Director/Senior Director - New Target Validation

Eli Lilly and Company; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 153,000 - 264,000; Full time

Job summary

Lilly Immunology seeks a Director/Senior Director for New Target Validation to guide biological strategy and translational readiness. Lead cross-functional discovery teams to nominate targets, select modalities, and advance early portfolio efforts in immunology.

The role requires a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Immunology with 8–10 years of drug development experience. Strong leadership, communication, and collaboration across CROs, academics, and partners are essential.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Immunology.
• 8–10 years of drug development experience, with focus on asthma, atopic dermatitis, and rheumatologic diseases.
• Demonstrated leadership in building high-performing teams and coaching diverse talent.
• Proven ability to generate data packages that increase mechanism-of-action confidence for target advancement.
• Strong written and verbal communication, with ability to present complex data to leadership.

Responsibilities

• Define end-to-end strategy for new target validation, including genetic perturbation and translational model design.
• Develop novel human systems for target validation (Organs-on-chip, IPSC, ex vivo systems).
• Integrate multimodal profiling to strengthen disease relevance and predictive validity.
• Communicate workplans to drive scientific decisions across cross-functional teams.
• Train discovery biologists in molecular biology designs and functional assays.
• Guide cross-functional project teams through influence in a matrixed organization.

Skills

Leadership

Data-driven decisions

Strategic thinking

Education

Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Immunology

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.

Position Overview

Lilly Immunology is a therapeutic area focused on many autoimmune diseases spanning gastroenterology, dermatology and rheumatology. We are seeking an accomplished and influential Director / Senior Director for New Target Validation within Discovery Immunology. The key responsibility would be to guide biological strategy and translational readiness for projects and to steer target identification through mechanistic validation. The ideal candidate is a seasoned drug developer who advances new target validation by working through and with others—partnering across internal functions and external collaborators (CROs, academic groups, and technology partners)—while bringing deep scientific judgment in functional genomics, phenotypic and mechanistic discovery, and physiologically relevant primary human model systems.

This role provides scientific and strategic leadership—leading through influence and communicating effectively upward to senior management and governance—across cross‑functional discovery teams, building the workplans and data packages that enable confident target nomination, modality selection, and early portfolio advancement in immunology.

Key Objectives/Deliverables

• Define and lead the end‑to‑end strategy for new target validation, spanning genetic perturbation, pathway deconvolution, cellular pharmacology, and translational model design.
• Drive innovation through the development of novel human systems for target validation (Organs‑on‑chip, ex vivo human model systems, IPSC, HSC engineering)
• Integrate multimodal profiling (imaging, transcriptomics, cytokine and proteomics readouts) generated across internal and external partners to strengthen human disease relevance and predictive validity.
• Communicate workplans that drive scientific decision‑making across multidisciplinary project teams to ensure robust biological rationale, mechanism‑of‑action understanding, and data‑supported progression criteria.
• Train discovery biologists in molecular biology designs and building functional assays.
• Guide cross‑functional project teams through influence across a matrixed organization.

Qualifications

Required

• Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Immunology
• 8–10 years of drug development experience, with a strong focus including research on asthma, atopic dermatitis, and rheumatologic diseases.

Prefered

• Demonstrated leadership in developing high‑performing teams by coaching, mentoring, and empowering diverse talent to grow in capability, influence, and leadership impact.
• Proven track record of generating data packages that increase mechanism‑of‑action confidence, target engagement requirements for advancing validated targets into lead generation/candidate selection.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a demonstrated ability to make data-driven decisions and find innovative solutions to overcome scientific and operational obstacles within matrix environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate upward to senior leadership and governance and to present complex scientific data to diverse audiences.

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 (AMECA), Black Employees at Lilly (BE@Lilly), Chinese Culture Network (CCN), EnAble, Evolve, Lilly Indian Network (LIN), Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), Pride (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN) and Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL).

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is $153,000 - $264,000

Full‑time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance).

• 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
• 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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