Senior Director, Quality Systems Lifecycle Management (R&D)

Senior Director, Quality Systems Lifecycle Management (R&D)

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 employees worldwide 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 put people first and are looking for people determined to make life better for people around the world.

Role Overview

The Senior Director, Quality Systems Lifecycle Management (R&D) oversees all processes within the Lifecycle Management pillar of the Quality Management System (QMS), focusing on research and development stakeholders. The role ensures the integrity and evolution of the process framework by establishing connections, standards, and governance to support R&D, Clinical, and Commercial Supply functions throughout the product lifecycle. It involves managing, monitoring, and reporting on Lifecycle Management processes, driving excellence by aligning with R&D priorities, ensuring compliance, and advancing quality initiatives.

High‑Level Responsibilities

Support teams and leaders of Global Process Owners (GPOs) for all R&D‑relevant processes within the Lifecycle Management pillar, including:

• Drug & Device Development
• Non‑Clinical/Discovery Programs
• Clinical Management (trial design, site engagement, data analysis, and disclosure of research results)
• Global Patient Safety
• Regulatory affairs according to the QMS global process framework

Governance & Strategy

• Align to QMS structured governance and monitoring models to deliver excellence across R&D processes in Lifecycle Management and the QMS.
• Design and develop models for determining the health of the QMS process ecosystem, with a focus on Enterprise & R&D‑driven metrics and outcomes.
• Proactively ensure compliance with global regulatory standards, scientific principles, and evolving industry trends in R&D.

Continuous Improvement

• Drive process improvements and strategic decisions by analyzing and interpreting complex R&D data.
• Monitor performance metrics, report, and provide insights to inform decision‑making and drive further improvements in R&D processes.

Leadership, Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

• Develop, lead, mentor, and maintain the GPO community to collaborate on proposed improvements and deepen knowledge of R&D processes and tools.
• Actively collaborate with enterprise‑wide teams on standardized global business processes related to R&D and product lifecycle.
• Engage in external organizations and industry groups to monitor policy changes for regulatory/external environments and advocate/influence quality‑related policies and regulatory requirements in R&D.
• Build and maintain an inventory of R&D stakeholders, including functional leads.
• Identify and engage primary, secondary, and informed stakeholders for each process, ensuring robust communication, strategic document management, training, and delivery planning.
• Collaborate with R&D teams to ensure processes are fit‑for‑purpose and support innovation, scientific rigor, compliance, and the increased value of Quality.

Basic Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree (preferred in Business or Life Science‑related field).
• 10+ years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry in business or quality operational roles, with significant understanding of research and development processes and/or clinical operations.

Additional Skills/Preferences

• Proven ability to lead in a matrixed organization, influencing areas beyond direct control, especially in R&D environments.
• Experience driving multi‑site or global improvement initiatives in R&D.
• Strong strategic thinking with ability to execute strategic decisions while balancing conflicting priorities in research and development.
• Skilled in analyzing complex R&D data to inform process improvements and strategic actions.
• Demonstrated change agility in anticipating and leading others through change and ambiguity in scientific and regulatory contexts.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills across all organizational levels and formats.
• Expertise in developing scalable and standardized processes across global R&D operations to improve efficiency and reduce complexity.
• Influential leadership expertise and experience engaging with senior‑level R&D functional leads.
• Strong leadership capability to make and act on decisions while balancing speed, quality, and risk to deliver value‑added business results in R&D.
• Strong capabilities in establishing governance structures and proactively addressing quality and regulatory risks in research and development.
• Demonstrated people management experience.
• Expertise in navigating and ensuring adherence to global regulatory standards and frameworks relevant to R&D.

Additional Information

• Available to travel (domestic and international) when required (0–10%).
• Desired location of this role is onsite at Indianapolis, IN with the ability to work from home 4 days per month; alternate Lilly locations will be considered based on availability and approval of hosting site.
• Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full‑time basis. Lilly will not provide support for or sponsor work authorization and/or visas for this role.

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities. If you require accommodations to submit a resume, please complete the accommodation request form (

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.

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is $156,000 – $228,800. Full‑time equivalent employees 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; 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).

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