The Opportunity

Lilly is at an extraordinary inflection point. Our investment in technology is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, and we are fundamentally reimagining how medicines are discovered, developed, and delivered. Tech@Lilly is not a traditional IT organization — it is the technology engine of one of the world’s most valuable healthcare companies.

Central to this transformation is Lilly’s landmark $4.5 billion investment in the Lilly Medicine Foundry — a first-of-its-kind facility in Lebanon, Indiana that integrates research, process development, and advanced manufacturing under one roof. Spanning 1.2 million square feet and expected to produce its first batch of investigational medicine for clinical trials by 2027, the Foundry will manufacture drug substances across small molecules, biologics, and next-generation nucleic acid therapies. This role will be instrumental in defining the technology backbone of the Foundry — embedding AI, agentic automation, digital twins, and intelligent process control into every stage of the manufacturing lifecycle. The opportunity is to build the foundational digital infrastructure that makes the Foundry not just a manufacturing site, but a learning, self-optimizing platform for how Lilly develops and produces medicines at scale.

We are seeking an Associate Vice President within Tech@Lilly to lead the AI, innovation, and technology vision for the Foundry and Lilly’s broader Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) and Process R&D portfolio — one of the most technically demanding and scientifically critical domains in pharmaceutical development. This leader will sit at the intersection of cutting-edge AI and platform engineering, applied to one of the most complex regulated manufacturing environments in the world, shaping how Lilly accelerates drug substance and drug product development from bench to commercial launch.

The ideal candidate has built AI-powered platforms in complex, high-stakes environments — think autonomous systems, advanced manufacturing, defense technology, fintech, or frontier biopharma organizations where AI and engineering are genuine competitive advantages. This is a role for a builder: someone who can design and deploy intelligent platforms at scale, bring rigor and creativity to data-intensive regulated environments, and lead talented engineering and product teams with the urgency of a startup and the scale of a global enterprise. Pharmaceutical domain knowledge is not a prerequisite — what matters is the ability to learn fast, operate in complex regulated contexts, and apply AI to transform how things are made.

If you’ve spent your career building AI platforms for autonomous vehicles, defense systems, advanced manufacturing, financial technology, or technology-forward life sciences organizations — and you want to apply those capabilities to something with direct human impact — getting life-changing medicines to patients faster — this is your moment.

If you have built technology organizations that solve hard problems in regulated, high-consequence environments — and you are looking for a mission that matters — this is the role.

What You’ll Do

• Define and execute a bold technology strategy spanning the Foundry and CMC/Process R&D portfolio — covering drug substance and drug product development, analytical sciences, formulation, process scale-up, and technology transfer — with a clear mandate to embed AI, machine learning, and agentic automation throughout, with the Lilly Medicine Foundry as the flagship deployment environment.
• Build, lead, and inspire a world-class technology organization that attracts top engineering, data science, and product talent from leading technology companies and biopharma, creating a team culture that rivals the best technology companies while operating within regulated environments.
• Drive the architecture, development, and delivery of next-generation platforms for manufacturing data management, digital twins, process control, and laboratory informatics that transform how Lilly develops and scales manufacturing processes — starting with the Foundry and scaling across the global manufacturing network.
• Champion the use of AI and machine learning to accelerate Foundry manufacturing and CMC workflows — including predictive modeling for formulation and process optimization, agentic systems for automated regulatory document generation, real-time process monitoring with intelligent anomaly detection, and self-optimizing manufacturing control systems.
• Serve as a strategic technology partner to CMC and Process R&D leadership, translating complex scientific and regulatory requirements into technology roadmaps that create measurable competitive advantage in speed, quality, and compliance.
• Develop fluency in pharmaceutical regulatory frameworks (GxP, 21 CFR Part 11, Annex 11, ICH Q guidelines), partnering with Lilly’s regulatory and quality experts to ensure that all platforms and systems meet the highest standards of data integrity, validation, and regulatory readiness.
• Partner with leading technology companies, academic collaborators, and technology vendors to bring external innovation into Lilly’s manufacturing and R&D ecosystem — scouting and integrating emerging capabilities in AI-driven manufacturing, continuous processing, and advanced automation that extend beyond what can be built organically.
• Foster a transformation and startup mindset across the organization — driving rapid iteration, continuous delivery, and outcome-oriented execution while maintaining the rigor expected in a regulated environment.
• Lead with people: hire exceptional talent, build inclusive and high-performance teams, develop the next generation of technical leaders, and sustain a culture of curiosity, accountability, and impact.

Basic Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Physics, or a closely related technical discipline.
• 15+ years of progressive technology leadership experience, with at least 5 years leading large-scale technology organizations at the VP level or equivalent.
• Track record of applying AI, machine learning, and data science to solve hard problems in complex domains — not just strategy, but working implementations that have delivered measurable outcomes in production environments.
• Entrepreneurial, transformation-oriented mindset with the ability to move from concept to execution quickly, sustain momentum through ambiguity, and lead organizations through technology-driven change.
• Demonstrated ability to recruit, develop, and retain exceptional technical talent in competitive markets.
• Background in AI-native product development — including agentic AI, LLM-powered applications, autonomous systems, computer vision, or ML-driven process optimization — with hands-on experience shipping AI products, not just evaluating them.
• Track record leading technology organizations through periods of rapid growth, business model transformation, or M&A integration in complex, high-stakes environments (pharmaceutical, defense, aerospace, financial services, autonomous systems, or similar).
• Proven experience building and deploying technology platforms in complex, highly regulated environments where data integrity, compliance, and validation are non-negotiable.
• Must be based in or willing to relocate to Indianapolis, Indiana. This is a full-time, on-site executive role with direct people management responsibilities.

Additional Skills / Preferences

• Advanced degree (Ph.D., M.S., or M.B.A.) in AI, Computer Science, Engineering, or a relevant scientific discipline. Doctoral-level training in a CMC-adjacent field (chemical engineering, pharmaceutics, biochemistry) is a plus but not expected.
• Curiosity about and willingness to develop deep understanding of pharmaceutical manufacturing and CMC workflows — including drug substance and drug product development, analytical sciences, process development, scale-up, and technology transfer. If you already have this background, that’s a significant advantage. If not, Lilly will provide world-class domain immersion — what we need is a fast learner who is energized by mastering new domains.
• Experience with regulatory frameworks in any highly regulated industry (GxP, FDA, DoD/ITAR, FedRAMP, SOX, or similar). Familiarity with pharmaceutical-specific regulations (21 CFR Part 11, Annex 11, ICH Q8/Q9/Q10/Q12) is a strong plus.
• Experience with manufacturing technology platforms such as LIMS, MES, ELN, PAT systems, digital twins, or equivalent data-intensive operational platforms in other regulated industries.
• Experience at companies operating at the frontier of AI and technology — such as Google, Palantir, Tesla, SpaceX, Verily, Scale AI, Anduril, or other organizations where AI and engineering are core competitive advantages in complex, regulated environments.
• Deep fluency in cloud-native engineering, platform architecture, and modern software development practices.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to operate fluently across C-suite executives, scientists, manufacturing operations leaders, and software engineers.
• Experience with external innovation strategies, academic partnerships, and emerging technology investments that extend organizational capability beyond organic development.

What Makes This Role Unique

This is not a traditional IT leadership role — and it’s not a traditional pharma role either. It requires someone who has built AI-powered platforms at scale and is energized by applying that capability to one of the most complex, consequential manufacturing environments in the world. You don’t need to arrive knowing the language of process chemists and formulation engineers — but you do need to be the kind of leader who will learn it, challenge assumptions, and find where AI can create step-change improvements. The successful candidate will:

• Learn the science quickly and develop enough depth to challenge assumptions, ask the right questions, and identify where technology can create step-change improvements in manufacturing timelines, quality, and cost.
• Have the engineering mindset to build platforms that are production-grade, compliant, and scalable — not just proof-of-concept demonstrations.
• Bring the startup urgency to cut through complexity and ship results, while maintaining the regulatory discipline that the pharmaceutical industry demands.
• See AI as a practical toolkit — knowing when and how to apply machine learning, NLP, computer vision, or agentic systems to specific manufacturing and R&D workflows to deliver real operational advantage.
• Thrive at the intersection of unfamiliar domains — the best technology leaders don’t just optimize what they already know. They immerse themselves in new fields, find the structural patterns, and build systems that the domain experts didn’t know were possible.

Additional Information

This position is based in Indianapolis, IN at the Lilly Corporate Center. Relocation assistance is available for the right candidate.