Director/Sr. Director – Women’s Health, Osteoporosis,

About the role

The Senior Director – Osteoporosis, Women’s Health position at Lilly is seeking an experienced discovery leader to help build a portfolio of transformative therapies to improve outcomes for women everywhere and arrest age-related functional decline across genders. This role offers the opportunity to shape strategy, drive impactful drug discovery and development programs, and contribute to Lilly’s mission of scientific excellence and patient-centered care.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and lead an innovative lab focused on novel approaches to identify and validate targets/pathways for osteoporosis.
• Bring novel, high potential targets into the pipeline for therapeutic approaches for the treatment of osteoporosis.
• Define and implement the preclinical discovery strategy for osteoporosis, including target discovery, validation and prioritization frameworks, experimental approaches, and decision criteria.
• Drive portfolio prioritization, articulating differentiation, risk, and alignment with clinical and regulatory expectations.
• Build and evolve preclinical and translational capabilities (internal and external) to support execution of the strategy.
• Identify and shape external opportunities, including academic collaborations, CRO partnerships, and business development opportunities.
• Ensure alignment of osteoporosis strategy with broader Women’s Health and musculoskeletal portfolio objectives.
• Lead osteoporosis discovery programs, driving target identification, validation, and progression of therapeutic candidates.
• Design and implement end-to-end experimental strategies across in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo systems.
• Generate decision-enabling data to support program advancement and portfolio decisions.
• Define and implement translational approaches linking mechanisms to clinical outcomes, including biomarker strategies and PK/PD relationships.
• Ensure preclinical programs are designed to enable clear clinical differentiation, incorporating relevant endpoints such as bone density, bone strength, and microarchitecture.
• Serve as biology lead on cross-functional teams, partnering closely with colleagues across function.
• Influence decision-making and problem-solving to accelerate program progression.
• Lead and manage strategic collaborations with CROs and academic partners.
• Maintain scientific leadership through publications, presentations, and external engagement in osteoporosis and skeletal biology.
• Directly recruit and supervise scientists and provide mentoring, performance management and career development.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in a relevant subject area
• Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in academia, industry or related field

Additional Preferences

• Deep expertise in osteoporosis and skeletal biology, including bone remodeling
• 10 years' experience after post doc training
• Demonstrated success in drug discovery, from target identification through preclinical development
• Proven track record of shaping discovery strategy and influencing portfolio decisions
• Strong experience with preclinical in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models for osteoporosis
• Experience building new capabilities, platforms, or external collaborations
• Strong cross-functional leadership and scientific communication skills
• Passion for advancing innovative therapies addressing unmet needs in women’s health