Senior Director, Cardiometabolic Health Communications

Eli Lilly and Company; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 154,500 - 226,600; Full time

Job summary

Lilly is seeking a Senior Director of External Communications to lead global and on-market brand storytelling for CMH products, including Mounjaro, Zepbound, and Foundayo. You will shape consumer narratives, manage earned media, and guide cross-functional teams across 40+ markets.

The role demands strategic vision, high-velocity execution, and robust crisis-communications leadership, with travel of 20–30% in a fast-paced healthcare environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, or a related field.
• 8+ years of communications experience with a strong background in consumer health, brand communications, and earned media.
• Authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis; Lilly does not sponsor visas.

Responsibilities

• Own the external communications strategy for all approved CMH products, including earned media, thought leadership, advocacy partnerships, and consumer campaigns.
• Lead consumer obesity communications and develop innovative integrated campaigns that engage diverse audiences.
• Develop and maintain brand narratives for Mounjaro, Zepbound, and Foundayo, ensuring consistency across all channels and geographies.
• Support new indication launches and label expansions as they come through regulatory review, owning the communications strategy from pre-approval in partnership with Scientific Innovation team through post-launch.
• Lead the global communications strategy for approved products, ensuring consistent messaging and coordinated execution across international affiliates.

Skills

Brand communications

Earned media

Crisis communications

Writing & storytelling

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Communications

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.

The Senior Director leads external communications for Lilly's on-market cardiometabolic medicines – currently Mounjaro (tirzepatide for type 2 diabetes), Zepbound (tirzepatide for obesity), and Foundayo (orforglipron for obesity) – as well as new indications and label expansions as they are approved. This role owns the consumer obesity communications strategy, which is a defining capability of the CMH Communications team, and leads global communications for all approved products, including coordination with international affiliates across 40+ markets.

This is a high-visibility, high-velocity role that requires both strategic vision and the ability to move fast. The Senior Director must be as comfortable shaping a long-term consumer narrative as they are managing an emerging media issue – and must actively contribute across the broader CMH Communications team as priorities shift.

Core Responsibilities

ON-MARKET BRAND COMMUNICATIONS

• Own the external communications strategy for all approved CMH products, including earned media, thought leadership, advocacy partnerships, and consumer campaigns.
• Lead consumer obesity communications and develop innovative integrated campaigns that engage diverse audiences.
• Develop and maintain brand narratives for Mounjaro, Zepbound, and Foundayo, ensuring consistency across all channels and geographies.
• Support new indication launches and label expansions as they come through regulatory review, owning the communications strategy from pre-approval in partnership with Scientific Innovation team through post-launch.

Global communications

• Lead the global communications strategy for approved products, ensuring consistent messaging and coordinated execution across international affiliates.
• Partner with affiliates to provide materials, messaging frameworks, and strategic guidance — enabling local market execution while maintaining global narrative integrity.
• Coordinate with the Scientific Innovation team to ensure smooth handoff of global communications as products move from regulatory approval into commercialization.

MEDICAL MEETING COMMUNICATIONS

• Lead communications strategy and execution for priority CMH medical meetings – including ADA, EASD, ACC, and AHA – in partnership with Scientific Innovation, and other cross-functional comms partners.
• Develop materials including press releases, media backgrounders, data summaries, and HCP-facing content timed to scientific presentations.

Issues management & media relations

• Anticipate and lead communications challenges related to on-market products – including pricing and access, competitive dynamics, compounding, and safety.
• Partner with Issues and Crisis Communications Team and Enterprise Communications to maintain and develop relationships with A-list media; serve as spokesperson and support internal spokespeople with counsel and media preparation.
• Oversee on-market PR agency relationships, ensuring high-quality output and strategic alignment.

Team & cross-functional collaboration

• Operate as an active and flexible member of the broader CMH Communications team and Global Corporate Communications team contributing to pipeline, internal, and enterprise projects as the workload demands.
• Partner closely with marketing, medical affairs, regulatory, legal, and investor relations teams to align communications with business objectives.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, or a related field.
• 8+ years of communications experience with a strong background in consumer health, brand communications, and earned media.
• 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 or visas for this role, including but not limited to F-1 CPT, F-1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, J-1, H-1B, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, or L-1.

Additional Skills & Preferences

• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing critical communications plans across traditional, digital, and social media.
• Experience supporting a business unit and developing deep understanding of brand, medical, and commercial objectives.
• Knowledge of diabetes, obesity, and related metabolic diseases is strongly preferred.
• Experience in global communications and coordinating with international affiliates.
• Strong issues management and crisis communications experience.
• PR agency management experience.
• Exceptional writing and storytelling skills.

Travel: Approximately 20-30%

Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

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

$154,500 - $226,600

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
• 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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