Senior Director - (Medical/M.D.) - ExploR&D Translational Medicine

Job ID: R-108795Company: LillyLocation: Boston, Massachusetts, United States of AmericaJob Type: Full TimeCategory: Research & DevelopmentPosted Date: 2026-07-22At 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. Organizational Overview:ExploR&D, a Division of Lilly Research Laboratories, is a drug development organization with a mission to catalyze the biotechnology ecosystem. As a multidisciplinary team of highly experienced drug developers, we seek to advance investigational medicines for external sponsors with speed and efficiency. ExploR&D (operating as Chorus since 2002) has supported over 90 development programs throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. We are therapeutic area and modality agnostic, and seek to advance breakthrough science and create value for our partners and patients.Purpose of the Role:The Senior/Executive Director [commensurate with experience], ExploR&D Translational Medicine incumbent is responsible for the overarching medical strategy and medical oversight for multiple assets in the ExploR&D portfolio, across therapeutic areas and modalities. This unique breadth and depth of the role gives the right candidate the opportunity to provide leadership in early phase clinical development on multiple exciting programs, working with external biotechnology companies and venture capital funds, as well as internal Lilly therapeutic area experts.Core Job Tasks:For assigned assets, the incumbent is accountable for the medical and safety leadership for all phases of drug development from candidate selection to proof-of-concept readout.Works with a multidisciplinary team to construct and execute a sound clinical development plan to develop and test key scientific hypotheses, discharge risks regarding asset safety and efficacy, and enable effective decision-making related to asset development.Partner with the project team leader who holds accountability for the scientific strategy and overall program management, and the Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) and other cross functional experts to develop, consult on, and/or execute development plans.Workswith toxicology and pharmacokinetics teams, especially for First-in-Human (FIH) assets, in establish starting doses, dose ranges and in interpreting emerging human PK/PD data to inform dose escalation and dose regimen selection for proof-of-concept studies.Author, review and approve key documents, including protocols, risk profiles, informed consent documents, clinical study reports, and disclosure of research results.Interface directly with client companies, including biotechnology startups and venture capital product companies.Core Job Responsibilities:Integrate complex scientific concepts quickly (critically reviewing and evaluating available information on asset and disease biology) and applying this effectively to development programsCritically read and evaluate the relevant medical and scientific literature; know the status and data from relevant competitive assets and keep updated with medical, safety and other scientific developments relevant to the ExploR&D assetNetwork with internal Lilly experts and external thought leaders to maintain awareness of current trends and projections for clinical research, practice, and access in the therapeutic area(s) relevant to the productProvide medical leadership for clinical plans including appropriate strategic objectives, study population, dose range justification, biomarkers and study endpoints, assessment of safety, drug-drug interactions, and critical success factorsProvide scientific content to critical documents with primary accountability for risk/benefit assessment, patient safety and observing the principles of GCPReview and assist in the preparation of regulatory documents (IND, CTA, IMPD, IB, DSURs, etc.) and responses to regulatory questionsAuthor relevant protocol sections, and review and approve protocolsContribute to informed consent documents, clinical study reports, publications, and other disclosures of research results.Clinical Study ExecutionProvide medical leadership in early development study conduct including study design, safety management plans, protocol writing, regulatory documents, CRO interactions, study start up, investigator interactions, data monitoring, health authority interactions, analyses, and study reportsLead dose-escalation meetings and trial-level safety reviews; serve on safety review teamsManage safety for assigned clinical stage ExploR&D compounds and clinical trials, serving as medical monitor; escalate issues as appropriateWork with the team to develop medical monitoring plans, safety management plans, monitoring and alert plans for key laboratory or other safety assessment parametersWork with ExploR&D regulatory personnel to ensure complianceServe as Sponsor physician for case-management of SAEs, or provide oversight to outsourced functionNetwork with Lilly Global Product Safety and clinical development counterparts from other therapeutic areas, either internally to Lilly or external, to ensure appropriate risk managementAuthor or review and approve key sections of Investigator Brochures including development core safety information, reference safety information and Safety and Efficacy summaries.Conduct dose-escalation data reviews and trial level safety reviewsWith a good grasp of pharmacology, work closely with PK/PD, toxicology and ADME functional leads and, as part of the multidisciplinary team, to support dose selection, PK/biomarker strategy across early development phasesComply with local laws and regulations, and global policies and procedures with respect to data dissemination and interactions with external health care professionals.Establish and maintain appropriate collaborations and relationships with external experts, thought leaders, and the general medical community on an international basis. Develop and maintain appropriate collaborations and relationships with relevant professional societies.Participate in development of scientific data dissemination, and preparation of final reports and publications.Medical LeadershipShare learning within ExploR&D and feed learning back to Lilly teams in order to effectively enhance and grow internal capabilities and productivity.Work closely with ExploR&D colleagues to continue to evolve ExploR&D standards, tools, and best practices across clinical development, bringing forward new and innovative ideas and processesBasic QualificationsMedical Doctor or Doctor of Osteopathy. Must be board eligible or certified in relevant field or have completed the comparable level of post-medical school clinical training relevant to the country of hiring. US trained physicians must have achieved board eligibility or certification.Physicians trained outside the US who are not US board eligible or certified may be hired directly for employment in the US at the discretion of the Chief Medical Officer.Non-US trained physicians must have completed education and training at a medical school that meets the requirements of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). For the recognized list of foreign medical schools and the disapproved list, see PLA: Medical Licensing Information and Medical Education | MBCAt least 3 years of direct experience in the pharmaceutical industryAdditional PreferencesExtensive early phase clinical trial experience, with at least 5-7 years in industry (or equivalent experience, eg work as an investigator), and experience in authoring and executing multiple Phase 1 and 2a protocols, ideally across a range of therapeutic areas.Experience and deep understanding of GCP and the management of medical safety in the context of clinical trials (either the investigator or sponsor side)Strong clinical pharmacology and/or translational biology experience with a Masters or PhD background as a plus.Strong computer skills; Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and SharePointOther InformationHybrid role based in Boston, MA or Indianapolis, IN (Remote considered for exceptional candidates)25% travel may be requiredLilly 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 () 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 is proud to be an EEO Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender identity, sex, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.Our employee resource groups (ERGs) offer strong support networks for their members and are open to all employees. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia (AMECA), Black Employees at Lilly (View email address on click.appcast.io), Chinese Culture Network (CCN), EnAble, Evolve, Lilly Indian Network (LIN), Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), Pride (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN) and Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL).Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is$240,000 - $389,400Full-time equivalent employees also will 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 company-sponsored 401(k); pension; vacation benefits; eligibility for medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits; flexible benefits (e.g., healthcare and/or dependent day care flexible spending accounts); 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.#WeAreLillySkillsmedical doctor licenseboard certification in medicineclinical development managementgcp complianceearly phase clinical trialsdose escalationsafety management planspharmacokineticstoxicologytranslational medicineregulatory document authoringprotocol writingrisk assessmentinvestigator brochure authoringclinical study executionmedical monitoringstakeholder managementcross-functional team leadershipscientific literature reviewdata monitoringclinical research coordinationinvestigator brochure reviewclinical data analysisscientific publicationcollaboration with external partnersmedical leadershipmicrosoft wordmicrosoft excelmicrosoft powerpointmicrosoft teams