Associate Director, Materials - Direct Materials Planning & Procurement Medicine Foundry

Associate Director, Materials – Direct Materials Planning & Procurement Medicine Foundry

Join BioSpace as the Associate Director of Materials at Lilly. In this role you will lead the planning and procurement of direct materials supporting clinical supply manufacturing across small molecule, biologics, and peptides at the new Lilly Medicine Foundry. The position is fully remote with a primary focus on maintaining on‑time availability of critical raw materials, active ingredients, excipients, packaging components, and single‑use systems.

At Lilly, we unite caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We are a global healthcare leader headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Lilly recently announced a $4.5 billion investment to create the Lilly Medicine Foundry, a new center for advanced manufacturing and drug development that combines research and manufacturing in a single location. The Foundry will allow Lilly to further develop innovative solutions to optimize manufacturing processes, increase capacity for clinical trial medicines, while also reducing costs and environmental impact.

Responsibilities

Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a high‑performing team of buyers and planners to support all phases of clinical supply production.
• Build functional capability in handling diverse modalities (small molecule, biologics, and peptides) and fast‑paced development timelines.

Clinical Material Planning & Execution

• Oversee end‑to‑end material requirements planning (MRP) for direct materials across multiple manufacturing platforms.
• Manage rapid changes in demand for clinical batches, including new product introductions, scale‑ups, and technical transfers.
• Ensure accuracy of bill of materials (BOMs), routings, and master data for complex and evolving products.

Supplier & Inventory Management

• Collaborate with global procurement and technical subject‑matter experts to qualify suppliers and secure materials with constrained or variable supply chains.
• Develop strategies to manage inventory levels that balance supply assurance, flexibility, and cost, with attention to expiry and clinical phase constraints.
• Partner with suppliers to ensure readiness for novel or custom materials often required in peptide or biologics manufacturing.

Process Excellence & Systems

• Implement and refine processes to handle short lead‑time orders, small batch sizes, and unique clinical material requirements.
• Drive ERP/MRP enhancements to support the complexity of multiple modalities and accelerated production schedules.
• Use Lean/Six Sigma principles to improve planning accuracy, supplier performance, and end‑to‑end visibility.

Cross‑Functional & Global Collaboration

• Serve as the primary site interface for global supply chain, procurement, manufacturing, process development, and quality teams for direct material readiness.
• Support tech transfer and scale‑up projects with proactive material readiness plans.
• Work closely with Clinical Supply Operations to ensure alignment on batch planning and shipment timelines.

Risk & Compliance Management

• Identify and mitigate risks related to material availability, single‑source suppliers, and regulatory changes.
• Ensure all activities comply with GMP, GDP, and site quality standards.
• Develop contingency strategies for critical clinical materials to protect study timelines.

Basic Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Life Sciences, Business, or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in materials management, planning, or procurement in pharmaceutical, biotech, or regulated manufacturing environments.
• Proven experience managing materials for clinical supply and multiple modalities (small molecule, biologics, peptides).
• 3+ years leading teams in a GMP environment.
• Proficiency in ERP systems and advanced planning tools.

Additional Preferences

• Master’s degree or MBA.
• APICS/CPIM, CSCP, or similar certification.
• Experience in supporting product launches, technical transfers, or development‑to‑commercial transitions.
• Strong understanding of single‑use systems, custom components, and raw material qualification processes.

Other Information

• Initial location at Lilly Technology Center, Indianapolis.
• Permanent location at the new Lilly Medicines Foundry in Lebanon, Indiana.

Lilly is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is $122,250 - $179,300. Full‑time equivalent employees are also 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).

Seniority level

Mid‑Senior level

Employment type

Full‑time

Job function

Management and Manufacturing

Industries

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