Associate Director - Clinical Delivery Capabilities

527 Eli Lilly Cork Limited; Cork; Hybrid; EUR 79,000 - 116,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare

Pension

Life insurance

Onsite gym

Onsite parking

Travel subsidies

Wellbeing program

Job summary

Eli Lilly Cork is seeking an Associate Director for Clinical Delivery and Clinical Delivery Capabilities to lead EMP teams, coach staff, and drive cross‑TA projects. You’ll ensure trial quality, training, and inspection readiness while shaping workforce development within a hybrid Cork campus.

Applicants should have 5+ years in pharma, strong leadership, and a track record of delivering complex studies in a virtual/global environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in science/health-related field required.
• 5+ years in pharma with clinical trials management experience.
• Strong leadership, cross-functional collaboration and problem-solving.
• Experience with GCP, regulatory compliance and training.
• Able to work in a hybrid Cork, Ireland environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coach study startup teams; ensure plans meet timelines and budget.
• Drive portfolio planning, resourcing and cross‑TA standardization.
• Ensure inspection readiness and training program delivery for staff.
• Collaborate with EMP leadership to keep planning data current.
• Foster a diverse, inclusive and high-performance team culture.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-cultural communication

Problem solving

Project management

Travel up to 10%

Education

Bachelor’s degree in science/health-related field

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Microsoft Project

Excel

Office Suite

Job description

At Lilly, the work is demanding because patients are waiting. We unite caring with discovery to help make life better for people around the world, knowing that every decision, every detail, and every day matters. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, our over 50,000 employees around the globe take on complex challenges to discover and deliver life‑changing medicines, strengthen how health is understood and managed, and support the communities we serve. This is hard, urgent, selfless work—but it’s work worth doing. If you’re driven by purpose and ready to bring your best to work that truly matters for patients, we invite you to join us. Eli Lilly Cork is made up of a talented diverse team of over 2000 employees across 60 nationalities who deliver innovative solutions that add value across a variety of Business Service functions including Finance, Information Technology, Medical, Clinical Trials and more. Eli Lilly Cork offers a premium workspace across our campus in Little Island, complete with flexible hybrid working options, healthcare, pension and life assurance benefits, subsidised canteen, onsite gym, travel subsidies and on‑site parking. Inhouse People Development services, Educational Assistance, and our ‘Live Your BEST Life’ wellbeing initiatives are just some of the holistic benefits that enhance the career experience for our colleagues. Eli Lilly Cork is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). We cater for all dimensions ensuring inclusion of all ethnicities, nationalities, cultural backgrounds, generations, sexuality, visible and invisible disabilities and gender, with four pillars: EnAble, embRACE, LGBTQ+ & Ally and GIN‑Gender Inclusion Network. EnAble, our pillar for people with disabilities and those that care for them, partners with the Access Lilly initiative to make our physical and digital environment accessible and inclusive for all. Together they are committed to promoting awareness to create a disability confident culture both at Eli Lilly Cork and beyond. Come join our team - Be Creative, Be an Innovator, and most of all, Be Yourself! This is a 12-month fixed‑term contract.

Purpose

The Associate Director - Clinical Delivery (CD) & Clinical Delivery Capabilities (CDC), Exploratory Medicine and Pharmacology (EMP) provides supervision, leadership and technical/process expertise for the associates and managers they supervise within EMP, alongside leading cross therapeutic area (TA) strategic projects. This position provides strategic input, focuses on results, thinks critically, and emphasizes and drives cross‑functional team collaboration. The Associate Director is responsible for the quality delivery of the clinical trial portfolio their team leads. The Associate Director is responsible for coaching and developing team members to ensure that trial‑level planning and execution are in alignment with strategy and timelines for the asset, in addition to this they will also provide leadership with recruiting/onboarding new team members, inspection readiness activities, process improvements, recruiting diversity initiatives etc and implementing EMP cross‑TA projects to drive efficiency and standardization. As part of their supervisory responsibilities, the Associate Director will ensure career development plans are in place for their team members whilst also leading by example in Team Lilly behaviours.

Primary Responsibilities

This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the job requirements at the time it was prepared. The job requirements of any position may change over time and may include additional responsibilities not specifically described in the job description. Consult with your supervision regarding your actual job responsibilities and any related duties that may be required for the position.

Portfolio Delivery and Therapeutic Area Expertise

• Leverages technical expertise to coach study start up associate team members and to ensure plans are delivered ahead of/to plan and on budget
• Works with EMP leadership to ensure planning databases are accurate and up to date
• Ensures inspection readiness of team member’s respective study team (s) and leads teams in preparation for mock/real inspections
• Oversees appropriate escalation of portfolio related issues through TA pillars
• Oversees and provide direction in obtaining appropriate personnel involvement as compliance issues are identified which require further action or follow‑up
• Manages resource needs and trade‑offs across areas based on priority to meet/exceed portfolio milestones
• Facilitates discussions within clinical functions as needed to manage team priorities and address unplanned demands
• Ensuring that curriculum maps and training program/courses are maintained appropriately for team members to enable them to provide their job responsibilities. Consult as appropriate on new training programs/courses
• Ensuring quality in clinical research activities by promoting consistent use of GCP’s global SOPs and best practices.
• Leads and develops training in study‑start up processes for team members, identifying areas for process improvements and efficiency gains to aid acceleration and simplification
• Stays up‑to‑date with current body of knowledge of relevant disease states/targets, competitors, and industry trends and best practices.
• Actively seeks and leads cross‑TA standardization and efficiency projects for EMP

Process improvements

• Generate ideas, leads and/or provides input into new processes and process improvements within the clinical organization to enhance productivity, quality and site/participant experience
• Actively support team members to share any new learning opportunities or technologies within or across clinical functions
• Encourages team members to utilize metrics data in order to assess the current status of the portfolio, to monitor progress and seek opportunities for improvement
• Apply innovation and lessons learned in real time.
• Enable a culture of continuous improvement to drive efficiency through process improvement, technology and automation, and shared learning.
• Participates in process improvement activities within and outside of EMP
• Partners with other supervisors to improve processes and clarify steps or handoffs

People Management and Development

• Recruit, develop, and retain a diverse and highly capable workforce
• Ensure robust individual training plans and timely completion of required training for direct reports.
• Support and enable talent identification and career development that reflects an end‑to‑end mindset and demonstrates judgement‑based decision making.
• Contribute to succession planning, talent assessment and performance/promotion processes.
• Ensure high talent staff are appropriately rewarded and developed.
• Model behaviors and establish an environment where performance and results are valued, and where individuals are learning and growing developmentally.
• Seek opportunities to reward and recognize individuals and teams.
• Manage Team workload based on portfolio prioritization, regional requirements, and individual level of expertise, and address implications to overall resource management and strategies.
• Supports and encourages a culture of innovation and the learning that comes from new/novel approaches to clinical development and models inclusivity to ensure diverse voices and ideas are heard and considered
• Coach and mentor department personnel, and as needed, cross‑functional members, in order to affect development and growth of all team members.

Leadership

• Collaborates effectively with colleagues at all levels; able to work with, and deliver, through others.
• Skilled at working through ambiguity and effective problem‑solving/solution oriented skills to help develop and evaluate molecule level strategies from lead to legacy.
• Successful in persuasion, influence, and negotiation skills in a matrix environment.
• Fosters spirit of learning agility, strategic thinking and the ability to think differently to incorporate new learning
• Contributes to the development of others by being an active source of constructive coaching and feedback to co‑workers.

Minimum Qualification Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
• 5+years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry with direct experience of managing clinical studies, ideally in exploratory and biopharmaceutics clinical development
• Strong knowledge of regulations and guidelines that apply to the conduct of clinical trials.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively cross‑culturally and in a virtual work environment.
• Demonstrated ability to influence both internal and external environments appropriately and forge strong working relationships.
• Demonstrated problem‑solving skills; able to anticipate and recognize systemic problems, diagnose root causes and take corrective actions to prevent recurrence within the team.
• Strong self‑management, organizational and interpersonal skills and the ability to be flexible in varying environments and with multiple customer groups.
• Strong leadership and networking skills.
• Demonstrated people manager experience
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; able to communicate clearly and with team members and leadership.
• Strong computer skills; skilled at using Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Project
• Ability to travel (up to 10% expected)

Other Information/Additional Preferences

• Bachelor’s degree in a science or heath‑related field from an accredited college or university.
• Advanced or Post‑graduate degree, Exploratory and biopharmaceutics clinical development experience preferred
• Demonstrated high‑level, end‑user computer skills (e.g., word processing, tables and graphics, spreadsheets, presentations and templates).

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 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 €78,750 - €115,500 Full‑time equivalent employees may also 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 pension plan; vacation benefits; eligibility for healthcare benefits; flexible benefits (if applicable) 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.

#WeAreLillyUKandIreland At Lilly we strive to ensure our employees are part of a team that cares about them and our shared purpose of making life better for those around the world. How do we do this? We continue to look for ways to include, innovate, accelerate and deliver while maintaining integrity, excellence and respect for people. We hope that you seek to join us on our journey as we create medicine and deliver improved outcomes for patients across the globe! #WeAreLilly