Sr. Director, Medical Affairs - Neuroscience

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.

Sr. Director – Medical Affairs Neuroscience (NS)

The Sr. Director – Medical Affairs Neuroscience (NS) role is responsible for medical and scientific leadership for the Therapeutic Area (TA) Strategy.  The core function of the Sr. Director is to set the vision and direction for the TA and to partner with cross-functional groups to support the peri-launch, launch, and ongoing commercialization of NS assets while leading the execution and delivery of TA strategic initiatives.

Location: 

This is a hybrid role – onsite presence at our Toronto office will be 10 days or more per month (or at least 50% of the time), determined in collaboration with your manager and based on business needs.

This role is eligible for additional forms of compensation, such as participation in the Lilly Bonus Program and car allowance.     

This posting is for an existing vacancy. 

The Neuroscience Sr. Director:

• Defines and executes strategic integration and implementation of TA capabilities across brands within the assigned business unit.

• Partners with leadership to enable strategic and efficient delivery of business plans through coordination of appropriate resources, active management of cross-functional partnerships, and investment in TA and/or brand team health.

• Drives continuous evolution of medical capabilities and ensures ample opportunity for the team to hone leadership skills, deeper medical affairs expertise, and increase scientific depth and agility within and across TAs and/or brands.

• Creates a culture of inclusion and innovation that encourages shared learning and the incorporation of best practices and integration across the business unit and its internal partners.

• Ultimately responsible for planning, implementation, and results of strategies and tactics in the TA.

Primary responsibilities:

This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the job requirements at the time it was prepared. The job requirements of any position may change over time and may include additional responsibilities not specifically described in the job description.

Medical Affairs lead activities

• Actively involved in formulation of overall product strategy working closely with business unit colleagues and actively support activities of marketed products from the medical/scientific viewpoint. Act as medical lead to create harmony across all brands in the responsible TA to maximize scientific contribution/presence of Lilly in the area. Accountable as medical content owner for all local medical plan, life cycle plan, and portfolio discussion in the area.

• Provide review to external donation, sponsorship, and grant requests in collaboration with medical affairs leadership team.

Performance Management

• Lead the performance management process for reporting staff members.  Provide input into salary administration, talent assessment, and succession planning discussions for reporting staff members. Ensure rigorous development plan is in place for each employee that builds on strengths and grows their skills, including on-the-job opportunities, mentors, and broadening assignments. Model appropriate and expected leadership behaviors.

• Contribute to the development of others by being an active source of coaching and feedback to co-workers.

Team culture

• Foster a diverse and inclusive leadership mindset where each team member is empowered to be authentic. Create an environment that encourages innovation and risk taking, and manage risk at the team and portfolio level. Ensure there is a team-based reward and recognition mechanism in place.  Ensure that appropriate shared learning opportunities are established. Identify, attract, and evaluate talent through internal and external networks.

• Remove barriers to delivering exceptional business partner and customer experiences

Enable execution and delivery of results

• Actively measure and balance team capacity to ensure that TA teams are optimally staffed to deliver launch and lifecycle medical objectives across the business unit Partner with leadership to ensure MA teams have integrated capabilities that leverage individual talents and expertise to deliver on business unit medical objectives and strategic initiatives

• Partner with the broader medical affairs operations organization (medical information, medical education, MSLs, MSL management, regulatory) to meet requests to support the delivery of holistic and comprehensive MA business objectives

Real‑World Evidence (RWE) and Local Data Generation

• Lead the generation of local real‑world evidence using diverse data sources (e.g., EMRs, claims, registries) to address evidence gaps and inform TA strategy. Establish and oversee research collaborations and scientific partnerships with clinicians, investigators, and academic centers to enable high‑quality RWE.

• Direct external partnerships with third‑party vendors or data‑analytics providers to ensure rigorous study design, execution, and integration of insights into medical plans.

Training and compliance

• Ensure all staff adheres to current policies and procedures and are qualified and trained to perform their responsibilities. Communicate with staff regarding expectations of required training courses and ensure that they understand their accountability.

• Support and provide guidance to staff in working through compliance and quality related issues by involvement of appropriate resources.

Minimum education and qualification requirements:

• A minimum of a PhD or MD degree (or equivalent) is required

• 8+ years of work experience in medical affairs within the pharmaceutical industry

• Success leading in prior supervisory role(s) and achieving results through others in a manner that demonstrates strong interpersonal and teambuilding skills, ability to develop effective teams with diverse interpersonal styles and ability to deliver effective coaching and feedback

• Demonstrated evidence of strong communication, interpersonal and negotiation skills

• Demonstrated ability to influence at all levels in order to create and drive initiatives yielding value and competitive advantage

• Strong business acumen and ability to leverage business principles within the team while maintaining a corporate view of the portfolio

• Able to partner cross functionally and network across broad business partners at all levels of the organization

• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to exercise sound judgement and defend tough positions; able to anticipate and recognize problems, diagnose root causes and take corrective action to prevent recurrence

• Practical experience and demonstrated ability to think broadly, lead boldly, and manage significant organizational change

Other information/additional preferences:

• Experience in TA of NS strongly preferred

• Ability to travel away from office, both domestic and international to the degree appropriate to support the business

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 does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.

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

$170,250 - $249,700

Full-time equivalent employees may also 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 pension plan; vacation benefits; eligibility for healthcare benefits; flexible benefits (if applicable) 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