Senior Director, Global Data Storytelling Communications

Senior Director, Global Data Storytelling Communications

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.

The Senior Director, Global Data Storytelling Communications, is the senior communications leader accountable for driving consistency, quality, and strategic impact across the full scientific lifecycle, from pre-clinical research through Phase 3 readouts.

This role is embedded with Lilly Research Laboratories (LRL) counterparts and maintains dotted-line relationships with Therapeutic Area (TA) business leads, serving as a strategic partner to the Executive Committee and TA Presidents. Reporting to the AVP, Scientific Innovation Communications, the Senior Director leads a data communications team across Lilly's TAs, from early proof-of-concept through pivotal trial results, connected to a single, enterprise-level science narrative.

The role requires a communicator who can operate at the intersection of scientific depth, executive influence, and narrative strategy, translating sophisticated pipeline achievements into stories that build reputation, strengthen pipeline confidence, and advance business objectives. This leader will set the standard for how Lilly communicates science to the world: proactively, with strategic rigor, and in a way that is unmistakably Lilly.

Key Objectives / Deliverables

• Strategic Leadership and Narrative Architecture:
  Own the overarching data narrative for Lilly's R&D pipeline across Lilly therapeutic areas, ensuring every data readout, congress disclosure, and publication reinforces the enterprise science story. Establish and maintain a consistent data release playbook across TAs so that quality, ambition, and voice are uniform regardless of therapeutic area.
• Executive Partnership and Influence:
  Serve as a trusted strategic partner to LRL and our TA teams, providing communications counsel that shapes how Lilly's science is understood by investors, media, policymakers, and the scientific community. Prepare senior leaders for high-stakes engagements including major data landmarks, major congresses, and media interactions.
• Data, Congress and Publications Strategy:
  Help build the enterprise congress strategy, ensuring Lilly's scientific presence at major medical meetings is coordinated, high-impact, and reflects a unified Lilly point of view. Support our TA publications strategies in partnership with medical affairs and TA leads, ensuring relevant peer-reviewed data supports the broader corporate narrative.
• Team Leadership and Talent Development:
  Lead, mentor, and develop a team. Set the operating standards, cultural tone, and performance expectations for the pillar. Recruit and retain communicators who combine scientific proficiency with strategic ambition and creative instinct.
• Cross-Pillar and Enterprise Integration:
  Coordinate closely with the Global Consumer Science Communications and Emerging + Portfolio Scientific Communications pillars to ensure data narratives flow into consumer-facing storytelling, executive presentations, and enterprise reputation strategy. Partner with Issues Management, Investor Relations, Business Development Communications, and Public Affairs to align messaging across collaborator audiences.
• Media Strategy and Storytelling:
  Develop and implement proactive media strategy for pipeline landmarks, ensuring Lilly's scientific leadership is reflected in priority media coverage. Build relationships with key science and health journalists. Ensure data communications drive narrative penetration, share of scientific voice, and positive-to-neutral sentiment.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in communications, science, public relations, or related field
• 12+ years of communications experience, with significant depth in pharmaceutical, biotech, or healthcare environments
• 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 or visas for this role.

Additional Skills / Preferences

• Demonstrated experience leading large, matrixed communications teams across multiple therapeutic areas or business functions
• Consistent record of strategic counsel to C-suite or senior executive audiences
• Experience developing and implementing communications strategies around clinical data, regulatory landmarks, and scientific congresses. Scientific expertise and prowess required.
• Deep understanding of the drug…