Senior Director, Novel Drug Delivery Technologies

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. 

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 technical leadership across an expanding portfolio of novel delivery modalities and routes of administration — including inhaled/pulmonary delivery and other emerging platforms — intended to enhance delivery of biologics, small molecules, and gene therapies beyond conventional parenteral administration. We are seeking a senior technical leader to define and drive the scientific and translational strategy across this portfolio 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 novel delivery science from mechanistic/preclinical understanding into IND- and design-control-ready delivery platforms.

Key Responsibilities:

• Define the scientific vision and multi-year technical strategy across novel drug delivery modalities (including inhaled/pulmonary delivery and other emerging platforms), 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 across the delivery modalities in scope; 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; represent Lilly's novel delivery work in publications, conferences, and regulatory or standards discussions.

• Design and oversee preclinical safety/performance 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.

Basic Requirements:

• Earned PhD in biomedical/mechanical engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, aerosol science, or a related field.

• 8+ years of relevant industry/translational experience across novel, non-conventional drug delivery modalities (e.g., direct to organ delivery or a comparable parenteral platform), including demonstrated depth in the physical and biological mechanisms underlying the platform(s)

• Demonstrated ability to bridge preclinical mechanistic understanding of a novel delivery platform into IND-enabling or design-control-ready translational plans

• Working knowledge of design controls and quality systems in a regulated industry (systems engineering and quality partners will co-attend external engagements and can support day-to-day execution)

• Effective, hands-on use of AI/ML-enabled tools (e.g., large language models, computational modeling copilots, literature-synthesis or data-analysis assistants) to accelerate scientific research, technical writing, and translational planning.

• Proven ability to lead, mentor, and develop technical talent, including staff outside a direct reporting line

• A publication and/or patent record demonstrating recognized technical contribution in the field; and excellent scientific communication skills across technical