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.

Business development is an important way Lilly grows its pipeline. Approximately 50% of launches in the last 10 years have been enabled by partnerships. Success in this endeavor will require a robust BD brand and external engagement strategy. The scope will include two teams:

1) Corporate Business Development: Strategic collaborations and partnerships in our scientific areas of interest

2) Catalyze360: Delivers our comprehensive suite of capabilities - venture capital, space, expertise, and talent - to our biotech partners even beyond Lilly's core therapeutic areas

The Associate Director – Business Development Brand & Engagement will have accountability for 1) Establishing the yearly BD brand strategy across both teams, 2) Developing an external engagement (marketing and communication) operational plan for BD leaders, and 3) Collaborating with functional leadership, as well as a variety of cross-functional colleagues and organizations to further propel BD's reputation forward internally and externally. This role represents an exciting opportunity to:

• Develop a thoughtful, integrated internal and external BD narrative and strategy to position Lilly’s BD organization as first-in-class among industry and broader peer groups

• Demonstrate measurable impact by elevating the Lilly BD brand, while also having a long-term vision to help the organization enable more transactions to further support Lilly’s pipeline

• Create and operationalize Lilly’s BD brand through thoughtful end-to-end strategy and execution: Oversee the strategy, socialize it across impacted cross-functional organizations, and translate it into a fit-for-purpose plan across the team

• Gain rapid experience and network growth by working on a wide range of activities with a broad stakeholder set across Corporate Business Development / Catalyze 360 and beyond

Responsibilities:

Oversee the BD brand plan process across Corporate Business Development / Catalyze360

• Develop primary and secondary insights into Lilly BD’s current brand / reputation among key stakeholders (e.g., biotech executives, VCs, academics)

• Collaborate with the broader Strategy & Growth team to translate our overall BD strategy / priorities and stakeholder insights into brand objectives

• Build the 2025+ brand strategy, which includes 1) Developing overall brand objectives and messages across Corporate Business Development and Catalyze360, 2) Defining sub-messages for key sub-functions across the two functions (i.e., Transactions and M&A, Alliance Management, Lilly Gateway Labs, ExploR&D, Venture Capital)

• Working with Corporate Business Development, Catalyze360 and other relevant colleagues to ensure cross-functional input and alignment on BD brand strategy

• Establish a yearly brand strategy process to periodically refresh insights to understand how Lilly BD’s brand is evolving and drawing implications for our brand / engagement strategy

Develop the BD external engagement action plan / tactics:

• Develop insights on Lilly BD’s communication effectiveness, external stakeholder preferences, and competitor benchmarking

• Partner with corporate communications to inform a cohesive BD external engagement action plan across key channels and activities that also meets sub-function specific needs at critical industry conferences, meetings, websites, events, etc.

• Work closely with corporate communications and corporate brand teams to support and inform internal and external communications plan and materials to support BD's brand objectives and positioning

• Represent BD internally and externally at relevant industry meetings, events and conferences

• Establish and measure metrics to understand ROI of engagement efforts and impact on brand over time, and identify implications to our strategy and approach by sub-function

• Collaborate with Corporate Business Development / Catalyze360 leadership and BD operations team to execute external engagement plan / tactics

• Own and oversee brand and engagement budget and drive the brand and engagement business case during annual business planning process

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree and a minimum 5 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with focus on brand / marketing roles OR Master's degree with 2+ years of experience

• Qualified candidates must be legally authorized to be employed in the United States. Lilly does not anticipate providing sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g., H-1B or TN status) for employment positions on the B or S paths or at levels M1-M2 or P1-P4.

Additional Skills / Preferences

• Demonstrated ability to successfully navigate a complex, highly matrixed organization

• Proven success at being able to see the big picture, while also managing details successfully

• Possesses strong business presence and acumen, especially when working with executives

• Ability to think creatively and also provide thoughtful business counsel across the BD organization and its many cross-functional partners

• Consistent demonstration of the Lilly leadership behaviors related to the Associate Director level

• Able to establish credibility / trust and effectively collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders

• Strong passion for pharmaceutical innovation and partnering

• Self-starter with bias to action, self-management and organizational skills

• Contribute to a psychologically safe environment that encourages thoughtful and informed debate and decision-making

• Deep knowledge of core communications, brand and marketing concepts

• Demonstrated ability to balance strategic planning with execution, and clear prioritization

• Experience in communications and project management

• Strong learning agility to pick up new concepts, including business development process and external BD landscape

Additional Information

• Domestic and international travel is required (20%)

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 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.

Our employee resource groups (ERGs) offer strong support networks for their members and help our company develop talented individuals for future leadership roles. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia Network, African American Network, Chinese Culture Network, Early Career Professionals, Japanese International Leadership Network (JILN), Lilly India Network, Organization of Latinos at Lilly, PRIDE (LGBTQ + Allies), Veterans Leadership Network, Women’s Network, Working and Living with Disabilities. Learn more about all of our groups.

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