Advisor/Senior Advisor - Discovery Immunology

About the role

Lilly Immunology is a therapeutic area focused on many autoimmune diseases spanning gastroenterology, dermatology, and rheumatology. We are seeking a seasoned discovery biology leader to develop biological strategy with translational readiness for projects and execute target identification through mechanistic validation.

The ideal candidate will provide scientific and strategic leadership across cross-functional discovery teams, enabling confident target nomination, modality selection, and early portfolio advancement in immunology.

Responsibilities

• Drive scientific decision-making across multidisciplinary project teams to ensure robust biological rationale, mechanism-of-action understanding, and data-supported progression criteria.
• Provide hands-on guidance for associates in developing new technology and mentor them to deliver on key scientific objectives.
• Identify key technical/operational challenges and proactively develop mitigation strategies.
• Interface with bioinformatics and discovery teams to facilitate iterative learnings from clinical data.
• Expand functional genomics capability, including pooled and arrayed CRISPR knockout, CRISPR base-editing, multiplexed perturbation systems, barcoding technologies, and data-integrated mechanistic workflows.
• Champion the development and application of primary human and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)–derived or organoid model systems and whole-blood assays.
• Lead the creation and operationalization of phenotypic discovery workflows to enable rapid target triage, mechanistic deconvolution, and clear go/no-go determination.
• Integrate models with multimodal profiling (imaging, transcriptomics, cytokine, and proteomics readouts) to strengthen human disease relevance and predictive validity.
• Ensure translational confidence by driving model selection, benchmarking, and alignment with patient-derived data and clinical insights.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics, Cell Biology, Immunology, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in pharmaceutical drug discovery biology in autoimmune diseases.

Skills

• Strong technical knowledge and organizational skills in laboratory settings.
• Demonstrated leadership in developing high-performing teams by coaching, mentoring, and empowering diverse talent.
• Ability to make data-driven decisions and find innovative solutions to scientific and operational obstacles within a matrix environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex scientific data to diverse audiences.
• Strong interpersonal skills for effective collaboration with internal teams, external partners, and vendors.

Benefits

• Eligibility to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k) and pension plan.
• Vacation benefits and certain time off and leave of absence benefits.
• 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.
• Well-being benefits (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities).
• Access to employee resource groups (ERGs) including 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).

Pay

The anticipated wage for this position is $126,000 - $204,600. Full-time equivalent employees are also eligible for a company bonus (depending on company and individual performance).

Lilly reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion.