Associate Director, Clinical Research Lead; East Coast​/Midwest

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 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.

The Clinical Research Lead (CRL) is a strategic, field-based scientific leader responsible for driving the execution of Lilly clinical trials through exceptional investigator engagement and site performance management. This role is pivotal in ensuring Lilly’s portfolio is prioritized at high-performing sites and that trials are delivered with quality, speed, and insight.

This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the job requirements at the time it was prepared. The job requirements of any position may change over time and may include additional responsibilities not specifically described in the job description. Consult with your supervision regarding your actual job responsibilities and any related duties that may be required for the position.

• Accountable for the full spectrum of investigator engagement from identification and qualification through enrollment, and support database lock, and study closeout.
• Serve as a clinical trial scientific ambassador, ensuring investigators deeply understand protocol intent, scientific rationale, and patient eligibility requirements.
• Develop and sustain strategic, high-trust relationships with investigators that span trials and therapeutic areas.
• Influence enrollment by co-creating tailored recruitment strategies aligned with site capabilities, patient population realities, and study objectives.
• Proactively find opportunities to reach new patients, accelerate enrollment and increase impact at priority sites, including for example, novel site models, community-based research initiatives etc.
• Capture and elevate critical insights from sites to optimize feasibility, protocol design, and study conduct.

• Lead site-level strategy and risk planning to ensure strong and predictable enrollment and data delivery.
• Leverage performance metrics to anticipate issues, intervene decisively, and maintain momentum toward clinical milestones.
• Drive inspection readiness as a continuous discipline across sites.
• Collaborate across functions and with vendor partners to resolve operational barriers, ensuring delivery with speed and quality.
• Maintain advanced understanding of local treatment paradigms and standard of care to influence strategic country/site selection and protocol localization.
• Provide oversight and quality assurance for vendor monitoring, escalating risks proactively.
• Where applicable, lead end-to-end management of Post-Marketing Safety Studies in compliance with local regulations.

• Cultivate a portfolio of strategically aligned, high-impact investigators who consistently prioritize Lilly trials.
• Enable an exceptional investigator experience by being a responsive, knowledgeable, and valued scientific partner.
• Collaborate cross-functionally (e.g., Medical, Clinical, Study Delivery) to align on trial and site priorities, troubleshooting challenges with urgency and creativity.
• Conduct data-informed site prospecting and prioritization, contributing to trial competitiveness and regional strategic execution.
• Maintain scientific fluency and therapeutic expertise to lead meaningful, solutions-focused discussions with site personnel.
• Act as a key liaison between field teams, vendors, and investigators, ensuring alignment, shared purpose, and continuous knowledge transfer.
• Partner closely with field team colleagues to elevate the investigator and site experience, ensuring seamless collaboration and improving enrollment outcomes and investigator relationships.

• Represent Investigator Engagement with regulatory agencies, ethics committees, and national research organizations…