Associate Director, Strategic Advisor in Life Sciences

Lexica is a leading specialist consultancy, transforming environments for clients in health and life sciences. From June 2025 Lexica is a member of WSP (UK) Ltd and will be fully integrated into the organisation by Jan 2026. We are helping organisations to become more efficient and effective in the core sectors that we work in; whether improving patient pathways for the NHS, developing laboratories to facilitate world-leading science, or rationalising educational campuses to attract the highest calibre students and research investment.

Our clients tell us that we are different from other consultancies. They know that we have a wide range of skills across the business that gives us a competitive edge over other organisations. By joining Lexica, you will be part of the journey with our clients and colleagues.

Job Summary

Lexica is growing its strategic advisory in the life science sector.

A key priority is to develop a strategic advisory capability by growing and developing our offering to new and existing clients, in both the public and private sectors, the UK and overseas, in the life science sector. The post holder, for this full-time role, will have a key role in:

Delivery: offering professional, strategic planning and consultancy services to all clients. The post holder will bring expertise to support designing individual solutions and securing client mandates. They will support the operational leadership to deliver to clients’ expectations including service excellence, quality of processes and performance standards.

Business development
: to grow the business, meeting strategic objectives and targets

Resource development: to grow the team supporting recruitment and line management duties and the professional development of a growing team.

What we expect from you

Key responsibilities:


Client management/ engagement

• Build and maintain strong relationships with Clients, acting as a key account holder, understand client’s needs, provide tailored strategic advice, manage accounts effectively, ensuring clients satisfaction to secure a long-term partnership.
• Lead stakeholders’ engagement and support strategic lead with key communications
• To be able to successfully integrate into client’s team and support the development of the client team
• Work with multidisciplinary teams, including scientific experts, regulatory specialists, and property professionals to deliver integrated solutions
• Lead the delivery of estate strategies and development control plans
• Develop and refine client’s estate strategic plans that align with their business objectives and optimisation of the estate portfolio, through efficient asset management
• Leverage business experience and acumen in identifying strategic alternatives/solutions to client questions
• Lead and deliver the business case process from end-to-end

Support the Life Sciences senior leadership team

• Be accountable for the performance of the service line and client satisfaction with outcomes based on agreed scope/ specifications
• Lead the management of the profit & loss/ financial performance of their account/commission, analysing performance against budget and income targets
• Identify and proactively pursue business opportunities and building a pipeline of future work
• Develop and write proposals and respond to tenders
• Contribute to the development of thought leadership materials, including white papers, case studies and presentation to enhance the firm’s reputation in the industry
• Work independently but perform as a key member of the team/s, with responsibility for supervising team members as well as line manage SLS staff and resources
• Provide guidance and mentorship to junior consultants, fostering a collaborative and high-performance team environment

Excellent Delivery and Continuous Improvement

• Support the successful implementation of best practices and have the capability to tailor best practices to Clients’ requirements
• Apply robust methodology to strategic planning processes including data collection, validation, assurance, and governance processes
• Create and deliver high quality reports, presentations, workshops with clients,…