre-launch environment, or a marketer who built a category from the ground up could find it difficult to deliver the process rigor required at scale. 

Understanding the difference between go-to-market build vs optimization is critical when building commercial teams across pharma, biotech, and medtech. This article explains how hiring priorities should change between these phases, how to diagnose what your business actually needs, and how to design go-to-market roles that support growth and success. 

What is go-to-market build vs go-to-market optimization in life sciences? 

Go-to-market build and go-to-market optimization represent two distinct commercial phases, each with different hiring requirements and risk profiles. 

• Go-to-market build focuses on establishing a viable commercial foundation. This often occurs pre-launch or in the early stages of launch. Teams are defining positioning, identifying target customers, pressure-testing messaging, and building the first version of commercial processes. Decision-making cycles are short and ambiguity is inherent. 
• Go-to-market optimization begins once a working model exists. Focus changes to improving consistency, efficiency, and predictability across markets, teams, and products. Data quality improves, processes stabilize, and success depends less on experimentation and more on execution discipline. 

Hiring challenges arise when organizations assume these phases require the same profiles – but in reality they require fundamentally different people. 

How hiring priorities change between build and optimization 

The difference between go-to-market build and optimization hiring is not about seniority or credentials. Rather, firms need to test how candidates approach complex problems. 

• Build-stage hires must excel in unclear environments. They establish structure in unformed markets, make informed decisions with incomplete data, and adjust strategy rapidly based on market response. They drive influence without formal authority and operate effectively across medical affairs, regulatory, and market access functions. Their success is measured by speed of learning and velocity of execution. 
• Optimization-stage hires add value by refining what already works. They establish data-driven decision-making frameworks, reduce execution variability, and scale proven approaches across teams and geographies. Their impact shows up in forecasting accuracy, conversion rate improvements, and operational efficiency. 

Hiring optimization profiles too early can slow momentum, while hiring build profiles too late can limit scalability and introduce inconsistency. 

How to identify whether your go-to-market team needs build or optimization talent 

Many organizations believe they are ready to optimize when they are still building. 

You are still in build mode if: 

• Messaging varies significantly by customer type or region  
• Your ideal customer profile (ICP) and positioning are still being refined  
• Performance data is anecdotal or inconsistent  
• Commercial processes change frequently based on learnings  
• Cross-functional alignment requires constant negotiation  

You are entering optimization mode if: 

• Revenue streams are stable and repeatable 
• Sales motions and routes to market are defined 
• Data is reliable enough to inform decisions and forecasting 
• Leadership is focused on efficiency and margin improvement  
• The question isn't "what works?" but "how do we do this at scale?"  

Your hiring strategy and decisions should reflect this diagnosis, not your future aspirations. 

Go-to-market roles to hire during the build phase 

During go-to-market build, roles tend to be broader and more hands-on. Success depends on adaptability and cross-functional influence. 

Typical build-phase GTM hires: 

• Commercial or marketing leaders with launch experience in regulated markets who can wear multiple hats 
• Go-to-market strategists who define ICPs, customer segmentation, positioning, and early messaging 
• Sales leaders comfortable building from zero – recruiting teams, territories, and early enablement materials 
• Cross-functional commercial operators who bridge commercial, medical, regulatory, and market access 

These roles often evolve quickly. Clear expectation-setting is critical for retention as the business matures. 

GTM roles to hire during the optimization phase 

As organizations transition into go-to-market optimization, hiring becomes more specialized and execution-focused. 

Typical optimization-phase GTM hires: 

• Commercial excellence or revenue operations leaders who build forecasting models, optimize territory design, and implement performance management systems 
• Lifecycle or portfolio marketers who refine messaging across multiple products, indications, or geographies 
• Sales leadership and enablement roles who scale consistent execution across larger, distributed teams 
• Analytics and insights professionals who turn data into actionable strategy, supporting data-driven decision making 

These profiles need signal to optimize against. Without stable processes and reliable data, they can't add value effectively. 

Why job titles don’t define go-to-market role success 

Job titles are one of the biggest sources of go-to-market hiring failure. 

The same title can represent very different responsibilities depending on stage. For example, a Head of Marketing in a build phase may be defining positioning and working directly with sales and medical teams to create pitch decks. In an optimization phase, however, that role may focus on portfolio strategy, performance tracking, and people management. 

When role scope is unclear, candidates self-select poorly, expectations diverge, and attrition risk increases. Clear role design aligned to current stage is one of the most effective ways to improve hiring outcomes. 

How to interview for build vs optimization go-to-market leadership 

Build and optimization leaders speak differently about success, and interviews should be structured to surface those differences. 

Build leaders describe achievements in terms of early market traction, organizational momentum, and how quickly teams learned and adapted. They are comfortable making decisions with incomplete information, adjusting direction based on market feedback, and operating without mature systems. In interviews, they tend to emphasize judgment, speed, and cross-functional influence. 

Optimization leaders focus on operational consistency, measurement systems, and scalability infrastructure. Their examples focus on reducing variability, improving conversion rates, and strengthening execution across teams – referencing performance dashboards, key performance indicators, and systematic process improvements.  

Both profiles deliver significant value, but problems arise when organizations expect one to operate like the other. Interviews should therefore be designed around the company’s current commercial phase, not a generic leadership checklist. 

This is where specialist support can help. EPM Scientific works with life sciences organizations to define the right go-to-market leadership profile for each stage, structure interviews around stage-specific signals, and benchmark candidates against comparable build or optimization environments. This helps clients avoid mis-hires driven by seniority or title alone and make leadership decisions aligned to commercial reality. Get in touch with the team to learn more. 

Managing the transition from go-to-market build to optimization 

The transition between build and optimization is rarely a clean handover. Most organizations operate in a hybrid state for longer than expected – especially as they add indications, enter new markets, or expand product portfolios. 

Successful transitions involve layering in optimization capability rather than replacing build leaders abruptly. This often means adding commercial operations, analytics, or enablement roles while maintaining build-focused leadership during the handover period. 

Communication matters here. Teams need to understand when priorities are shifting from creation to consistency, and why new profiles are being introduced. 

Life sciences go-to-market hiring strategy: best practices 

Effective go-to-market hiring starts with honest assessment of where you are, not where you want to be. 

The organizations that get this right: 

• Are explicit about whether the immediate priority is creation or refinement 
• Design roles around current execution gaps, not future-state org charts 
• Sequence hires thoughtfully to support smooth transitions between phases 
• Involve external perspective to challenge assumptions and reduce bias in senior commercial hiring 

At EPM Scientific, we help life sciences companies navigate exactly this challenge. We work across pharma, biotech, and medtech to align commercial talent – go-to-market strategy, marketing, sales leadership, commercial operations, market access – to product lifecycle stage, regulatory complexity, and growth maturity. 

Because the best hire isn't always the most impressive resume. It's the right profile at the right time. 

Ready to align your go-to-market hiring to your actual stage? 

Request a call back to discuss your commercial talent strategy with our life sciences go-to-market recruitment specialists, or submit a vacancy to access experienced commercial talent matched to your growth phase. 

Commercial professionals: Browse current go-to-market and revenue roles across pharma, biotech, and medtech. 

For further advice on attracting and retaining in-demand go-to-market talent, including detailed compensation benchmarks, download our Global Commercial Market Update and Salary Guide.