Senior Director, Focused Ultrasound Drug Delivery

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.

Title: Director/Sr Director, Focused Ultrasound Drug Delivery Job Position Overview: The Drug Delivery group at Lilly studies physiological barriers across routes of administration to create novel, patient-centric delivery solutions, serving as a center of excellence in injection physiology, device ideation, novel drug delivery technologies across modalities and routes of administration, nanomedicine and targeted delivery, and connected devices/digital biomarkers. This role anchors a growing technical capability in ultrasound-mediated delivery — spanning focused ultrasound (FUS) for deep-tissue and organ-specific targets as well as non-focused ultrasound approaches where spatial precision is not required for the target bioeffect — including microbubble/nanobubble-mediated bioeffects such as sonoporation and reversible barrier permeabilization, intended to enhance delivery of biologics and gene therapies across a range of deep and superficial tissue targets and emerging routes of administration. We are seeking a senior technical leader to define and drive the scientific and translational strategy for this platform at Lilly, operating at the enterprise level: setting technical direction across programs, representing Lilly externally with academic, clinical, and regulatory stakeholders, and mentoring the next generation of engineers and scientists. The role carries accountability for translating ultrasound-mediated delivery science from mechanistic understanding into IND- and design-control-ready delivery platforms.

Define the scientific vision and multi-year technical strategy for ultrasound-mediated drug delivery, aligned with the group’s portfolio bets and enterprise R&D priorities, including build-vs-buy and external innovation decisions (licensing, partnerships, sponsored research). Serve as Lilly's internal and external technical authority on ultrasound (focused and non-focused) bioeffects, cavitation dynamics, and barrier permeabilization; lead cross-functional and cross-company teams to translate platform concepts from feasibility through design control, leveraging AI/ML-enabled simulation and data-analysis tools to accelerate technical decision-making. Build and leverage an external network of academic collaborators, consortia, and regulatory bodies (e.g., FDA, IEC/AIUM standards efforts); represent Lilly's ultrasound-mediated delivery work in publications, conferences, and regulatory or standards discussions. Design and oversee preclinical safety/bioeffect and efficacy study strategy with CRO and academic partners to de-risk IND-enabling and design-control decisions; champion breakthrough approaches and make data-driven, sometimes bold, decisions under scientific and technical ambiguity where no precedent exists. Actively mentor and coach engineers and scientists, including staff outside your direct reporting line; identify and help lead scientific or process improvements that draw on diverse thinking across DDCS's broader technical portfolio.

Earned PhD in biomedical/mechanical engineering, bioacoustics, biophysics, or a related field. 8+ years of relevant industry/translational experience in ultrasound-mediated bioeffects and drug/gene delivery Demonstrated depth in FUS physics (cavitation nucleation and