Director/Sr Director, Injection Physiology & Parenteral Delivery Science

Eli Lilly and Company; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 153,000 - 264,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan

Pension

Vacation benefits

Medical, dental, vision benefits

Flexible benefits

Life insurance

Well-being benefits

Job summary

Lilly's Drug Delivery group seeks a hands-on senior leader to define the scientific direction for injection physiology and parenteral delivery, guiding a team of scientists and engineers across subcutaneous, intradermal, and intramuscular routes. The role focuses on setting strategy, mentoring talent, and representing Lilly externally to academia and regulators.

You will drive decision-making at the interface of physiology, device design, and formulation, translating mechanistic insights into

Qualifications

• PhD in biomedical/mechanical engineering or related field
• 8+ years of industry/translational experience in injection physiology, subcutaneous/parenteral delivery, or injection biomechanics
• Ability to bridge preclinical injection-physiology understanding into device-design, formulation, or dose-selection decisions
• Working knowledge of design controls and quality systems in a regulated industry
• Effective, hands-on use of AI/ML-enabled tools to accelerate research and planning
• Demonstrated ability to lead, direct, and develop scientists across teams
• Publication/patent record in injection physiology or parenteral delivery
• Excellent scientific communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences

Responsibilities

• Set scientific direction for the injection physiology and parenteral delivery science portfolio and lead long-term strategy
• Coach, mentor, and develop junior scientists and engineers
• Represent Lilly externally with academic, clinical, and regulatory stakeholders
• Oversee preclinical and clinical study strategy, ex-vivo tissue models, imaging, rheology, and CFD workflows
• Translate injection-physiology findings into device-design and dose-selection decisions across pipelines
• Lead cross-functional teams to accelerate technical decision-making

Skills

AI/ML tools

Leadership

Scientific communication

Injection physiology

Cross-functional leadership

Education

PhD in biomedical/mechanical engineering or related field

Tools

COMSOL

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.

Organization Overview

At Lilly, we serve an extraordinary purpose. We make a difference for people around the globe by discovering, developing and delivering medicines that help them live longer, healthier, more active lives. Not only do we deliver breakthrough medications, but you also can count on us to develop creative solutions to support communities through philanthropy and volunteerism.

The Drug Delivery group at Lilly studies physiological barriers across routes of administration to create novel, patient‑centric delivery solutions, serving as a center of excellence in injection physiology, device ideation, novel drug delivery technologies across modalities and routes of administration, nanomedicine and targeted delivery, and connected devices/digital biomarkers.

Position Overview

Teh Director/Sr Director, Injection Physiology & Parenteral Delivery Science leads and directs the group's injection physiology and parenteral delivery science team — the scientists and engineers who quantify how injection parameters (flow rate, volume, viscosity, needle geometry, and injection depth) govern local tissue response, injection‑site reactions, drug distribution, and systemic exposure across subcutaneous, intradermal, and intramuscular routes, and who build the ex‑vivo tissue models, imaging, rheology, and biofluid‑dynamics/CFD workflows that enable higher‑concentration and higher‑volume delivery.

We are seeking a hands‑on, senior technical leader to set scientific direction for this portfolio while leading, coaching, and developing a team of junior scientists — providing day‑to‑day technical guidance, prioritization, and mentorship — and operating at the enterprise level: representing Lilly externally with academic, clinical, and regulatory stakeholders and translating injection‑physiology understanding into device‑design, formulation, and dose‑selection decisions across the pipeline. The role carries accountability for growing the team's talent and for translating injection‑physiology science from mechanistic understanding into design‑control‑ and clinic‑ready delivery solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and direct the injection physiology and parenteral delivery science team: set the scientific vision and multi‑year technical strategy, prioritize the portfolio across programs, and provide day‑to‑day scientific direction to junior scientists and engineers, aligned with the group's portfolio bets and enterprise R&D priorities.
• Serve as Lilly's internal and external technical authority on injection physiology — including injection biomechanics, tissue deformation and injection‑site response, and the flow‑rate, volume, and viscosity drivers of injectability and systemic exposure; lead cross‑functional teams to translate mechanistic findings into device and formulation decisions, leveraging AI/ML‑enabled modeling and data‑analysis tools to accelerate technical decision‑making.
• Build and leverage an external network of academic collaborators (e.g., university injection‑physiology and computational‑modeling programs), CROs, and regulatory bodies (e.g., FDA); represent Lilly's injection physiology work in publications, conferences, and regulatory discussions.
• Design and oversee preclinical and clinical injection‑physiology study strategy — ex‑vivo tissue models, imaging, rheology, and biofluid‑dynamics/CFD workflows — with internal teams and CRO/academic partners to de‑risk device‑design and dose‑selection decisions; champion breakthrough approaches and make data‑driven, sometimes bold, decisions under scientific and technical ambiguity where no precedent exists.
• Coach, mentor, and develop the injection physiology team — setting individual development goals, reviewing scientific work, and growing the capabilities of junior scientists — and identify and lead scientific or process improvements that draw on diverse thinking across DDCS's broader technical portfolio.

Basic Qualifications

• Earned PhD in biomedical/mechanical engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, biophysics, or a related field.
• 8+ years of relevant industry/translational experience in injection physiology, subcutaneous/parenteral delivery, or injection biomechanics, including: demonstrated depth in the tissue‑mechanics and fluid‑dynamics drivers of injectability, injection‑site response, and systemic exposure.
• Demonstrated ability to bridge preclinical injection‑physiology understanding — or a directly comparable delivery‑science discipline — into device‑design, formulation, or dose‑selection decisions
• Working knowledge of design controls and quality systems in a regulated industry.
• Effective, hands‑on use of AI/ML‑enabled tools (e.g., large language models, computational modeling copilots, literature‑synthesis or data‑analysis assistants) to accelerate scientific research, technical writing, and translational planning
• Demonstrated ability to lead, direct, and develop scientists — including setting technical direction and priorities for, and growing the capabilities of, junior team members, including staff outside a direct reporting line.
• A publication and/or patent record demonstrating recognized technical contribution in injection physiology or parenteral delivery
• Excellent scientific communication skills across technical/non‑technical and internal/external audiences.

Additional Preferences

• Experience building and sustaining external scientific relationships (academic labs, consortia, key opinion leaders); comfort representing an organization's technical position externally.
• Experience with ex‑vivo tissue models, injection‑force/rheology characterization, medical imaging or biofluid‑dynamics/CFD modeling (e.g., COMSOL or equivalent), or human‑factors/injection‑experience research is a plus but not required if compensated by deep injection‑physiology leadership and expertise.

Other Information

• Hands‑on in‑Lab Requirement: 25-50%
• Travel Percentage (%): 10-15

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).

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).

• 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.

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).

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