Senior Director - Neuroscience Communications

BioSpace; Indianapolis (IN); Hybrid; USD 154,500 - 226,600; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits program

401(k) and pension options

Employee assistance program

Job summary

BioSpace is seeking a Sr. Director for Neuroscience Communications based in Indianapolis, Indiana. In this role, you will develop and execute comprehensive communications strategies across Lilly's neuroscience portfolio, supporting brand visibility and credibility.

The position requires a strong background in healthcare communications, storytelling, and the management of clinical data narratives. You'll coordinate with various teams to ensure effective message delivery and stakeholder engagement while preparing for potential issues affecting the brand's reputation.

Qualifications

• 6 or more years in pharmaceutical, biotech or healthcare communications.
• Proven ability to advise senior leaders and produce executive content.

Responsibilities

• Build and deliver integrated global communications strategies.
• Support and amplify brand and treatment communications.
• Prepare for issues affecting Lilly's neuroscience portfolio.
• Engage workforce through cohesive direction and oversight.

Skills

Experience in healthcare communications

Expertise in clinical data and regulatory communications

Strong storytelling and writing abilities

Leadership experience

Ability to navigate ambiguity

Education

Bachelor's degree in journalism, communications, or related field

Job description

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.

About The Function

Lilly's Global Corporate Communications function exists to amplify what matters, shape global perception, and protect Lilly's reputation. Every role in our function contributes to four core responsibilities: Establish Our Story & Thought Leadership, Amplify Business Impact, Brand Protection, and Workforce Engagement.

About Lilly Neuroscience

Neuroscience is one of the most ambitious and fastest‑growing businesses in our portfolio, pursuing major therapeutic areas across Alzheimer’s disease, psychiatry, sleep‑wake medicine, and pain — and building a pipeline that will define the next era of brain health. Our communications needs are evolving alongside the business, requiring modern, innovative, and agile approaches that match the scale and pace of what we are building.

Role Summary

The Sr. Director, Neuroscience Communications is accountable for building and delivering integrated communications strategies across the neuroscience portfolio and pipeline — with the US as the primary market and meaningful global reach. This person works at the intersection of science, business, and storytelling, moving fluidly between setting the long‑range narrative architecture and producing polished, deadline‑driven work as the business requires. Working closely with the AVP, this role serves as the day‑to‑day Center of Excellence (COE) partner for the Neuroscience team — briefing, aligning, and holding COE functions accountable to the global strategy. Key relationships span the broader Global Communications function, Medical, Marketing, Corporate Affairs, and IBU affiliate teams.

Responsibility: Establish Story & Thought Leadership

• Build and maintain the overarching neuroscience communications narrative, connecting Lilly's therapeutic focus areas into a coherent, credible platform story across media, patients, HCPs, and the public.
• Ensure brand narrative credibility for Lilly's approved Alzheimer’s treatment and future pipeline assets, keeping the story grounded in science and consistent across audiences.
• Work alongside the Scientific Communications & Innovation team to shape the scientific narrative architecture underpinning all external neuroscience communications.
• Shape the external environment ahead of clinical data releases and regulatory events, building stakeholder understanding before the moment arrives.
• Support the visibility and thought leadership of senior Neuroscience leaders, building Lilly's standing as a credible and trusted voice in brain health and neurological disease.

Responsibility: Amplify Business Impact

• Build and deliver integrated global communications strategies for the neuroscience portfolio and pipeline, with the US as the primary market.
• Support brand and treatment communications in close coordination with marketing and cross‑functional teams, ensuring programs are coherent and well‑amplified.
• Bring deep expertise in clinical data releases and regulatory communications, working alongside Medical, Scientific Communications, and COE functions to shape rigorous external narratives.
• Translate neuroscience communications strategy into clear briefs for COE functions — Earned Media, Content, Digital, and Consumer — ensuring integration and accountability across channels.
• Serve as a trusted communications adviser to senior NBU leadership, supporting their visibility, credibility, and effectiveness in high‑stakes situations.

Responsibility: Brand Protection

• Anticipate and prepare for issues that could affect Lilly's neuroscience portfolio and reputation, spanning competitive dynamics, policy, access, and safety challenges.
• Develop issues frameworks, holding statements, and rapid‑response playbooks well in advance; coordinate across Legal, Regulatory, Government Affairs, and COE functions when issues arise.
• Build proactive preparedness into all major programs, clinical data releases, and campaigns — getting ahead of risk before it arrives.

Responsibility: Workforce Engagement

• Work closely with the AVP and the broader Neuroscience Communications team to ensure strategic alignment, coherent execution, and a unified direction across all programs.
• Coordinate with the Sr. Director, International Neurology & AD Communications to ensure global strategy pulls through consistently across markets.
• Provide day‑to‑day direction and performance oversight for PR agencies of record.
• Cultivate a team environment built on agility, collaboration, and shared commitment to the people this work serves.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in journalism, communications, public relations, or a related field.
• 6 or more years of professional experience in pharmaceutical, biotech or healthcare communications in a corporate, agency, or journalism setting.
• 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 supporting external communications around clinical data releases, regulatory submissions, or product approvals.
• Experience directly handling or leading a communications team or function.
• Proven track record building and delivering multi‑channel, multi‑audience communications plans with measurable outcomes.
• Depth working alongside medical, scientific, and regulatory teams to develop rigorous external narratives around clinical data releases and regulatory events.
• Demonstrated ability to advise senior leaders, produce executive content, and operate with credibility in high‑stakes situations including data releases, regulatory events, and executive forums.
• Experience building proactive frameworks and coordinating active crisis response across Legal, Regulatory, and Government Affairs.
• Experience shaping communications strategy across multiple markets with a genuine understanding of how US and international execution interconnect.
• Exceptional writing and storytelling ability across press materials, executive messaging, briefing documents, speeches, digital content, and narrative frameworks — producing polished, publication‑ready work on deadline; this is a non‑negotiable for the role.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and shifting priorities without losing quality or coherence; able to change course quickly without needing a fully defined plan to move forward.
• Demonstrated ability to work across both long‑range narrative development and hands‑on execution — often at the same time — without sacrificing quality in either.

This is an Indy based role with a hybrid work schedule.

Equal Opportunity Employer

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. 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.

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; 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.

Employee Resource Groups

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 Network, Black Employees at Lilly, Chinese Culture Network, Japanese International Leadership Network (JILN), Lilly India Network, Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), PRIDE (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN), Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL), enAble (for people with disabilities). Learn more about all of our groups.

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