Deployment Strategy Director (Life Science)
WovenLight is creating a new category of investment firm.
We combine traditional private equity investing with deep capabilities in AI and machine learning — in order to drive outsized value creation at our portfolio companies.
We do this as an "active co-sponsor", co-underwriting deals with top-tier Private Equity firms and deploying our own in-house team of data scientists, engineers, and strategists to execute value creation projects at the companies we invest in. Investing across North America and Europe, we currently have four portfolio companies.
To execute our mission we are building an integrated team of world class data, investment, technology and operations professionals.
The Role
Deployment Strategy Directors are senior leaders who bring deep life science domain expertise, a strong personal brand in the industry, and the experience to act as a trusted advisor to both PE partners and portfolio company leadership. You will hold oversight across multiple WovenLight projects simultaneously, shaping how we engage with the life science sector and building the relationships and reputation that support our continued growth.
Deployment Directors lead on:
- Providing oversight and strategic direction across multiple diagnostic and deployment projects, acting as the escalation point for complex delivery, risk, or stakeholder issues
- Owning senior relationships with GP partners and portfolio company C-suite, guiding strategic and operational decisions — especially on how to build lasting and sustainable AI and data capabilities in life science organisations
- Challenging and refining project direction to ensure alignment with each GP's value creation priorities and the specific commercial dynamics of life science
- Driving value attribution across projects, GPs, and portfolio — ensuring the link between WovenLight's work and enterprise value is clearly demonstrated
- Leading external eminence for WovenLight in life science — speaking engagements, publications, and LP/GP showcases
- Actively leading business development, cultivating relationships with PE firms active in life science, and contributing to proposals and deal origination
- Coaching and developing Deployment Strategy talent and building future leaders of the function
- Coordinating investment, pipeline, and people strategy with Applied Engineering and Investment function leads
What We're Looking For
Life Science Domain Expertise
- Significant and senior experience working in or advising life science businesses — including pharmaceutical, biotech, medtech, healthcare services, or diagnostics
- Deep understanding of how value is created across the life science value chain: R&D, clinical operations, manufacturing, commercial, and market access
- A strong personal brand or network within life science — recognised by PE firms, management teams, or the broader industry as a credible operator and advisor
- Familiarity with the regulatory, data governance, and compliance environment in which life science companies operate, and the strategic implications for AI/data transformation
Business Leadership & Stakeholder Management
- Proven experience (7+ years) leading or overseeing commercial transformations, with a track record of driving adoption of new technologies and processes at scale
- Established relationships with C-suite and board-level stakeholders in life science businesses, with the ability to guide complex strategic and operational decisions
- Experience working alongside or advising PE firms, with an understanding of how investment theses are formed, tested, and realised
- Ability to build and deepen relationships with top-tier GPs by demonstrating execution excellence, operational empathy, and clarity of impact
Commercial & Financial Acumen
- Strong commercial understanding of the financial and value-creation dynamics relevant to life science PE — including deal structuring, EBITDA drivers, and exit positioning
- Ability to hold responsibility for value attribution across a portfolio of projects, not just individual engagements
- Track record of positioning AI and data science as a strategic value creation lever
Technical (ML, AI, Software Development) Understanding
This is not a hands-on technical role, but Deployment Strategy Directors must have a strong, practical understanding of key AI and ML concepts — enough to guide technical teams, evaluate opportunities, and ensure business impact. As part of our selection process, we will expect candidates to be able to answer questions such as:
- What is meant by a "data pipeline"?
- What's the difference between a Data Engineer and a Data Scientist in the context of an ML development and deployment workflow?
- What is meant by "overfitting" in a model?
- What is a "feature" in machine learning? What is feature engineering?
- What is an A/B test used for in analytics or ML?
- How does a generative AI project using a pre-trained model differ from a traditional ML project?
- Why might a technically excellent ML model still fail to deliver business impact?
Please note: We are not seeking new agency relationships at this time.
Our core team is based in London. Interviews for this role will be conducted via a combination of phone, video-conference and in person.
WovenLight is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other basis as protected by applicable law.