Director - T cell strategy, Novel Platforms

At Lilly, the work is demanding because patients are waiting. We unite caring with discovery to help make life better for people around the world, knowing that every decision, every detail, and every day matters. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, our over 50,000 employees around the globe take on complex challenges to discover and deliver life-changing medicines, strengthen how health is understood and managed, and support the communities we serve.

This is hard, urgent, selfless work—but it’s work worth doing. If you’re driven by purpose and ready to bring your best to work that truly matters for patients, we invite you to join us.

This role leads Lilly’s biology strategy for novel platform projects across immunology diseases, with a focus on co‑creating and implementing next‑generation therapeutic platforms that can be applied across multiple high‑value targets and disease‑relevant mechanisms. The leader will help shape internal platform efforts from early design through biological validation, ensuring that new technologies are not only scientifically compelling in concept, but also meaningfully effective in target‑relevant systems.

This person will bring deep expertise in autoimmune and broader immunology disease biology, along with experience helping build and implement new platform technologies to enable novel therapeutics. The role requires strong scientific and strategic judgment, including the ability to define the key experiments needed to validate both the platform itself and its application across different targets. This leader will own broader biological validation, particularly where in vivo data are needed to determine whether a platform can deliver meaningful therapeutic potential.

Success in this role will depend on strong leadership and close cross‑functional partnership, particularly with molecule maker colleagues. The platform will be co‑created across disciplines, with molecule maker partners generating test articles and contributing limited biology validation, such as in vitro characterization, while this role owns broader biological validation and interpretation of platform performance in more integrated systems. The role also requires decisive judgment about where Lilly should place focused bets, using data to determine which newer technologies are worth advancing.

In addition to leading internal efforts, this leader will evaluate and monitor external programs, technologies, and emerging approaches to inform adoption, competitive positioning, and potential partnership opportunities.

• Lead biology strategy for novel platform‑related projects across immunology diseases to enable next‑generation therapeutics through emerging modalities and technologies

• Build the biological strategy by integrating disease biology, target context, platform requirements, and the experimental evidence needed to validate platform potential

• Define strategic priorities, key decision points, and focus areas for platform co‑creation, target implementation, and broader internal and external opportunities

• Evaluate external programs, technologies, and partnership opportunities to inform adoption, differentiation, and decisions about where Lilly should place focused platform bets

• Align cross‑functional stakeholders, including molecule maker colleagues and other partners, around platform design, biological validation plans, and the path forward across multiple targets

• Lead biological validation of the platform and its application to selected targets, including integrated in vivo studies that extend beyond limited in vitro characterization

• Drive disciplined execution through clear scientific judgment, go/no‑go recommendations, and a focused team environment that…