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. Our employees around the world work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to our communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. We give our best effort to our work, and we put people first. We’re looking for people who are determined to make life better for people around the world.
Associate Vice President – Patient Safety Technology & Development Transformation
As Lilly continues to advance its position as a leader in pharmaceutical innovation, we are seeking an Associate Vice President (AVP) – Patient Safety Technology & Development Transformation to drive technology strategy and execution across critical areas of our global drug development ecosystem.
Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, this role carries global accountability spanning the United States and key Asian markets. The AVP will partner with senior R&D and business leaders to transform how technology enables patient safety and operational efficiency across our development portfolio.
This role encompasses four strategic imperatives:
Patient Safety & Pharmacovigilance Technology: Lead the enterprise strategy for drug safety technology systems, ensuring world-class pharmacovigilance capabilities to characterize the safety profile of Lilly development and marketed products while enabling efficient, compliant global operations. This includes driving strategy and continuous modernization of our safety technology landscape to meet evolving regulatory requirements and business needs.
Service Management Transformation utilizing the Global Capability Center in India: Lead a fundamental transformation of our service delivery model. Assess, simplify, and transform current workflows before insourcing, working in partnership with the enterprise team. Drive organizational change across IT operating models, while championing adoption of automation and AI capabilities that position the India center as a competitive differentiator for global delivery.
Asia R&D Technology Strategy: Provide strategic direction, oversight and execution coordination for R&D technology teams across China, Japan, and Singapore. Drive appropriate harmonization while respecting regional requirements, ensuring these teams contribute to and benefit from global innovation while addressing local market needs.
AI & Innovation Integration: Champion the development and deployment of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics capabilities across the operational workflows and technology platforms in the above domains. Identify high-value use cases, guide proof-of-concept initiatives, and scale successful innovations into sustained operational capabilities that measurably improve productivity, quality, and speed. The goal is to drive productivity and portfolio scale through innovation, while transforming how Lilly utilizes data and technology in drug development.
Reporting to the Senior Vice President – Development and Customer Innovation IT, the AVP will lead a high-performing global team. This is an opportunity to shape the future of how technology enables drug development at one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies. The ideal candidate is a transformational yet execution-focused leader who can articulate compelling vision, build stakeholder confidence, navigate complex global organizations, and deliver measurable results in a highly regulated environment ultimately helping Lilly bring life-changing medicines to patients faster and more safely.
How You Will Succeed
Strategic Leadership & Execution
Define and execute multi-year technology strategies for patient safety, Asia R&D, and related operational domains that align with Lilly's corporate objectives and R&D priorities. Balance transformational initiatives with operational excellence, ensuring the portfolio delivers both quick wins and sustainable long-term value. Translate business strategies into actionable technology roadmaps with clear success metrics and accountability.
Patient Safety and Pharmacovigilance Technology
Own the enterprise strategy to drug safety and pharmacovigilance technology systems. Ensure robust, scalable, and compliant platforms that support global adverse event management, signal detection, regulatory reporting, and safety analytics. Partner closely with Medical and Pharmacovigilance leaders to anticipate regulatory evolution and business needs, positioning technology as an enabler of proactive patient safety and risk management.
Service Management Transformation
Oversee a comprehensive transformation of Lilly's Service delivery model. Drive the assessment, simplification, and insourcing of technology services to the Hyderabad center, ensuring capabilities are transition-ready and efficiently structured. This is a fundamental change in operating models, service frameworks, and organizational capabilities to position the India center as a world-class asset. This transformation requires building stakeholder alignment across global and regional leadership, implementing new governance structures, redefining service level expectations, and reshaping how we currently provide service. Champion the adoption of automation, AI, and modern delivery practices. Navigate organizational resistance, manage complex change across multiple stakeholders, and deliver measurable improvements in quality, velocity, and innovation contribution.
Asia Technology Coordination
Provide leadership to clinical and development technology teams across China, Japan, and Singapore. Champion the introduction of innovative solutions to address regional challenges. Drive appropriate standardization of systems and processes while maintaining regional flexibility where required by local regulations or business needs. Foster knowledge sharing and innovation across regions and with US/Global counterparts, ensuring improvements in one market can scale globally where applicable.AI Strategy & Implementation
Establish and execute a comprehensive AI roadmap across your operational areas. Identify and prioritize opportunities where AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics can meaningfully improve efficiency, decision quality, or capability. Lead rigorous evaluation of pilots and guide successful innovations from proof-of-concept to scaled deployment, managing change management and adoption strategies. Collaborate with Lilly’s central data science and AI teams, leverage external partnerships and/or vendors, to bring state-of-the-art techniques into the portfolio, while also ensuring compliance with data privacy, validation, and ethical AI standards in a regulated industry.
Strategic Planning & Execution
Formulate a clear vision and multi-year strategy for Safety & Clinical Technology in line with Lilly’s corporate and R&D. Translate this strategy into an actionable portfolio of projects with well-defined roadmaps and resource plans. Balance “quick wins” (e.g., rapid enhancements to existing systems or processes) with longer-term transformational initiatives (such as implementing a next-generation platform or rolling out AI enterprise-wide). Regularly review and adapt plans in response to new business priorities, technology trends, or regulatory changes in pharmacovigilance and clinical research.
Stakeholder Partnership & Influence
Serve as the primary technology partner to senior leaders in Patient Safety, Clinical Development Operations, and Regional Business Leaders in Asia. Build a deep understanding of business challenges and priorities, translating them into technology solutions and value propositions. Communicate how technology initiatives will address those business needs and contribute to business outcomes. Provide transparency on progress, risks, and achievements effectively to executive stakeholders. Lead governance processes that ensure alignment, prioritization, and appropriate investment decisions.
Team Leadership & Talent Development
Build and lead a diverse, high-performing global team across multiple geographies and functions. Attract, develop, and retain top talent in safety systems, clinical technology, data science, and digital innovation. Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous learning. Mentor emerging leaders and ensure effective knowledge sharing and coordination across all team segments.
Ensure reliable, secure, and compliant operation of all systems within the portfolio. Maintain robust governance over data protection, cybersecurity, system availability, and regulatory compliance. Proactively identify and mitigate technical and operational risks. Drive continuous improvement initiatives based on metrics, user feedback, and industry best practices. Manage vendor and partner relationships effectively to maximize value and accountability.
Develop and manage budgets that optimize the use of financial and human resources across the portfolio. Build compelling business cases for investments that articulate clear value in terms of risk mitigation, efficiency gains, or strategic enablement. Track performance against budget and make data-driven tradeoff decisions to ensure resources align with highest-priority initiatives.
What You Should Bring
The ideal candidate is an innovative and experienced technology leader who has operated at the intersection of life sciences and enterprise IT, with deep expertise in supporting drug development and patient safety functions. This individual combines strategic vision with execution discipline - able to articulate compelling transformation roadmaps while delivering incremental value quarter over quarter.
This leader excels at building bridges between technical teams and business stakeholders, translating complex challenges into actionable plans and communicating progress effectively to executives. They bring a track record of managing large, distributed teams in matrix environments and have successfully navigated the unique demands of regulated industries where data integrity, patient safety, and compliance are paramount.
The successful candidate demonstrates passion for innovation in healthcare coupled with pragmatism about what will drive real value. They possess an entrepreneurial mindset - proactively identifying opportunities and championing new ideas - balanced with strong fundamentals in enterprise IT governance, risk management, and operational excellence.
Your Minimum Basic Requirements
Significant Pharma / Life Sciences IT Leadership: 15+ years of experience in pharmaceutical, biotech, or healthcare technology roles, with a substantial portion of that focused on supporting drug development functions through IT solutions. Experience should include leadership in clinical development of IT and/or pharmacovigilance/safety systems. Demonstrated success partnering with Pharmacovigilance, Clinical Operations, or Medical Affairs functions to deliver technology solutions that enable critical business processes.
Enterprise Transformation: Proven track record leading complex, multi-year transformation initiatives in global organizations. Experience implementing enterprise-scale systems across regions, managing organizational change, and building high-performing offshore or nearshore capability centers. Success navigating vendor ecosystems and aligning technology investments with business strategy
Innovation & Advanced Analytics Hands-on experience championing data-driven innovation in a life sciences context. Track record deploying AI, machine learning, or advanced analytics solutions that deliver measurable business impact. Strong conceptual understanding of how emerging technologies can be applied to clinical, safety, or operational challenges.
Regulated Environment Expertise: Working knowledge of regulatory frameworks relevant to clinical trials and drug safety (GCP, pharmacovigilance practices, electronic records requirements, data privacy). Ability to ensure technology decisions maintain compliance and interface effectively with Quality, Regulatory, and Compliance functions.
Educational Background: A master’s or Ph.D. in a relevant field (such as Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science) or in a scientific discipline combined with strong IT experience would be ideal. An MBA or equivalent business training is a plus for strategic and financial acumen.
Additional Information
Must be willing to relocate to the Indianapolis, IN area.
Relocation benefits provided if eligible
Hybrid work schedule
Lilly 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 (https://careers.lilly.com/us/en/workplace-accommodation) 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.
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Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is
$241,500 - $354,200Full-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.
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