Lilly

Manager, Catalyze360 IT Contracts & Business Operations

US, San Francisco CA 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.

Organization Overview 

Lilly Catalyze360 is a comprehensive approach to enabling the early-stage biotech ecosystem by democratizing access to infrastructure, expertise, and resources. Through its interconnected pillars—Lilly Ventures, Lilly Gateway Labs, Lilly ExploR&D, and Lilly TuneLab—Catalyze360 strategically removes barriers that traditionally block bold science from becoming life-changing medicines, providing biotechs with flexible combinations of capital, physical lab space, R&D capabilities, AI/ML tools, and decades of enterprise learning. 

Job Summary 

The Manager of IT Contracts & Business Operations is responsible for negotiating fee-for-service IT contracts across the Lilly Catalyze360 organization. This role requires a proactive, self-driven individual with deep expertise in AI technologies and IT infrastructure and services who can navigate technical complexity while securing favorable commercial terms. The ideal candidate stays current on emerging AI/ML and other IT trends, understands their practical business applications, and can translate that knowledge into well-structured agreements that protect Lilly's interests while enabling innovation. This individual will provide contract matter expertise for IT engagements and collaborate with legal, finance, and technical stakeholders to structure agreements that balance business needs, risk mitigation, and cost optimization. The role has potential to expand into managing Business Operations IT pilots and systems implementations as well.  

Key Responsibilities 

  • Negotiate complex contracts for a variety of Catalyze360 IT needs, including IT professional services, software license, software development, service level, SaaS/PaaS/IaaS, and AI/ML agreements as well as associated change orders 
  • Serve as the primary interface between Business Operations and IT/business stakeholders, translating technical requirements into contractual terms and managing vendor relationships to ensure alignment with business objectives 
  • Collaborate cross functionally with IT/business, legal, finance, and other stakeholders to structure IT agreements that balance business needs, risk mitigation, and cost optimization 
  • Identify and mitigate business risks throughout the contracting process, including protecting sensitive confidential information and privacy 
  • Manage multiple concurrent IT contract negotiations while monitoring performance and vendor compliance 
  • Potential to oversee implementation, configuration, and ongoing management of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) and other systems to optimize contracting processes and ensure compliance 
  • Potential to structure and oversee Business Operations pilot programs and promote adoption of successful pilot solutions

Minimum Requirements

  • Education:  Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university
  • Experience:  3+ years of experience with a variety of IT contract negotiations (including IT professional services, software license, software development, service level, and SaaS agreements) in the biotechnology/ pharmaceutical or other regulated industry
  • Work Authorization:  Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Lilly will not provide support for or sponsor work authorization and/or visas for this role.

Additional Skills/Preferences

  • Experience
    • Demonstrated experience negotiating contracts for AI/ML applications across drug discovery and development
    • Prior experience designing and coordinating pilot programs, proof-of-concept initiatives, or technology evaluations
    • Experience with Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) system implementation and optimization
  • Skills
    • Strong understanding of and fluency with IT architecture, cloud infrastructure, software development lifecycle, and enterprise technology solutions
    • Advanced expertise in Intellectual Property frameworks for AI/ML efforts
    • Deep understanding of IT security requirements, compliance frameworks including privacy regulations, and data governance in regulated industries
    • Ability to work through competing priorities with speed and agility in a highly collaborative environment with diverse stakeholders
    • Excellent communication skills with ability to engage diverse stakeholders including technical, legal, and finance team members
    • Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities with strategic thinking and an entrepreneurial mindset

Additional Information

  • Travel up to 10% US as needed for stakeholder engagement and vendor meetings.

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

$69,000 - $165,000

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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