Most recruiters who ring you about lab jobs don’t know a mass spectrometer from a microwave. They use terms like “analytical skills” without grasping their practical implications when conducting stability tests on pharmaceutical compounds.
That’s what sets someone like Sophia Kingan apart. She’s based in Sheffield and is one of those rare recruiters who actually worked in the labs before deciding to help hire the people who work there now.
Sophia Kingan has a master’s degree in drug chemistry from Newcastle University. She has pipetted solutions, run NMR spectroscopy, and analysed pharmaceutical formulations. The lot.
So when she’s hiring for a QA manager or a regulatory affairs specialist, she isn’t just matching buzzwords on a CV. She knows what the job actually involves.
From Lab Benches To LinkedIn
Sophia Kingan first began her journey at Sheffield Hallam University in 2008, having successfully completed a First Class Honours in Forensic and Analytical Science. Not your typical undergraduate degree.
Thereafter, she went to Newcastle for the MSc, really getting her teeth into drug chemistry, LC-MS and IR spectroscopy and all that technical stuff they put in your medications in your bathroom cabinet.
After that, she was an analytical chemist. Real hands-on work in a high-paced, regulated environment where one mistake could cost tens of millions of dollars. But while she was there, she noticed something obvious.
Companies desperately needed highly specialised scientists. The recruiters are trying to find them? Clueless.
It’s as if someone who has never watched football is supposed to then scout the best possible players for Liverpool. You can hit the jackpot now and again, but you’re likely to miss out on a lot of the best talent.
So Sophia Kingan switched careers. She signed up with Consult, a recruitment consultancy specialising in healthcare, pharmaceuticals and med-tech.
She worked at that institution for years, rising to the role of business manager (scientific roles). She then joined Connected Search Group Ltd in May 2025 as Business Manager, Scientific & Engineering.
Now her work takes her across the UK, as well as overseas, tackling not only life sciences but also manufacturing and engineering.
Why Sophia Kingan’s Actually Good At This
Here’s what sets her apart. Sophia Kingan doesn’t just throw CVs at job descriptions and hope something sticks. She can have proper conversations with hiring managers about technical requirements.
She can tell when someone’s blagging their way through an interview. She understands the pressure of working in GMP environments where compliance isn’t optional.
Her clients often switch from other recruitment partners specifically to work with her. That’s not just about being nice on the phone. That’s about getting results.
She covers pharmaceutical recruitment, biotech, diagnostics, med-tech, and regulatory affairs. If it’s a science-led business, she’s likely worked on it.
She helps companies fill multiple roles during rapid growth, find urgent replacements for key staff, navigate salary benchmarks, and generally avoid the chaos that comes with bad hiring decisions.
The Person Behind The Profile
Is Sophia Kingan married? Yes, she is married and has a young daughter. She’s in Sheffield and she’s pretty up front about the daily battles involved in being a working mum, especially as the mother of a school child.
She posts on LinkedIn about topics like biotech trends and gender equity in hiring. According to her Twitter profile, she likes skiing, yoga and music, as well as something she describes as “unnecessary maths”.
Those little information tidbits help make her feel like a human being and not just another recruiter profile. She is a proponent of inclusive hiring practices and long-term career mentorship. Not in a box-ticking way. It’s baked into how she operates.
What This Actually Means
Look, recruitment has a bad reputation for good reason. We’ve all dealt with recruiters who clearly didn’t read your CV before ringing. Or who try to place you in jobs that have nothing to do with your skills.
But people like Sophia Kingan prove it doesn’t have to be like that. When you combine genuine technical knowledge with people skills, you get better outcomes. Companies find the talent they actually need. Candidates land roles that suit them. Nobody’s time gets wasted.
The pharmaceutical and med-tech industries are rapidly expanding. Biotech breakthroughs, personalised medicine, and new diagnostics.
All of it requires specialised talent. Having someone who can bridge the gap between lab work and business strategy isn’t just useful. It’s essential.
Her career is a textbook example of how a scientific education provides you with lasting, transferable skills that can translate well beyond the laboratory.
Problem-solving, analytical thinking and an eye for detail. These things work in recruiting as well as they do in drug development.
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The Bottom Line
If you’re a scientist feeling stuck or a company struggling to find proper technical talent, someone like Sophia Kingan might be worth talking to. Not because she’s got some magic answer, but because she’s been where you are. She understands what matters. And she actually cares about getting it right.
That’s rarer than it should be in this industry.
