Sr. Director - Supply Chain and Logistics - Houston

Initial Therapeutics, Inc.; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 220,000 - 340,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan

Medical/dental/vision benefits

Paid time off

Job summary

Lilly is building a new GMP manufacturing site for API production in the startup phase. The Senior Director, Supply Chain will lead site-wide supply chain, warehousing, and logistics, translating forecasts into production plans and developing team capabilities.

The role emphasizes governance of master data, risk management, and collaboration with the Global Supply Chain organization, with a focus on startup and eventual full GMP operations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, procurement, logistics, or engineering.
• 5+ years supporting manufacturing operations, preferably in a supply chain role.
• 5+ years of leadership experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead materials and production planning to ensure product availability and timely shipments.
• Own site-wide planning processes and integrate supply chain needs into strategic plans.
• Develop and maintain planning tools (dashboards, trackers) for cross-functional decision-making.
• Ensure governance of master data (materials, BOMs, recipes, resources).
• Partner with procurement to address supply chain and vendor issues.
• Collaborate with site lead team to align warehousing with startup and long-term goals.

Skills

Leadership

Planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in relevant field (supply chain, procurement, logistics, or engineering)

Tools

SAP

Forecasting tools

Dashboards/Trackers

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.

Lilly is currently constructing an advanced manufacturing facility for production of API molecules. This facility is intended to provide APIs for current and future products, including new modalities. This is a unique opportunity to be a part of the leadership team for the startup of a manufacturing site, and the successful candidate will help to build the organization, the facility and the culture to enable a successful startup into GMP manufacturing operations.

Position Overview:

The Senior Director, Supply Chain leads site-wide supply chain, warehousing, and logistics operations to ensure reliable product delivery. Responsibilities include planning, procurement, customer service, logistics, SAP master data and systems support, and internal warehousing.

This role translates forecasts into production plans that optimize inventory and manage risk, recommends inventory and safety stock strategies, ensures regulatory compliance, and develops team capabilities through leadership, mentoring, and training.

As a member of the Lilly Site Lead Team, the Senior Director contributes to strategic direction, organizational development, and cross-functional issue management aligned with corporate goals and external dynamics.

During the project delivery and startup phases (2029-2030), leadership roles will be fluid to support project execution, organizational buildout, system implementation, and culture development. This phase will require strong collaboration, creativity, and resilience as the site scales to full GMP manufacturing.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead materials and production planning to ensure product availability and timely shipments.
• Oversee supply chain meetings to resolve delays and shortages.
• Own site-wide planning processes and integrate supply chain needs into strategic and business plans.
• Develop and maintain planning tools (e.g., dashboards, trackers) to support cross-functional decision-making.
• Ensure governance of master data (materials, BOMs, recipes, resources).
• Serve as the primary liaison with the Global Supply Chain organization.
• Manage buying/planning processes and safety stock strategies to meet production requirements.
• Define and track KPIs to measure planning effectiveness and identify improvement opportunities.
• Partner with procurement to address supply chain and vendor-related technical issues.
• Collaborate across the site lead team to align business processes and warehousing with startup and long-term goals.
• Engage with regulators, customers, and external stakeholders, including during audits.
• Promote a strong safety culture across the organization.

Startup Phase (2029-2030)

• Build organizational capability, capacity, and culture for GMP operations.
• Implement systems and processes, leveraging Lilly best practices and external insights.
• Support regulatory compliance and operational excellence through lean principles.
• Collaborate with the project team to ensure smooth facility handoff and readiness.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant industry (preferably supply chain, procurement, logistics, or engineering)
• 5+ years' experience supporting manufacturing operations, preferably in a supply chain capacity
• Experience with planning processes, such as demand management, forecasting tools, forecasting processes, manufacturing orders, bills of materials, etc.
• 5+ years of leadership experience

Additional Preferences:

• Collaborates effectively in teams while making independent decisions and influencing diverse groups.
• Fosters teamwork and demonstrates strong interpersonal skills.
• Delivers innovative solutions to site, divisional, and corporate challenges by leveraging cross-functional insights.

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions.

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

$ - $

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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