Functional Service Team Executive/Senior Director, Clinical Delivery Capabilities – Exploratory Medicine Pharmacology (EMP)

The posting

At Lilly, the work is demanding because patients are waiting. We unite caring with discovery to help make life better for people around the world, knowing that every decision, every detail, and every day matters. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, our over 50,000 employees around the globe take on complex challenges to discover and deliver life-changing medicines, strengthen how health is understood and managed, and support the communities we serve. This is hard, urgent, selfless work—but it’s work worth doing. If you’re driven by purpose and ready to bring your best to work that truly matters for patients, we invite you to join us.

Functional Service Team Executive/Senior Director, Clinical Delivery Capabilities – Exploratory Medicine Pharmacology (EMP)

The purpose of the Functional Service Team Executive/Senior Director role is to establish, lead, and sustain a functional service team that operates as a scalable extension of the EMP workforce, enabling the exploratory and biopharmaceutics clinical development portfolio to respond effectively to shifts in portfolio volume, timing, and priorities. This role works in close partnership with the Strategic Sourcing and Governance Executive/Senior Director, who sets sourcing strategy and governance across EMP vendors and oversees contracts and budgets for study related work, to translate that direction into a fully operational service. The role is accountable for clinical vendor management and performance optimization across the service team, including how it is governed, set up for success, trained, measured, and supported, and for the strength of the relationships that underpin it with functional service providers (FSPs) and EMP stakeholders. This role plays a critical part in driving EMP towards its strategic objectives by delivering consistent quality, productivity, and value through the external service team. The role also serves as EMP's connection point to the broader LRL organization, building networks across functions and the enterprise to share learnings, influence enterprise direction, and ensure the service team benefits from enterprise capabilities.

1. Service Team Establishment, Governance and Operating Model:

• Translate the sourcing strategy, commercial framework, and enterprise governance set by the Strategic Sourcing and Governance Executive/Senior Director into a fully operational functional service team, ensuring alignment on scope, service model, and expectations with the FSP partner(s) and third-party organizations (TPOs).

• Own the FSP delivery strategy for EMP and oversee its execution and budget to ensure the FSP model, resourcing plans, and study-level delivery align with EMP development priorities, portfolio demand, and clinical study milestones, and so that the FSP model can scale as the level of investment grows.

• Partner with the Strategic Sourcing and Governance Executive/Senior Director to formalize how EMP studies are allocated between FSP, other external delivery models, and internal execution, including an explicit decision owner, defined selection criteria (for example, therapeutic area, site-network needs, internal capacity, and risk tolerance), and a recurring governance cadence, so that FSP is used deliberately rather than case by case.

• Partner with EMP leadership and the Therapeutic Areas (TAs) to forecast portfolio demand and plan capacity, enabling the service team to mobilize, scale, and release resources in step with the dynamics of the portfolio.

• Establish and lead a functional service team as an extension of the EMP workforce, defining a flexible resourcing model that responds effectively to fluctuations in portfolio volume, timing, and priorities.

• Design and implement a governance framework for the service team, including clearly defined scope, roles and responsibilities, decision rights, a tiered escalation model (operational, relationship, and executive) in which issues are resolved at the lowest effective level, and oversight forums with EMP leadership and TPO partners.

• Define the operating model and implementation approach required for the service team to succeed, including capacity planning, onboarding and transition plans, ways of working, and alignment with EMP processes and quality standards.

• Ensure that the infrastructure required to support the service team is in place, including systems access, tools, data and reporting capabilities, contracting and budgeting mechanisms, and collaboration platforms.

• Actively contribute to the successful implementation of key EMP initiatives, including acceleration plans and portfolio delivery models, by ensuring the service team is aligned, prepared, and equipped to support them across the TA portfolio.

• Provide leadership for the development and implementation of EMP portfolio delivery strategies and actively engage functional leaders across the organizations to drive strategies that position each to deliver the value, quality, and productivity.

• Ensure that the team is aware of both the future demands of the portfolio including next generation research and development priorities and external possibilities for breakthrough advances in solutions delivery that make significant improvements to cycle times and costs of development.

• Proactively identify potential issues and develop contingency plans with a focus on quality and risk mitigation.

• Lead or sponsor cross functional, enterprise-wide projects to increase productivity and accelerate portfolio delivery.

• Collaborate with EMP Leadership to ensure the right structure for developing talent and critical capabilities.

2. Clinical Vendor Management and Performance Optimization:

• Serve as the point of accountability for delivery of service team outputs to agreed scope, quality, timeline, and budget in support of the exploratory and biopharmaceutics clinical development portfolio, integrating the team with study teams, clinical design capabilities, and TPO partners.

• Lead clinical vendor management for the FSP partner(s) and TPO partners, including portfolio-level relationship management, structured business reviews, and tiered issue escalation and resolution, coordinating with the Strategic Sourcing and Governance Executive/Senior Director on contractual and commercial matters.

• Serve as the single accountable point of contact for each FSP partner across EMP, providing clear accountability, and holding providers accountable for execution by setting expectations, monitoring performance and risk, and intervening through governance forums rather than assuming responsibility for the provider's day-to-day delivery.

• Lead the FSP service team leadership and vendor management community supporting EMP, including FSP team leads, delivery managers, and their EMP counterparts, setting common expectations, ways of working, and performance standards across the EMP portfolio.

• Drive performance optimization by establishing a standardized performance measurement framework and supporting data streams comprising KPIs, metrics, and quality indicators (for example, delivery against plan, cycle time, quality escalations, CRF and database-lock timeliness, safety-reporting compliance, audit findings, resource utilization, cost and value, and stakeholder satisfaction), supported by regular reporting, performance reviews, and corrective and continuous improvement actions.

• Provide regular performance reporting and insight to EMP leadership and the Strategic Sourcing and Governance Executive/Senior Director to inform sourcing decisions, contract and budget discussions, and future resourcing needs.

• Own the technology and data agenda for FSP oversight, including integration of provider data into EMP systems (for example, through API-based integration) and evaluation of AI-enabled approaches to identify emerging delivery, quality, and compliance risks early.

• Assess the health of FSP-supported work across the EMP portfolio on a regular basis, and evolve the FSP model, resourcing mix, and ways of working across programs by applying lessons learned and category insights to strengthen overall delivery.

• Build and sustain strong working relationships with EMP leadership, the TAs, and functional partners, ensuring clear expectations, transparent communication, and a shared focus on value and outcomes.

• Serve as the primary partner to EMP leadership on FSP matters, and represent the service team in EMP strategic planning and early portfolio forums, bringing forward FSP capacity and demand, portfolio insights, risks and mitigation strategies, and opportunities for cross-program standardization and innovation.

• Partner with peer FSP, sourcing, and vendor management leaders across LRL and the broader enterprise to share best practices, align on FSP standards, avoid duplication, and leverage enterprise vendor, quality, and technology capabilities on behalf of EMP.

• Represent EMP in LRL-wide forums and governance bodies on external workforce, FSP strategy, and clinical delivery, influencing enterprise direction and bringing enterprise priorities and decisions back to the service team.

• Serve as a connector between EMP and the broader LRL organization by building and maintaining relationships with senior leaders across functions, using that network to anticipate portfolio needs, remove cross-functional barriers, and bring enterprise capabilities, insights, and development opportunities to the service team and its members.

• Establish and sustain a strong network with other LRL functions (for example, clinical operations, clinical pharmacology, data sciences, regulatory, quality, and procurement) and other key support areas to efficiently and effectively support exploratory and biopharmaceutics clinical studies.

• Maintain awareness of regulatory issues and trends relevant to assigned portfolio & challenge FSP vendor appropriately when changes are needed.

• Apply innovation and lessons learned in real time.

• Proficient in conveying the ‘what’ and ‘why’ behind changes while guiding others through transitions and helping to ensure that everyone understands the purpose at all levels in the organization internally and externally.

3. Training, Capability Development and Continuous Improvement:

• Define and oversee the training required for service team readiness, including role-specific, systems, process, and regulatory (GCP) requirements, and confirm that proficiency is achieved before work is assigned and maintained over time.

• Foster a culture of accountability, inclusion, and high performance across a blended workforce of EMP and FSP colleagues, with an external understanding and awareness.

• Working as part of the lead team to retain, grow and develop a diverse workforce.

• Model behaviors and establish an environment where performance and results are valued, and where individuals are learning and growing developmentally.

• Lead the service team and its stakeholders through change and complexity, including shifts in EMP portfolio priorities and in FSP scope, scale, or ways of working, while maintaining focus on quality, delivery, and patient impact.

• Capture lessons learned and best practices from service team delivery, and share them with EMP leadership and the Strategic Sourcing and Governance Executive/Senior Director to drive continuous improvement, innovation, and efficiency.

• Coach/mentor department personnel, as needed, to affect the development and growth of all team members.

• Demonstrate high learning agility by identifying and maintaining external awareness, strong problem-solving skills, and be self-motivated to achieve quality results in a fast-paced environment.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in a scientific or related field; Minimum of 10+ years of experience in clinical development or related fields within the pharmaceutical industry, with significant experience in a leadership role.
• Experience in Enterprise Project Management, Project Risk Management, and Project Document Management.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proven ability in Cross-Functional Leadership, Operational Leadership, and Relationship Building. Strong analytical thinking skills and experience utilizing analytics software for decision-making. Proficiency in Change Control Management and Integration Management within complex organizations.
• Exceptional Self-Discipline and Stakeholder Engagement capabilities. In-depth understanding of clinical trial processes, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices. Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment and drive results through effective Project Leadership.

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 (AMECA), Black Employees at Lilly (BE@Lilly), Chinese Culture Network (CCN), EnAble, Evolve, Lilly Indian Network (LIN), Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), Pride (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN) and Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL).

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

$160,500 - $235,400

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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