We understand how difficult recruiting can be in Japan and Asia.
In Japan and APAC there are unique challenges when searching for the right talent. These difficulties are particularly felt by multinational companies entering into the market.
At Morunda, we are here to make recruiting simple.
We do that by helping outsiders become insiders.
Our combined 75 years experience of living in Japan allows us to give you a masterful understanding of the healthcare hiring landscape.
We get the job done so you can do what you do best!
Philip Carrigan
Philip’s work in life science recruitment began back in 2001 and established Morunda in 2011. With over 2 decades of executive consulting experience under his belt, Philip is known for recruiting top talent ranging from marketing and clinical development managers to directors for multinational companies in the life science industry – an active thought leader in life science search.
He has written more than 200 published articles on leadership, HR, and industry trends as a monthly contributing writer for the leading Japanese industry newsletter, Pharma Japan and has been everywhere and on the scene in local networking industry events. Philip has personally placed more than 300 executives throughout his career, making him easily recognizable as one of Asia’s leading recruiters in the life science industry.
Adam Kennedy
Adam is the premier recruiter in Tokyo when it comes to market entrants. He first came to Japan in 2002 while working alongside Philip
Carrigan at his first company, and he has been working in search ever since. Adam is especially focused on senior-level positions in the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology sectors. For proof that Adam is one of Japan’s top recruiters, just ask the life science leaders who regularly seek him out for his bottomless knowledge of the industry and his common sense consulting advice.
Although Adam focuses on director-level positions and above, he also takes a personal interest in rare diseases, firms servicing pharma and device manufacturers, and smaller Asian operations that are just getting started. Originally trained in finance, Adam has many financial and operational management roles under his belt in the UK’s National Health Service, as well as with a boutique consulting firm.
Gladys Toh – Morunda Asia
Originally from Singapore, she holds a Bachelor in Business, Major in Marketing from the University of Canberra, Australia. She has
extensive experience in sales, marketing and the service industry and has worked in Singapore, Hong Kong & Tokyo. Gladys additionally spent several years living in Dubai UAE whilst working as cabin crew for Emirates Airline. She speaks Mandarin and English. Gladys has been living in Japan since 2008. Gladys founded Morunda Asia in July 2013 to serve the growing demand for top talent across the Asia Pacific market.
Morunda Asia specializes in placing challenging-to-fill roles in sales, marketing and research and development and is based in Singapore. Singapore is the leading logistics hub globally, has world class intellectual property protection and is now Asia’s fastest-growing bio-cluster. Singapore additionally presents attractive strategic partnership / new medicines development opportunities with research institutes, corporate labs and public hospitals and future therapies that can be customized for regional and global markets.
Perre Frias
Originally from the Philippines, Perre Frias graduated with a dual bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Nursing at one of the country’s
top universities. After a short but very successful time in the business process outsourcing sector, Perre went on to join Wyeth Pharmaceutical in 2011 as a Territory Manager and worked for the company for five successful years.
Perre joined Morunda in Tokyo from 2016 until 2020 as a Project Manager. He went on to successfully help establish the life science business of a start-up recruitment firm in Tokyo from 2020 to 2022 , reaching Principal level Consultant. Perre returned to his home in Morunda at the end 2022 to take on a role as VP for Life Science Business for Japan and APAC.
Alan Thomson
Alan is the Director of the Finance & Operations team. They cover the corporate back-office roles for Morunda’s clients,
which includes finance, legal & compliance, procurement, human resources and operations. During his time in recruitment, he has placed many executives across various industries in the Japanese market and especially enjoys working with clients who are new to the region. Alan and his team work very closely with pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology firms to identify the key characteristics and abilities of candidates to drive their business forward.
Alan came to Japan in 2004, originally in financial consulting, where he worked closely with numerous Japanese executives and companies as clients, so he has a deep understanding of what is needed to succeed in this market. He really enjoys consulting with clients and candidates, to enable patient first focused companies to expand in Japan & APAC region.
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