Dr. Thomai Roi
Director, Executive Recruitment
Dr. Thomai Roi helps growing companies solve the problem that stalls more startups than lengthy funding rounds: The wrong or missing people in critical seats. As Director of Executive Recruiting and Business Development at King & Bishop, she leads confidential, retained searches end-to-end for leadership teams.
Alongside her recruiting work, Thomai is a fractional operations professional, embedding directly with founders and leadership teams to build the operational backbone that early-stage and scaling companies often lack.
It was this expertise that led her to become a co-founder, scaling her previous company from the ground up to seven-figures in annual revenue for three years in a row. Her career started in clinical pharmacy and moved through corporate healthcare strategy, where she worked inside PBM operations and Medicare/Medicaid programs. This healthcare fluency, paired with operational and recruiting expertise, makes her a natural resource for life science founders navigating the unique demands of building teams and companies in a regulated, high-stakes industry.
Thomai holds a PharmD from the University of Rhode Island. Whether she's running a search, advising operations, or sitting on a panel, her focus is the same: Helping ambitious companies build the human and operational infrastructure it needs.
Building a Team in Life Sciences: Who Do You Need, and When Do You Need Them?
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Great science may be the foundation of a life sciences startup, but it takes the right team to turn an idea into a company. For founders and emerging CEOs, building that team comes with unique challenges. Who do you need now—and who can wait? When should you hire full-time, bring in a consultant, or use contract talent? How do you attract experienced people when you’re competing with larger, better-funded companies? And perhaps most importantly, how do you identify people who can thrive in an environment where roles, priorities, and even the company itself are constantly evolving? In this candid panel discussion, industry leaders will share practical perspectives on building teams from the earliest stages through growth and commercialization. We’ll explore hiring for the stage you’re in, identifying the critical skills you really need, balancing experience with startup mindset, building culture intentionally, and avoiding costly early hiring mistakes. Whether you are preparing to make your first hire or building the team that will take your company to its next milestone, this conversation will offer practical insights for creating a team that can grow alongside your business.
