Director - In Vitro Pharmacology

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.

Overview We are excited to invite a passionate scientific leader to join our Neuroscience Next Generation Therapeutics (NGTx) team as Director of In Vitro Pharmacology. If you're driven by discovery and eager to make a profound impact on the future of neuroscience, this is your opportunity to lead breakthrough innovation and shape the next chapter in life-changing medicines. Located at Lilly's brand-new Boston Seaport Innovation Center, our dynamic team is dedicated to advancing innovative therapeutic modalities to deliver medicines for patients with neurodegenerative and chronic pain disorders. In this pivotal role, you will build and lead the in vitro engine of our discovery pipeline and direct a multidisciplinary team of scientists. You will direct the design and application of iPSC-derived and primary cellular systems, engineer disease-relevant models that recapitulate neurodegenerative and pain biology, and drive the design and screening of siRNA and other genetic medicines to interrogate targets and generate development candidates. You will be empowered to champion novel approaches by any means that can move programs forward—new assays, new model systems, new technologies, and new collaborations— to accelerate our neurodegeneration and pain portfolios.

Scientific Leadership Provide strategic direction and scientific oversight for all in vitro pharmacology activities, ensuring alignment with Neuroscience portfolio priorities and organizational goals Lead the design, execution, and interpretation of human-relevant in vitro studies, including iPSC-derived neurons and glia, reporter cell assays, and primary cell culture systems Build and validate disease-relevant in vitro models that recapitulate the biology of relevant disorders to enable target validation, mechanism-of-action studies, and candidate characterization Direct the design, screening, and optimization of siRNA and genetic-medicine approaches, including sequence design, activity and selectivity screening, and translation of hits into leads Establish assay validation standards and fit-for-purpose rigor, ensuring robust, reproducible, and decision-grade data across the in vitro platform Drive scientific rigor and innovation in assay design, incorporating emerging technologies and methodologies appropriate for novel modalities Serve as the in vitro biology and pharmacology expert on cross-functional project teams, influencing key decisions on target selection and candidate progression Team Leadership & Development Mentor, coach, and retain a high-performing team of cell biologists, molecular biologists, and research scientists Foster a culture of scientific excellence, collaboration, and continuous learning Provide career development guidance and create opportunities for team growth Manage resource allocation and prioritization across multiple projects Strategic Contributions Contribute to target validation and candidate selection decisions through expert in vitro assessment of novel therapeutic modalities Pursue innovation by any means that could accelerate programs in neurodegeneration and pain—new model systems, assay platforms, and external partnerships Partner with Computational Biology and Data Science to design screens, structure and analyze high-dimensional data Partner with In