Associate Creative Director

Lilly • Indianapolis, IN

2d • $132,000 - $193,600

About The Position

Thread Collective, Lilly’s in-house agency, is seeking an Associate Creative Director to elevate creative excellence through strategic rigor, sharp ideation, operational craft, emerging technology, and empowered teams. This individual contributor will be embedded with agency and brand teams as an extension of Thread Collective, helping bridge Lilly and external creative agencies. The role consults, educates, and influences agencies on Lilly’s ways of working and regulatory guardrails while advocating for human, distinctive creative work and leading its handoff to Thread Collective’s studio for pull-through.

The position supports agencies new to Lilly from scoping through completion, adapting guidance as each relationship develops. The Associate Creative Director helps sharpen briefs and consumer insights, assesses concepts for distinctiveness and medical, legal, and regulatory viability, and provides constructive creative critique. The role also clarifies responsibilities between agencies and Thread Collective, supports production and asset planning, verifies handoff packages, and oversees the pull-through of tactics through final approval. It connects creative work to results and reusable standards, and guides staff creating case studies and other materials that promote agency partnerships.

The position is based in Indianapolis, with remote work options potentially available. Relocation support is provided, and travel of up to 15% is expected.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• At least 10 years of experience as a Creative Director, Associate Creative Director, or equivalent, including global creative agency experience.
• A portfolio of award-winning work, such as Cannes Lions or Effies work.
• Portfolio link required.

Nice To Haves

• Pharmaceutical or healthcare marketing experience, including medical, legal, and regulatory review or similar regulatory review.
• Proven ability to evaluate and elevate creative concepts developed by others.
• Strong consulting and presentation skills to educate and influence partners at all levels.
• Working knowledge of TV and video production, from pre-production through final asset delivery.
• Experience with Adobe Suite, Figma, Microsoft Office, Claude, and other relevant applications.
• Ability to manage capacity across multiple concurrent agency engagements.
• Ability to diagnose process pain points quickly and implement solutions through project planning to complete tight timelines successfully.
• Agency experience on the Eli Lilly account or with similar pharmaceutical companies.
• Understanding of healthcare marketing, including rigorous claims compliance review.
• Hands-on experience with annotation, launch-readiness processes, documentation, and cross-functional reviews.
• Experience moving work between agency and in-house teams, including playbook handoff and campaign pull-through.
• Collaborative presence and an ego-free approach to driving results through influence rather than direct authority.
• Fluency in brand, content, and omnichannel strategy.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the embedded creative leader for agencies new to Lilly from scoping through completion, modeling Lilly ways of working and adapting support as relationships mature.
• Help sharpen briefs and consumer insights, and pressure-test concepts for medical, legal, and regulatory viability and distinctiveness with consumer audiences.
• Provide constructive critique that pushes agency work beyond typical pharmaceutical conventions toward human, differentiated ideas.
• Help define what agencies and Thread Collective each own, execute, consult on, and quality-check, with agencies leading the big idea.
• Join pre-production and shoots as needed, and work backward from launch dates to establish asset needs and delivery plans.
• Verify agency handoff packages, brief Thread Collective studio teams, and oversee tactic pull-through through final approval.
• Connect creative work to results and turn learnings into reusable standards that meet brand, accessibility, and regulatory guidelines.
• Guide staff in creating case studies, sizzle reels, and other documents promoting Thread Collective partnerships.

Benefits

• Company bonus for full-time equivalent employees, depending in part on company and individual performance.
• Company-sponsored 401(k) eligibility.
• Pension.
• Vacation benefits.
• Medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug benefit eligibility.
• Flexible benefits, including healthcare and/or dependent day care flexible spending accounts.
• Life insurance and death benefits.
• Certain time-off and leave-of-absence benefits.
• Well-being benefits, including an employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities.
• Relocation package.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior