ExploR&D Pharma Project Manager (EPPM)

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.  Organization Overview Lilly Catalyze360 is a comprehensive approach to enabling the early-stage biotech ecosystem by democratizing access to infrastructure, expertise, and resources. Through its interconnected pillars—Lilly Ventures, Lilly Gateway Labs, Lilly ExploR&D, and Lilly TuneLab—Catalyze360 strategically removes barriers that traditionally block bold science from becoming life-changing medicines, providing biotechs with flexible combinations of capital, physical lab space, R&D capabilities, AI/ML tools, and decades of enterprise learning. Lilly ExploR&D is a team of drug discovery and development experts who partner with biotechs from discovery through clinical proof-of-concept, putting Lilly's industry-leading capabilities behind their missions. We provide flexible support—from strategic consulting to full program execution—making it faster, easier, and more capital-efficient for innovators to transform bold science into life-changing medicines.

The ExploR&D Pharma Project Manager (EPPM) serves as the key operational resource for external collaboration projects spanning molecule discovery through clinical proof-of-concept within Lilly's ExploR&D organization. The role requires the EPPM to coordinate cross-functional, multi-workstream timelines, risk grids, and decision and action tracking, ensure complete and accurate programmatic and portfolio-level data collected across the portfolio, enabling cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality results on time and on budget. The EPPM keeps deliverables on track and ensures accountable cross-functional SMEs deliver on upcoming deadlines, escalating risks and operational issues to organizational and alliance leadership. The EPPM plays a key role in delivering operational and process improvements that enable and optimize program delivery across ExploR&D.  Based in San Diego, the EPPM partners closely with Lilly-BioTDR on Molecule Discovery projects and with the ExploR&D-China team on the ERD-APAC portfolio.

Project and Alliance Management Manage collaborations including: Initiate and maintain program tracking including project timelines, security access controls, internal and external communications including meeting minutes, risk grids and decision logs to support programs and enable communication with leadership. Create and lead internal project team meetings in partnership with Program Leads and internal ExploR&D scientific leads and provide oversight for project progression and serve as a resource to the team to break down barriers. Manage timeline and budgets set by management for projects and operations, and lead large project(s) with greater risk, resource, and financial complexity. Serve as alliance management point of contact along with partnered ExploR&D Program Lead to the external collaboration partner ensuring mutual contractual obligations are being met between parties, and work to resolve issues as they arise, working with Catalyze360 leadership and legal as needed. Drive communication of key decisions/results to stakeholders including creating and providing program updates (i.e. timeline, budget, relationship health) as necessary to External Innovation leadership. External R&D Solutions Enablement Work with External Innovation peers across Catalyze360 teams to identify new