Head of Artificial Intelligence

Sector: Biotechnology / Genomics / Drug Discovery

La Fosse have exclusively partnered with an early-stage, privately funded biotechnology company building a next-generation genomics and therapeutics platform focused on diseases with significant unmet need. The company is part of a highly respected venture-backed ecosystem that specialises in creating and scaling category-defining life sciences businesses.

Our mission is to invent and operationalise breakthrough technologies that combine advanced biology, data, and machine learning to fundamentally change how targets are discovered, validated, and translated into medicines.

They are looking for a Head of AI to define, build, and productionise the machine learning capabilities that sit at the core of our platform and drug discovery engine. This is a senior director role with hands-on leadership and significant influence over technical strategy, team growth, and scientific direction.

You will work closely with leaders across assay development, data infrastructure, biology, and drug discovery, operating in a highly collaborative, low-ego environment. The role combines deep technical ownership with real-world biological impact.

• Define and own the AI/ML strategy and roadmap across platform development and drug discovery
• Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing AI/ML team, setting standards for quality, rigor, and reproducibility
• Partner with data infrastructure teams to optimise data schemas, metadata, versioning, and access controls
• Develop and deploy ML methods leveraging next-generation sequencing (NGS) for target discovery and validation
• Build and productionise imaging AI capabilities (e.g. histology / microscopy), including segmentation, detection, classification, and weak or self-supervised learning approaches
• Apply AI to accelerate target validation and drug development, tightly linking models to biological outcomes
• Communicate complex technical results clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Strong industry experience in genomics, biotechnology and/or drug discovery
• 7+ years of industry experience delivering AI/ML systems end-to-end in drug discovery or target identification
• Strong leadership experience in a matrixed, collaborative environment
• Credible AI technical background.
• Someone who is driven by innovation.

• Genomics / NGS-based ML methods
• AI applied to target validation and/or drug discovery (any modality)

• Opportunity to shape AI strategy at the core of a new therapeutic platform
• High ownership, high impact role in an innovation-led, early-stage environment
• Close collaboration with world-class scientists and technologists

If this role sounds of interest, please apply through the AD to find out more!