Validation managers ask us this at the start of every capital project, and the answer depends on numbers most people have not written down. Here they are, using 2026 Dutch market rates.
The permanent hire
A senior Validation Engineer at €75,000 gross costs the employer roughly:
| Item | Annual cost |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | €75,000 |
| Holiday allowance (8 %) | €6,000 |
| Employer social charges and pension (~25 %) | €20,000 |
| Recruitment fee (one-off, amortised over 3 years) | €5,000 |
| Laptop, training, overhead | €4,000 |
| Total | ~€110,000 |
Divide by around 1,650 productive hours (after leave, public holidays, sick days and training) and the true hourly cost is about €67. Add three to four months of notice period and onboarding before they are productive on your project.
The freelance CQV Engineer
At €95 per hour, 36 hours a week, 46 working weeks: ~€157,000 per year, all-in, no employer charges, no pension, no recruitment fee beyond a placement margin, and typically productive from week one because you hired for exactly this skid.
So freelance is 40 % more expensive per year. Except that capital projects are not a year of steady work.
What projects actually look like
A DSP expansion needs three CQV Engineers for nine months, then one for six months of PPQ support, then nobody, the lifecycle team takes over. Hiring three permanent engineers for that gives you three salaries in month 13 with no project, or a redundancy process. Hiring three freelancers gives you a cost line that ends when the project does.
Over an 18-month project cycle:
- Three permanent hires: ~€330,000 over 18 months plus the cost of finding them (four to six months lead time) and the cost of exiting or redeploying them afterwards.
- Three freelancers for 9 months + one for 6 months: 3 × 9 × 4 × 36 × €95 + 1 × 6 × 4 × 36 × €95 ≈ €451,000.
Freelance is more expensive in absolute terms and still the right answer for most projects, because the permanent option carries a cost that does not show in the table: the schedule. A freelancer who starts in three weeks protects a PPQ date; a permanent hire who starts in four months does not. On a biologics expansion, one month of delayed commercial production is worth more than the entire freelance premium.
Secondment: the middle option
Secondment (through Pharma Recruit) sits in between. We employ the engineer, second them to you for the project, and carry the employment and contracting obligations. Cost is typically 10–15 % below equivalent freelance rates, the engineer is on a proper employment contract, and conversion to your payroll is possible when the project turns into lifecycle work. For twelve-month-plus assignments this is often the best total cost.
When permanent wins
- The site has a continuous capital programme and lifecycle validation load that justifies a standing team.
- You need people who will still be there for the periodic requalification in three years.
- The role is 50 % project, 50 % system ownership (change control, periodic review).
When interim wins
- A defined project with a hard PPQ date.
- Specialist skids or systems your team has not qualified before.
- Backfilling a lead during a long absence.
- Any situation where "start in three weeks" is worth more than "€30 per hour cheaper".
We place all three and will tell you which one fits before we send a CV. Request a shortlist or read the interim and secondment page.
About the author
Gregory Sivo
Founder · Practising GMP quality professional
- · Founder, Truex Consultancy: GMP and GDP compliance
- · 10+ years in regulated pharmaceutical quality
- · Personally conducts every technical conversation
Gregory takes every brief, conducts every technical conversation, writes every assessment and manages every offer. There is no sourcing team behind him and no account manager in front of him: the person you brief is the person who delivers.