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Learn more about our services, approach and the sectors we operate in.
For more information on our Animal Health services, get in touch with
Lily Newton
Principal Consultant
Hundreds of 'Excellent' reviews
Helping Animal Health companies unlock their next stage of growth
Specialisms We Cover
Driven by advances in veterinary medicine and rising demand for animal care, the global animal health market exceeds $60 billion in value and continues to grow on a Global basis.
The animal health sector plays a critical role in safeguarding food security, public health, and animal welfare across the globe. Advances in veterinary medicine, pharmaceuticals, biologics, diagnostics, and digital health are accelerating innovation across both livestock and companion animal markets, while regulatory scrutiny and sustainability expectations continue to increase.As expectations around welfare and biosecurity increase, animal health is critical to safeguarding livestock, pets, and public health, with innovation across pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, biologics, and digital health driving industry-wide change.
Advances in preventative medicine, precision diagnostics, data-led disease monitoring, and next-generation therapeutics are transforming the animal health landscape, improving outcomes across companion animal, livestock, and aquaculture markets. These developments are driving a more proactive, efficient, and sustainable approach to animal health management worldwide.This is where our expertise delivers value. Through continuous engagement with industry leaders and decision-makers, we maintain a clear understanding of evolving market dynamics and talent demands. This insight allows us to anticipate where organizations and leadership requirements align, and to leverage our established network to support animal health companies in building high-performing teams that enable long-term growth.
Being the 4th recruiter to be engaged on a VP level search that had been open for several months.
Through working closely with the VP of HR, I was successful in filling a VP level role at a leading animal health pharmaceutical manufacturer. After struggling to find candidates that aligned with their needs previously, I provided 3 candidates they where comfortable offering, from a shortlist of 7.
Case Study
Being the 4th recruiter to be engaged on a VP level search that had been open for several months.
As well as working closely with these larger companies in the field, I have also had great success working closely with start-ups and building out their first hires within a region / function.
Did you know?
Hiring the wrong candidate costs more than just time—it can waste salary, training resources, and opportunities. The Department of Labour estimates a bad hire can cost up to 30% of the role’s first-year earnings.
We hire right
Organisations are
97% Placement Rate 11.78:1 CVs Sent to Interviews 2Avg. 32 Day Engagement to Placement 3
1. Based on all roles engaged on by a client on an exclusive basis from Jan 4 2025 - Dec 31 2025.
2. All CVs Sent from Jan 4 2025 - Dec 31 2025.
3. From Jan 4 2025 - Dec 31 2025.
Stats
1,908 placements made across 25 sectors
262,736 companies in our CRM
"At Irving Knight, we don't just fill positions; we build lasting partnerships. Our commitment to understanding your unique needs ensures that we deliver leaders who drive success and embody your company's values. When it comes to identifying the high-performers of tomorrow, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Our bespoke approach ensures every search is personal, diverse, and tailored from the ground up — delivering an individual, unrivalled experience for both clients and candidates. "
- Joe Davey, Group CEO of Irving Knight Group
Ashley Maclean
Systems Sales Engineer, South Carolina
Jack Purnell with Irving Knight was the best recruiter I’ve worked with - by far. He communicated clearly, was respec...
Jack Purnell
Material Handling & Automation
Joerg Schlagmann
Senior Global Manager
Great expert: supportive, challenging and always empowered for his customers and his work! Not more to say: just exce...
Joseph Davey
Group CEO
Valeria Pozzi
Procurement Category Manager, Italy
Working with Oliver has been a real pleasure!His highly professionalism and transparency made me comfortable to consi...
Oliver Kiddy
Flavors & Fragrances
Christoph Snaga
Investment Manager, Germany
Christopher from Irving Knight handled the overall process well and we managed to get to a successful completion smoo...
Christopher Clay
Real Estate & Homebuilding
Todd McBroom
District Sales Mgr, US
Great Experience!! This was my first time dealing with a recuiter and could not have been a better experience. Jack ...
Jack Purnell
Material Handling & Automation
Franz-Leo Nedo
Territory Sales Manager
Joseph is an expert in recruting people. He has in-depth practical knowledge and helpful by solving potential issues....
Joseph Davey
Group CEO
Guillermo Leal
Global Director of Pricing, US
I've worked with a few recruiters in the past but Oliver surprised me not only for his professionalism, excellent com...
Oliver Kiddy
Flavors & Fragrances
Kaitlin Lammers
Account Manager
Oliver made the hiring process smooth from start to finish. He was consistently responsive, understanding, and suppor...
Oliver Kiddy
Flavors & Fragrances
Andreia Sa
Director, Italy
I would like to sincerely thank Evan Ball for all the support throughout the process. He provided assistance at diffe...
Ewan Ball
Food Ingredients & Biotechnology
Matt Engelbrecht
VP Industrial Ops, US
Working with Lily was a phenomenal experience. She was fully transparent, professional, and provided timely communica...
Lily Newton
Animal Health
Rishi Sarkar
Environmental Process Engineer, US
Irving Knight helped place me with a company that I could have a positive impact on that aligned with my career goals...
Cian ODonnell
CDMO & CRO
Jon Steele
CFO, US
Grace taught an old dog some new tricks! I had been in my previous position for 30 years. I loved my job for most of...
Grace Smith
Electronic Components & Products
Dipen Shah
Account Manager, Canada
I was assisted by Aiden Kerr on getting a new job in the chemical industry. He was fantastic in terms of timing, comm...
Aidan Kerr
Chemicals
Kerry Maye
Regional Sales Manager
Working with Joseph was a wonderfully positive experience from our first contact, through acceptance of my job offer....
Joseph Davey
Group CEO
Eduardo Valle
Development Mgr, US
This opportunity fell on my lap at the perfect time and the overall process with Christopher was great. It was a very...
Christopher Clay
Real Estate & Homebuilding
Andrew Coutts
Director Global Strategy, US
First Class Service Emma shared details of a relevant opportunity and did a great job helping to manage lengthy nego...
Emma Conlin
Vincent Dehousse
Head of Sales & Marketing, Netherlands
Great experience working with Cian from Irving Knight—professional, responsive, and genuinely supportive. Highly reco...
Cian ODonnell
CDMO & CRO
Anja Florbach
Digital & Commercial Excellence Manager
Thank you so much Joseph! You have given me a great support. It was really nice to be in contact with you and I thin...
Joseph Davey
Group CEO
Sandeep Kulshrestha
Formulation Director, US
Oliver is very good in matching skills of the candidates with the company’s requirements. I personally got benefits o...
Oliver Kiddy
Flavors & Fragrances
Brian Carpenter
VP Continous Improvement, US
Stewart was instrumental in helping me through this process and alleviating my concerns as I’ve been out of the workf...
Stewart Boyd
Construction Materials & Mining
Ashley Maclean
Systems Sales Engineer, South Carolina
Jack Purnell with Irving Knight was the best recruiter I’ve worked with - by far. He communicated clearly, was respec...
Jack Purnell
Material Handling & Automation
Joerg Schlagmann
Senior Global Manager
Great expert: supportive, challenging and always empowered for his customers and his work! Not more to say: just exce...
Joseph Davey
Group CEO
Valeria Pozzi
Procurement Category Manager, Italy
Working with Oliver has been a real pleasure!His highly professionalism and transparency made me comfortable to consi...
Oliver Kiddy
Flavors & Fragrances
Christoph Snaga
Investment Manager, Germany
Christopher from Irving Knight handled the overall process well and we managed to get to a successful completion smoo...
Christopher Clay
Real Estate & Homebuilding
Todd McBroom
District Sales Mgr, US
Great Experience!! This was my first time dealing with a recuiter and could not have been a better experience. Jack ...
Jack Purnell
Material Handling & Automation
Franz-Leo Nedo
Territory Sales Manager
Joseph is an expert in recruting people. He has in-depth practical knowledge and helpful by solving potential issues....
Joseph Davey
Group CEO
Guillermo Leal
Global Director of Pricing, US
I've worked with a few recruiters in the past but Oliver surprised me not only for his professionalism, excellent com...
Oliver Kiddy
Flavors & Fragrances
Kaitlin Lammers
Account Manager
Oliver made the hiring process smooth from start to finish. He was consistently responsive, understanding, and suppor...
Oliver Kiddy
Flavors & Fragrances
Andreia Sa
Director, Italy
I would like to sincerely thank Evan Ball for all the support throughout the process. He provided assistance at diffe...
Ewan Ball
Food Ingredients & Biotechnology
Matt Engelbrecht
VP Industrial Ops, US
Working with Lily was a phenomenal experience. She was fully transparent, professional, and provided timely communica...
Lily Newton
Animal Health
Rishi Sarkar
Environmental Process Engineer, US
Irving Knight helped place me with a company that I could have a positive impact on that aligned with my career goals...
Cian ODonnell
CDMO & CRO
Jon Steele
CFO, US
Grace taught an old dog some new tricks! I had been in my previous position for 30 years. I loved my job for most of...
Grace Smith
Electronic Components & Products
Dipen Shah
Account Manager, Canada
I was assisted by Aiden Kerr on getting a new job in the chemical industry. He was fantastic in terms of timing, comm...
Aidan Kerr
Chemicals
Kerry Maye
Regional Sales Manager
Working with Joseph was a wonderfully positive experience from our first contact, through acceptance of my job offer....
Joseph Davey
Group CEO
Eduardo Valle
Development Mgr, US
This opportunity fell on my lap at the perfect time and the overall process with Christopher was great. It was a very...
Christopher Clay
Real Estate & Homebuilding
Andrew Coutts
Director Global Strategy, US
First Class Service Emma shared details of a relevant opportunity and did a great job helping to manage lengthy nego...
Emma Conlin
Vincent Dehousse
Head of Sales & Marketing, Netherlands
Great experience working with Cian from Irving Knight—professional, responsive, and genuinely supportive. Highly reco...
Cian ODonnell
CDMO & CRO
Anja Florbach
Digital & Commercial Excellence Manager
Thank you so much Joseph! You have given me a great support. It was really nice to be in contact with you and I thin...
Joseph Davey
Group CEO
Sandeep Kulshrestha
Formulation Director, US
Oliver is very good in matching skills of the candidates with the company’s requirements. I personally got benefits o...
Oliver Kiddy
Flavors & Fragrances
Brian Carpenter
VP Continous Improvement, US
Stewart was instrumental in helping me through this process and alleviating my concerns as I’ve been out of the workf...
