Sr. Director - Commercial Strategy, Product & Execution Leadership

Initial Therapeutics, Inc.; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 158,000 - 231,000; Full time

Job summary

Lilly seeks an Information Technology commercial pharma and AI leader to steer an AI-enabled portfolio at a pivotal moment in digital transformation. You will partner with U.S.

commercial, data/AI, analytics, and engineering teams to define KPIs, drive delivery, and shape AI strategy with a bias for speed and value creation. The role demands executive-level communication, thought leadership in AI, and a proven track record in translating strategy into technology roadmaps that deliver measurable

Qualifications

• Proven AI leadership and product innovation experience.
• Ability to translate business strategy into technology roadmaps with measurable outcomes.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration across commercial, analytics, and engineering teams.
• Experience shaping AI-enabled business strategy in pharma or similar industries.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the AI-enabled portfolio strategy for the assigned business unit.
• Translate strategic priorities into actionable roadmaps and deliver high-quality results.
• Collaborate with commercial, Data & Analytics, and Engineering teams to set KPIs and deliver value.
• Champion a unified product vision across brands, therapeutic areas, and customer segments.

Skills

AI leadership

Roadmap planning

Stakeholder management

Data storytelling

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/CE or related

Masters preferred

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.

This role is built for an Information technology (IT) commercial pharma and consulting leader who has earned real thought leadership across Payer, HCP, and Consumer audiences, and who brings an AI-first mentality to everything they do. The Senior Director will spearhead an assigned business unit portfolio at a pivotal moment in Lilly's digital transformation, serving as the critical link between business priorities and execution within Lilly's global technology organization. This leader brings a builder's sense of urgency and a hustling mentality to every priority: moving fast, closing gaps, and treating delay as a competitive risk. Beyond execution, this leader will bring bold thought leadership in the commercial space, shaping how AI reimagines product, portfolio, and go-to-market strategy, championing an AI-first culture, and advancing technology modernization to achieve annual business objectives. This is a high-visibility seat at the table, with direct exposure to senior executives and a real say in how one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies builds its AI-powered future.

Key Responsibilities:

Objective 1: Portfolio Leadership & Product Ownership

• Define and drive business unit portfolio strategy aligned with therapeutic and enterprise priorities.
• Translate strategic priorities into actionable product roadmaps and ensure timely, high-quality delivery.
• Partner across Lilly's U.S. commercial organization, Data & Analytics/AI, Business Insights & Analytics, Engineering, and business teams to define KPIs and deliver measurable value.
• Champion a unified product vision across brands, therapeutic areas, and customer segments (HCP, Payer, Consumer, FRM).

Objective 2: Execution & Delivery Excellence

• Advocate for Therapeutic areas on their needs
• Bring a hustling, sense-of-urgency mentality to execution—partner with delivery teams and lead all aspects of programs and projects with a solid focus on speed, scalability, and quality.
• Build robust planning, tracking, and risk mitigation mechanisms across the organization.
• Drive delivery of major initiatives across product launches, digital experience modernization, AI-enabled transformation, and workflow automation.
• Serve as decision-maker on product trade-offs and prioritization throughout delivery.
• Act as liaison between business leadership and execution teams.
• Communicate progress, risks, and insights to senior executives through data-backed storytelling.
• Align global and regional collaborators for unified delivery and resource efficiency.

Objective 3: AI-Led Strategy, Thought Leadership & Capability Building (AI as a mentality)

• Lead AI upskilling initiatives and embed AI literacy into team development plans.
• Define and implement the AI roadmap for the assigned business unit(s).
• Identify and prioritize high-value AI use cases to enhance efficiency and experience.
• Foster collaboration with global AI communities and champion an AI-first culture.
• Serve as a visible leader with vision in the commercial AI space, representing Lilly's AI-led point of view externally and internally and setting the pace for how the industry applies AI to commercial strategy.

Your Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field is required.
• 10+ years in commercial pharma, consulting, product management, or digital transformation, with demonstrated thought leadership across Payer, HCP, and Consumer audiences.
• Proven ability to translate business strategy into technology roadmaps and measurable outcomes.
• Demonstrated track record leading with AI—applying AI, analytics, and data-driven product innovation to reshape how a business operates, not just supporting it from the sidelines.

What You Should Bring:

• Masters Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical preferred
• Strong communication and influence skills across business and technical collaborators.
• Experience in global or matrixed environments; understanding of regulatory and compliance considerations.
• A sense of urgency and hustling mentality, with a bias for speed and action over process, and a track record of establishing thought leadership in the commercial AI space.

Success Measures:

• On-time, high-quality delivery of the portfolio's annual technology commitments.
• Measurable improvements in HCP, payer, and consumer experience outcomes.
• Increased AI adoption and fluency across portfolio teams.
• Demonstrated business value realization and transparent governance.
• Accelerated delivery cycles and enhanced decision-making through AI integration, delivered with visible urgency.

Why You'll Love This Role:

• Real impact: shape how AI is applied across the portfolio of a leading global pharmaceutical company, with work that ultimately reaches patients worldwide.
• High-visibility seat: direct, regular exposure to senior executives, with your strategy and storytelling shaping decisions at the top of the business.
• True ownership: run a business unit technology portfolio end-to-end, with the autonomy to set direction and the mandate to move fast on it.
• A global stage: collaborate with AI communities and cross-functional leaders around the world and help set the industry's pace on commercial AI.

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

$157,500 - $231,000

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). 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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