Appointing a Head of Marketing to build DrDoctor’s commercial growth engine

Founded in 2012, DrDoctor is a HealthTech business helping healthcare providers improve communication, engagement and operational efficiency across the patient journey. Now, with 35 million patients using DrDoctor and 145 million appointments managed by them, the business reached a point in their journey where they needed to establish their marketing function. 

Building marketing capability would support commercial objectives, strengthen alignment with sales, and create a more scalable go-to-market strategy. The appointment of a senior marketing leader would play a key role in shaping that next phase. 

At the time, DrDoctor did not have an established marketing function. They needed a marketing leader capable of building and executing a marketing strategy from scratch, developing closer alignment between marketing and sales, and helping shape the company’s broader go-to-market approach. 

Finding this individual proved challenging. The role required a rare combination of strategic leadership, hands-on execution capability, commercial awareness, and a genuine passion for healthcare innovation. After an extended direct search, the business had yet to identify a candidate who could bring all these qualities together. 

With continued growth plans dependent on stronger commercial infrastructure, securing the right leadership hire became a business-critical priority. 

DrDoctor chose to partner with 3Search’s Katie Scott because of her specialist focus in technology and SaaS recruitment, combined with the 3Search consultative approach to senior-level roles. At this point in the search, they needed a recruitment partner that could balance pace with rigour while providing market insight throughout the process. 

Katie delivered a highly targeted search focused on identifying marketing leaders with experience operating in complex technology environments and a clear understanding of healthcare markets. She delivered a comprehensive market map to develop a complete view of the available talent landscape and identify candidates beyond those actively applying for roles. 

Through proactive headhunting and detailed candidate assessment, Katie built a carefully curated shortlist of individuals who met both the technical requirements of the role and the cultural expectations of the business. 

The successful candidate was identified through this approach. Their healthcare marketing experience, commercial leadership capability, and familiarity with the NHS ecosystem made them an outstanding match for the position. 

Katie took several steps to ensure that DrDoctor secured their preferred candidate. This included: 

• Managed all direct applications to ensure a positive impression of the employer brand.
• Salary benchmarking and competitor analysis to strengthen the attractiveness of the opportunity.
• Candidate coaching and interview preparation to help secure engagement and maximise performance throughout the process.
• Consultative support for stakeholders, enabling data-led hiring decisions and clear candidate calibration.

By balancing speed with quality, we helped DrDoctor confidently navigate an important leadership appointment while delivering a positive candidate experience that reflected their employer brand.

From the outset, the successful candidate demonstrated a strong alignment with DrDoctor’s mission, alongside the strategic expertise and leadership capability required to build the organisation’s marketing function. 

Since joining the business, they have made a significant impact and continued to expand their responsibilities. What began as a Head of Marketing appointment has evolved into a broader commercial leadership remit, with responsibility across both go-to-market and sales function.

3Search continues to partner with DrDoctor for all of their go-to-market recruitment needs.