KAV works with biotech and life sciences start-ups and scale-ups, helping founders and leaders build the people foundations their business needs to grow well.
We provide HR consulting that connects people strategy to business strategy, while staying close to the practical realities of growth. That means support which is senior where it needs to be, but grounded enough to help with the operational and transactional work that keeps an organisation moving.
KAV is a principal-led consultancy; clients work directly with a senior HR adviser rather than through layers of a firm.
“A strategic partner supporting the Exec Team and key business leaders across a myriad of HR-related matters... Sav is able to provide clarity, resilience and a commercially grounded collaborative approach. He approaches complex situations with a balanced perspective — combining data-driven insights with empathy and sound judgement.”
Alexander Hewitson
Chief Operating Officer, Alchemab Therapeutics
“His versatile skill sets were tested at full-throttle. He showcased impeccable, professional support as we navigated complex territories during this growth stage... Sav is one of the few leaders I’ve met with unquestionable professionalism, integrity, and strive for goodness at all levels of a company.”
Matt Heberling PhD
Chief Operations Officer, neural_stride | Former COO during $42M raise
Whether the need is strategic, practical or somewhere in between, the aim is to give founders and leaders clear, commercially grounded support before people issues become harder to solve. The route in stays simple: contact KAV directly and the conversation starts quickly.
KAV works with biotech and life sciences founders, leaders and growing teams to create the structures, decisions and people practices that support credible growth. The aim is not more process for its own sake, but stronger organisational judgement, clearer accountability and better long-term outcomes.
KAV is designed for businesses where people decisions affect scientific execution, investor confidence and organisational resilience. That means support calibrated to regulated, high-skill and fast-changing environments rather than borrowed from a generalist HR template.
The focus is biotech and life sciences, with support shaped for organisations balancing scientific ambition, commercial pressure, governance demands and the realities of scaling specialist teams. Clients engage KAV as the business and work closely with Sav as the principal behind it.
The work brings together governance, execution and care. Compliance matters, but the deeper objective is to build environments where capable people can do demanding work well, lead responsibly and stay aligned as the organisation grows.
KAV works as a senior strategic partner, helping leaders make clear, proportionate decisions on structure, capability, culture and risk without losing sight of the human consequences behind those decisions.
The practice draws on experience of large corporates as well as growth-stage businesses, bringing both scale discipline and practical adaptability to the advice clients receive.
This combination supports organisations that need mature judgement, board-level credibility and implementation that works in the real world rather than in theory.
KAV is intended to be a trusted advisory relationship, not a static service catalogue. Support can range from strategic input at leadership level to hands-on problem solving where the organisation needs experienced intervention.
The relationship is personal enough to feel accessible, but structured through KAV so that the brand remains credible, consistent and able to grow over time.
KAV’s services are positioned around decision quality, organisational credibility and practical execution. The emphasis is on helping leaders make sound people choices at moments that affect scale, resilience and trust.
KAV supports founders and senior leaders with the people decisions that determine whether growth remains coherent, investable and operationally credible.
Hiring and retention decisions are approached as strategic levers, not isolated transactions, with attention to long-term organisational strength.
KAV provides calm, proportionate support across employee relations, performance, conduct and wider workforce matters where legal, cultural or reputational consequence is in play.
Strong organisations need more than good intentions. KAV helps design the frameworks, policies and management disciplines that allow scale without drift.
System choices shape reporting, management quality and operational discipline. KAV advises on people technology through the lens of business need, usability and long-term fit.
Periods of growth, redesign or uncertainty require experienced execution as well as clear advice. KAV supports leaders through transitions that affect structure, capability and confidence.
KAV works across the layers of a growing business, helping people strategy make sense not only at board level, but also at founder level, C-suite level and C-1 leadership level where execution pressure is often greatest.
KAV understands the organisational pressures that sit around scientific ambition, investor expectations and regulated growth. That context matters when people decisions carry operational and reputational consequences.
The work is designed to make sense at founder level, C-suite level, C-1 level and board level, so people decisions remain aligned across strategy, execution and governance rather than fragmenting as the business grows.
Short-term fixes can create long-term fragility. KAV focuses on proportionate structures that are fit for current needs while remaining credible for future scale.
Strong organisations need both operational discipline and humanity. KAV’s approach aims to support performance, dignity and responsible leadership at the same time.
A growing library of practical articles on workforce risk, leadership, governance and organisational decision-making in science-led businesses.
An article on when founder-led people models begin to constrain scale, continuity, governance and investor confidence.
The website uses an email-first contact route, keeping the experience simple and proportionate while you decide later whether to add a form or other contact pathways.
