At Lilly, we unite caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We are a global healthcare leader headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our employees around the world work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to our communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. We give our best effort to our work, and we put people first. We’re looking for people who are determined to make life better for people around the world.

At Lilly, we unite caring with discovery to make life better for people worldwide. As a global healthcare leader headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, we are committed to advancing innovation in areas of high unmet medical need. With a proven track record in obesity research and a growing focus on women’s health, we seek an experienced discovery leader to help build a portfolio of transformative therapies to improve outcomes for women everywhere and arrest age-related functional decline across genders. This role offers the opportunity to shape strategy, drive impactful drug discovery and development programs, and contribute to Lilly’s mission of scientific excellence and patient-centered care.

Position Summary:

The Discovery Lead, Women’s Health & Musculoskeletal Biology, serves as a pivotal leader responsible for establishing and advancing Lilly's portfolio in Women's Health and Age-related Functional Decline. Indications of interest include PCOS, endometriosis, preeclampsia, menopause-related disorders, osteoporosis and age-related decline in muscle function. We are looking for a dynamic and strategic leader with deep understanding of drug discovery, a passion for developing innovative medicines for areas of high unmet medical need, and a background in metabolic diseases, women’s health and/or musculoskeletal biology.  This leader will have a track record of identifying novel therapeutic approaches, progressing molecules to the clinic, and leading projects in drug discovery and development. Leading a team of 5-15 preclinical biologists, this role will direct research from target identification through preclinical development and collaborate across disciplines to progress projects through the preclinical and clinical portfolio. An important part of this role is the evaluation and progression of external opportunities: the Discovery Leader will work closely with Lilly’s Catalyze 360 and business development organizations to enable the early-stage biotech ecosystem and bring external opportunities into Lilly.

Portfolio Strategy and Discovery Leadership

• Shape Lilly’s strategy in Women’s Health and Age-related Functional Decline by combining a deep understanding of biology, current therapeutic landscape and competitive environment with evaluation of internal and external opportunities to build an industry-leading portfolio.
• Collaborate with clinical colleagues, new product planning and senior leadership to set overall program strategy and develop and maintain draft launch labels and value propositions that address key customer needs
• Lead evaluation of external partnership opportunities, make strategic recommendations to leadership, and ensure scientific leadership through execution and management

Scientific and Portfolio Leadership

• Build, maintain and advance a portfolio of projects that have the potential to transform Women’s Health and address key unmet needs in age-related functional decline. 
• Partner closely with bioinformatics to bring computational approaches to bear on target selection and drug discovery
• Ensure state-of-the art biology capabilities in prioritized areas of Women’s Health and Musculoskeletal Biology using internal and external resources.
• Ensure delivery of quality lead and candidate molecules.
• Establish and lead partnerships with academic institutions and biotechs to complement internal research efforts.
• Effectively represent Lilly in interactions with outside partners, key opinion leaders and collaborators. Engage in and lead advisory boards, target and portfolio reviews.
• Maintain a high scientific profile through publications and presentations

Team Leadership & Management

• Supervise and mentor PhD and non-PhD scientists engaged in target identification, validation and preclinical drug discovery
• Supervise laboratories. Ensure adherence to all safety, quality and documentation requirements
• Lead cross-functional teams responsible for novel small and large molecule target discovery and validation
• Coach team members to think deeply and work creatively while delivering excellent scientific results

Basic Qualifications:

• PhD or MD/PhD with a minimum of 10 years of experience in drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry.
• Thorough understanding of drug discovery and development, including regulatory and IP considerations.  Proven track record in moving projects forward with contributions to INDs and/or NDAs
• Significant scientific accomplishments as evidenced by high impact publications, patents or regulatory filings.
• Track record of successfully managing a diverse set of team-members in an industry setting. Able to deliver effective coaching and feedback.
• Qualified candidates must be legally authorized to be employed in the United States.

Additional Skills/Preferences:

• Demonstrated ability to drive for results in a fast-paced environment
• Team-player who excels at working collaboratively while shaping project direction.
• Strong business sense and strategic planning and execution skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with excellent self-management and organizational skills.
• Passionate learner who embraces entrepreneurial thinking
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Travel:

Up to 25% US/Global travel

​Location:

Boston or Indianapolis

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions. If you require accommodation to submit a resume for a position at Lilly, please complete the accommodation request form (https://careers.lilly.com/us/en/workplace-accommodation) for further assistance. Please note this is for individuals to request an accommodation as part of the application process and any other correspondence will not receive a response.

Lilly is proud to be an EEO Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender identity, sex, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Our employee resource groups (ERGs) offer strong support networks for their members and are open to all employees. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia Network, Black Employees at Lilly, Chinese Culture Network, Japanese International Leadership Network (JILN), Lilly India Network, Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), PRIDE (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN), Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL), enAble (for people with disabilities). Learn more about all of our groups.

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location.  The anticipated wage for this position is

Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance). In addition, Lilly offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees, including eligibility to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k); pension; vacation benefits; eligibility for medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits; flexible benefits (e.g., healthcare and/or dependent day care flexible spending accounts); life insurance and death benefits; certain time off and leave of absence benefits; and well-being benefits (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities).Lilly reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion and Lilly’s compensation practices and guidelines will apply regarding the details of any promotion or transfer of Lilly employees.

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