Sr Director, ExploR&D Clinical Operations West Coast

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.

We’re looking for people who are determined to make life better for people around the world.

Lilly Catalyze
360 is Lilly's comprehensive approach to enabling the early-stage biotech ecosystem by democratizing access to infrastructure, expertise, and resources. Through its interconnected pillars—Lilly Ventures, Lilly Gateway Labs, Lilly Explo

R&D, and Lilly Tune Labs—Catalyze
360 strategically removes barriers that traditionally block bold science from becoming life-changing medicines, providing biotechs with flexible combinations of capital, physical lab space, R&D capabilities, AI/ML tools, and decades of enterprise learning.

Lilly Explo

R&D is a team of drug discovery and development experts who partner with biotechs from discovery through clinical proof-of-concept, putting Lilly's industry-leading capabilities behind their missions. We provide flexible support—from strategic consulting to full program execution—making it faster, easier, and more capital-efficient for innovators to transform bold science into life-changing medicines.

The Senior Director, Explo

R&D Clinical Operations West Coast role serves as the clinical technical lead and strategic partner for cross-functional teams, biotech collaborators, and Lilly stakeholders in advancing breakthrough biotechnology initiatives. This role focuses on high-level consulting to enhance efficiency, innovation, and strategic execution of clinical plans and trial designs across the Explo

R&D external pipeline.

The Senior Director develops optimized clinical strategies by conducting comprehensive feasibility assessments using proprietary tools and databases. Additionally, this role provides expert guidance to clinical directors and project teams from trial conception through start-up, advising on optimal clinical approaches, risk mitigation strategies, and operational best‑practices that drive competitive advantage and accelerate development timelines.

A critical component of this role is serving as the primary clinical operations bridge between the US West Coast office and China Explo

R&D office, providing expert guidance and hands‑on problem‑solving support for China-based studies requiring specialized intervention or strategic course correction.

• Act as technical clinical operations leader on due diligence assessments for external assets, evaluating potential fit for Lilly clinical partnership.
• Develop and execute integrated clinical operations plans and strategies designed through feasibility assessments for early phase assets, from first in human studies through clinical proof of concept.
• Drive operational excellence and innovation in partnered asset plans by influencing key decisions on study design, geographic strategies, site selection, CRO partnerships, and PSM rates to optimize efficiency and delivery.
• Provide clinical technical expertise to the clinical operations team to assess clinical study progress, develop mitigation action plans, and resolve barriers to meeting committed milestone dates.
• Serve as the escalation point and expert resource for the China Explo
  
  R&D team and China biotech sponsors, providing hands‑on clinical operations support to resolve sophisticated challenges, rescue underperforming studies, and implement corrective action plans for trials not meeting enrollment, quality, or timeline expectations in China and Asia‑PAC regions.
• Lead development and implementation of Explo
  
  R&D Clinical SOPs and corresponding checklists, ensuring appropriate linkages to Lilly Standards.
• Champion adoption of new Lilly and Explo
  
  R&D clinical capabilities to enhance portfolio delivery and operational efficiency.
• Recruit, manage, develop, and mentor clinical…