VP Head of AI
Evotec · Abingdon
Job Title: VP Head of AI
Job Type: Permanent
Location: Abingdon - UK, Alderley Park- UK or Verona, Italy
Our Company
Evotec is a leader in the discovery and development of novel small molecule drugs with operational sites in Europe and the US. The Company has built substantial drug discovery expertise and an industrialised platform that can drive new innovative small molecule compounds into the clinic. In addition, Evotec has built a deep internal knowledge base in the treatment of diseases related to neuroscience, pain, oncology, inflammation and metabolic diseases. Leveraging these skills and expertise the Company intends to develop best-in-class differentiated therapeutics and deliver superior science-driven discovery alliances with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies
Purpose of the role
The Vice President Head of AI leads the AI Accelerator, the single consolidated AI capability of Evotec's In Silico & AI function. The role is accountable for turning Evotec's proprietary discovery data and frontier models into predictive models, AI-generated therapeutic hypotheses and agentic workflows that every science unit consumes, making the Accelerator a force multiplier across the whole function rather than a competing science unit.
This is the senior technical voice for AI in Evotec's drug discovery. The post holder sets the AI vision and roadmap, and owns the build, buy and partner decisions for the AI stack. The role carries real decision rights and the latitude to shape a newly created unit, its groups and its technical standards from the ground up.
The opportunity rests on an unusual data position: patient-derived, tissue-paired multi-omics at population scale, experimental ADMET and safety outcomes, and a federated discovery data estate that is difficult for competitors to replicate. The post holder is expected to convert that position into models and reusable IP that compound across programmes, and to represent Evotec externally as a recognised technical leader in AI-powered drug discovery.
Core accountabilities
- Own and lead the AI Accelerator as the single consolidated machine learning, deep learning and foundation-model capability serving every in silico unit, comprising the Machine Learning, Generative & Agentic AI, and Therapeutic Hypotheses groups
- Set the technical AI vision and multi-year roadmap for AI-powered drug discovery at Evotec, and translate the In Silico & AI strategy into a prioritised model and capability portfolio
- Deliver predictive models for molecular property, activity, ADMET and safety at a quality and scale that individual science units could not build or maintain alone
- Deliver AI-generated target and mechanism-of-action hypotheses that feed the Disease-to-Target and Therapeutics Design pipelines
- Own foundation-model orchestration and agentic workflows, grounding external frontier models in Evotec's proprietary outcomes data to create a genuine agentic integrator capability
- Operate as the shared capability that Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Therapeutics Design pull from
- Own build, buy and partner decisions for AI capability, including the selection and management of foundation-model providers, AI technology vendors, data partners and academic collaborations
- Establish model governance appropriate to a discovery environment: validation, benchmarking, reproducibility, data rights and responsible use, in partnership with IT&Data, Legal and QA
- Convert models, predictors and methods into reusable, protectable IP that compounds across projects and underpins model-training partnerships and asset licensing
- Act as a senior external voice for Evotec on AI in drug discovery through partner, analyst, conference and publication engagement, building the technical recognition on which AI-led alliance deals depend
- Build, lead and develop the AI Accelerator: attract and retain senior AI talent in a highly competitive market, develop the group leaders, and set the technical standards and ways of working for AI across the function
Capability, Knowledge and Experience:
- Recognised technical authority in machine learning and deep learning applied to drug discovery or the life sciences, with the standing to set vision internally and represent Evotec externally
- Hands-on depth in several of the following: molecular property and ADMET or toxicity prediction, generative and structure-based molecular design, geometric deep learning and graph neural networks, protein and sequence models, and representation learning on multi-omics data
- Current, practical expertise in foundation models and agentic systems, including adaptation and fine-tuning, retrieval and tool use, multi-agent orchestration, evaluation and guardrails, and the grounding of general-purpose models in proprietary experimental data
- Rigour in model validation and benchmarking, including prospective evaluation, uncertainty quantification, active learning and design-make-test-analyse loops, and a clear-eyed view of what a model can and cannot support
- Proven track record of taking AI models beyond proof of concept into production use at scale, with demonstrable scientific or commercial impact
- Strong working knowledge of drug discovery across target identification, therapeutic design and ADMET or safety, and of the multi-omics and experimental outcomes data that underpin them
- Demonstrated ability to consolidate fragmented, team-by-team capability into a single shared function that internal teams actively choose to use
- Excellent executive-level communication and influencing skills, with the ability to translate AI capability into scientific and commercial value for non-specialist audiences
- Commercial awareness, with a sense for where AI capability creates monetisable assets, services and partnership value
- Experience building, leading and retaining senior technical teams in a matrixed, multi-site, international organisation
- Proven ability to operate and make decisions in complex, ambiguous, and high-impact environments
Education and Qualifications:
- M.Sc or PhD in machine learning, computer science, computational biology or chemistry, physics, engineering, mathematics, or a related discipline
- Demonstrable experience in AI and machine learning, including substantial time in biotech, pharma, CRO, or a comparable discovery environment
- Significant experience leading an AI, machine learning or data science function at senior leadership level, accountable for technical strategy, delivery, budget and talent
- Evidence of external technical standing, such as peer-reviewed publications, patents, open-source contribution, or a recognised presence in the AI for life sciences community
- Proven track record of delivering sustained scientific and commercial impact through AI-enabled models, decisions or products
- Fluent business English
FR : Dans le cadre de sa politique Diversité, Evotec étudie, à compétences égales, toutes les candidatures dont celles des personnes en situation de handicap.
EN: In the frame of our Diversity policy, Evotec considers, with equal competences, all applications including people with disabilities.
IT: In compliance with fundamental ethical and professional principles and with Legislative Decree 198/2006, Evotec is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to fostering a safe, diverse, and inclusive workplace built on mutual respect. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified candidates and employees based on their skills, experience, and professional qualifications. In line with our ethical and professional principles, all employment-related decisions, including recruitment and selection processes, are made fairly and without any form of discrimination. All qualified candidates will be considered for employment regardless of race, color, sex, age, disability, genetic information, gender expression, gender identity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected under applicable law.