Lilly

Director - Scientific Lead, Women's Health

US, Boston MA Full time

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.

At Lilly, we unite caring with discovery to make life better for people worldwide. As a global healthcare leader headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, we are committed to advancing innovation in areas of high unmet medical need. With a proven track record in obesity research and a growing focus on women’s health, we seek an experienced discovery leader to help build a portfolio of transformative therapies to improve outcomes for women everywhere and arrest age-related functional decline across genders. This role offers the opportunity to shape strategy, drive impactful drug discovery and development programs, and contribute to Lilly’s mission of scientific excellence and patient-centered care.

Position summary:

The position serves as a scientific lead for Women’s Health, responsible for advancing Lilly’s portfolio in Women’s Health. Indications of interest include Endometriosis, Preeclampsia, PCOS, menopause-related disorders.  We are looking for a scientific leader with deep expertise in Endometriosis, Preeclampsia, PCOS and menopause-related disorders and with drug discovery experience from target ideation, maturation and driving projects through preclinical development. This role will be part of the multidisciplinary team to develop preclinical scientific strategies for novel target discovery and therapeutic approaches for Women’s Health related indications. This role will lead projects from target ideation and progressing molecules through preclinical development. This role will also support or lead external collaboration with CRO or academics enabling discovery efforts.

Position Responsibilities:

  • Serve as scientific lead for programs, driving target identification/maturation, experimental strategy, and decision-enabling data generation internally as well as through CRO or external collaborations.

  • Design and coordinate implementation of in vitro/ex vivo/in vivo assays and models to characterize novel drug discovery molecules for potency, efficacy and mechanism of action for indications under Women’s Health

  • Define and execute scientific strategies linking mechanisms to translation, including biomarker and PK/PD rationale

  • As a member of the preclinical discovery WH team, contribute and drive scientific strategy for preclinical discovery of novel targets for indications including Endometriosis, Preeclampsia, PCOS, Menopause related systems

  • Provide mentoring, performance management and career development to junior scientists as needed

  • Provide strategic insights and scientific direction to the overall goals and objectives of the WH preclinical research platforms.

  • Communicate and work effectively in a team environment with inter-departmental colleagues to impact the project pipeline.

  • Provide preclinical biology leadership on cross-functional project teams to expeditiously solve challenges and progress projects.

  • Maintain scientific expertise and presence in the external scientific community through publication, collaborations, and presentations in the areas of Women’s Health.

Basic Requirements:

  • Ph.D. in a scientific area

  •  5 + years of relevant experience

Additional Preferences:

  • Deep expertise in the pathogenesis of Endometriosis, VMS, PCOS, and Preeclampsia and women’s reproductive biology.

  • Demonstrated experience in managing or leading projects either in an industry setting or through training of students/post-docs and/or cross functional collaborations in academia.

  • Experience with in vitro/ex vivo/in vivo assays and models to assess pharmacological intervention for Endometriosis, VMS, PCOS and Preeclampsia preclinically

  • Expertise with state-of-the art genomic tools and ability to effectively interact with data scientists and bioinformaticians.

  • 2 years post doc training

  • Be driven by science and the passion to make a difference to patients.

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.

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 Network, Black Employees at Lilly, Chinese Culture Network, Japanese International Leadership Network (JILN), Lilly India Network, Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), PRIDE (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN), Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL), enAble (for people with disabilities). Learn more about all of our groups.

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location.  The anticipated wage for this position is

$163,500 - $281,600

Full-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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