Director Medicinal Chemistry Protomer

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 35,000 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.

Organization Overview:

At Lilly, we serve an extraordinary purpose. For more than 140 years, we have worked tirelessly to discover medicines that make life better. These discoveries start in Lilly Research Laboratories, where our scientists work to create new medicines that will help solve our world’s greatest health challenges.

Protomer Technologies is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lilly and is focused on creation and discovery of new molecules for responsive biotherapeutic applications. Protomer is highly innovative group of scientists working on cutting edge chemistry for development of novel medicines and associated

Protomer efforts include engaging in disease-relevant biological systems in order to test preclinical and clinical pipeline of innovative medicines. Reporting directly to the vice president of Protomer who the head of Protomer team is, the director/ senior director will become part of a highly integrated, agile and collaborative team expected to manage the scientific portfolio, the business supporting the portfolio, and workforce development within Protomer. This position reports directly to head of Protomer and the ideal candidate is expected to have demonstrated success in similar roles reporting to head of research with proven track record of leading both scientific rationale, planning and execution leading to success in making medicines.

This individual will also be expected to be able to independently lead projects based on prioritization of the Protomer leadership and interact with and create and nurture the cross-functional relationships within the Discovery Chemistry Research and Technology (DCRT), Medicines Innovation Hub (MIH) and across Lilly Research Labs (LRL).

Responsibilities:

• Shared accountability on development and execution of medicinal chemistry strategy to support portfolio, as well as individual projects

• In partnership with other resource owners, responsible of resourcing decisions in medicinal chemistry across portfolio projects

• Balance science and the business of science by delivering the small and large molecule portfolio through responsible planning, execution and completion of projects.    

• Work on and lead (both directionally and operationally) small molecule efforts from lead identification to lead optimization all the way to phase 1b and beyond.

• Take on dedicated small molecule efforts towards targets of high conviction and utilize speed and prioritization to advance synthetic efforts both at Protomer and through collaboration with the rest of LRL.

• Learn about and enhance the platform technology efforts at Protomer.

• Inspire people to collaborate in inventing great medicines by removing barriers, committing to high quality scientific hypotheses, and accelerating where possible.

• Keep safety as a top priority at all times, striving toward a proactive safety culture.

• Be an advocate for diversity and inclusion in our recruiting, retaining and developing scientists, with a commitment to coaching and development of scientists.

Basic Requirements:

• PhD preferred (will consider other degrees with extensive experience), with 5+ Years of drug discovery and development experience.

• Must have deep scientific expertise and demonstrated ability to lead a team of scientists from within therapeutic/functional areas with a proven track record of delivering candidate molecules into clinical testing.

• Must be an excellent team player, strong attention to detail, strong problem-solving skills, a high level of learning agility, with the ability to lead within a globally matrixed organization and across functions.

Additional Skills/Preferences:

• Candidate will understand the whole drug discovery process including lead generation and lead optimization and will partner with cross functional groups including other areas within Medicine Innovation Hub, therapeutic areas, ADME, nonclinical safety assessment and PK/PD.

• Demonstrated deep expertise in medicinal chemistry with a proven track record of success.

• Demonstrated ability to make decisions in the midst of ambiguity, seeking appropriate level of information from Protomer leadership and enabling workforce to execute against Protomer strategic priorities

• Open, transparent and able to communicate equally well with employees, team members and cross-functional and/or senior leadership.

• Promote external environment awareness across workforce, and identify and champion Best Practices and their internal dissemination

• Ability to think strategically, actively identifying gaps in competencies or capabilities within the organization and taking initiative to drive continuous improvement across Protomer.

Additional Information:

• Some domestic and international travel is anticipated and expected.

Eli Lilly and Company, Lilly USA, LLC and our wholly owned subsidiaries (collectively “Lilly”) are committed to help individuals with disabilities to participate in the workforce and ensure equal opportunity to compete for jobs. If you require an accommodation to submit a resume for positions at Lilly, please email Lilly Human Resources ( Lilly_Recruiting_Compliance@lists.lilly.com ) for further assistance. Please note This email address is intended for use only to request an accommodation as part of the application process. Any other correspondence will not receive a response.

Lilly is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, 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 help our company develop talented individuals for future leadership roles. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia Network, African American Network, Chinese Culture Network, Early Career Professionals, Japanese International Leadership Network (JILN), Lilly India Network, Organization of Latinos at Lilly, PRIDE (LGBTQ + Allies), Veterans Leadership Network, Women’s Network, Working and Living with Disabilities. Learn more about all of our groups.

As a condition of employment with Eli Lilly and Company and its subsidiaries in the United States and Puerto Rico, you must be fully COVID-19 vaccinated and provide proof of vaccination satisfactory to the company (subject to applicable law). 

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