Senior Director-Clinical Design Program Lead, Neuroscience

Company: Eli Lilly and Company
Location: Indianapolis
Posted on: November 29, 2025

Job Description:

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. Clinical Design provides clinical program and trial design leadership and expertise within Eli Lilly – designing novel clinical programs to answer scientific questions, align with the corporate and asset strategies, and enable delivery. The value proposition is achieved by applying design excellence competencies and principles related to value-based research, data-driven decisions, and accelerated delivery. Clinical Design uses internal and external information within and across therapeutic areas to provide modern, innovative solutions to Lilly’s drug development needs. The Senior Director Clinical Design Program Lead role leads a cross-functional team in the development of a high-quality design for a specified asset(s), including different design scenarios, in collaboration with the Asset team. This includes providing to the Asset team transparent costs, timelines, and risks associated with the plan. In addition, the Clinical Design Program Lead is responsible for working with Clinical Capabilities and Clinical Development to enable accelerated delivery. This role integrates clinical design and best drug development practice with therapeutic and phase specific focus and expertise. More about the role: Clinical Plan, Trial Options and Clinical Trial Protocols Lead Clinical Design team in translating therapeutic area and asset team strategy into clear objectives and associated clinical development program and trial optionality. Optionality will address business and customer needs (patient, prescriber, payer, and/or regulator); be in alignment with phase of product lifecycle; and clearly articulate associated tradeoffs in value (data generated, risks created/discharged, cost, and time). Represent program and trial design optionality to asset teams and Sr. Leaders to inform prioritization of an option that will be translated into a clinical protocol(s). Adjust optionality in accordance with feedback from leadership. Provides insight into impact of study/protocol design features to feasibility, value, patient and investigator burden, and execution speed/efficiency. Engages other functions as determined by the asset need (e.g. Safety Committees, Regulatory, Tox/PK/ADME, TTx, Bioethics) Applies external benchmark data in conjunction with the Clinical Design Capabilities in the development of clinical plans and clinical trial designs (e.g. reference trials, design analytics, country identification/allocation) Clinical Research/Trial Packages, Execution and Support Understand how design elements influence the ability to deliver on new regulatory expectations (e.g. decentralization of clinical trials, increase racial and ethnic diversity in clinical trials) and clinical capabilities (e.g. value-based, patient accessibility, patient burden). Lead the creation of risk profiles to ensure trial design has appropriate risk mitigation to enable robust data delivery Collaborates with Clinical Development Sr. Director ensuring design options take into consideration the ability to enable accelerated delivery Ensure consistent development and finalization of documents that support the complete trial package (e.g. protocol, functional documents/plans) to enable smooth transition into delivery Shared Learning Focus on organizational learning to proactively identify, apply, and share guidelines and takeaways related to program and protocol design within and outside the organization. Closely collaborate with asset teams and delivery teams to understand the impact of design on speed to protocol approval and study startup. Identify a opportunities to analyze experience and improve approaches. Work closely with counterparts in Clinical Design and therapeutic areas to generate ideas and continue to evolve Lilly standards, tools, and protocols that span drug development. People Development Provide coaching within the organization that fosters inclusion and innovation, continual improvement, and an external understanding and awareness Model the Lilly leadership behaviors Apply innovation and lessons learned in real time. Minimum Qualification Requirements: Bachelor degree, preferably in a scientific or health-related field Minimum 5 years of directly related clinical trial or pharmaceutical project management experience Other Information/Additional Preferences : Post-graduate degree (e.g. Pharm D, M.S., or Ph.D.) Demonstrated knowledge and experience with project management tools and processes Pharmaceutical Industry experience, or similar, of at least three (3) years that provides adequate background relevant to clinical trial design of Ph II to Phase IV studies (e.g., designing clinical programs, trials, and/or protocols, statistical/inferential methods, rating instruments, regulatory standards, safety assessment, investigator/site management, decentralized clinical trials). Strong communication skills across diverse platforms and interested parties; adept at influencing and aligning teams to advance business strategies while using interpersonal, organizational, teamwork and negotiation skills Ability to anticipate and resolves key technical, operational, or business problems Ability to drive solutions affecting results within a business area 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 $156,000 - $228,800 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. WeAreLilly

Keywords: Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis , Senior Director-Clinical Design Program Lead, Neuroscience, Science, Research & Development , Indianapolis, Indiana