Associate Director- Cold Chain Transportation COE

Eli Lilly and Company • Us, IN

7d • Onsite

About The Position

The Associate Director actively drives the Global Transportation and Cold Chain strategic and operational agenda. The role combines driving strategic and operational initiatives as well as hands-on operational execution for transportation activities with project management leadership for key COE initiatives that advance Lilly's global logistics network. This role will actively support the transportation transformation initiative enabled by the implementation of Regional Transportation Hubs. This is a working leadership role for a candidate who can move fluidly between operational problem-solving (carrier issues, excursion management, customs holds, lane performance) and structured project delivery (productivity initiatives, cold chain qualifications, compliance programs). The ideal candidate brings deep cold chain and transportation expertise, working knowledge of GDP, and the discipline to support Transportation Quality and regulatory processes across multiple geographies.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Engineering, Science or related field
• 5+ years in global transportation or logistics operations with direct accountability for carrier management, lane performance, and cross-border shipment execution
• 3+ years specifically in cold chain or temperature-controlled logistics in a regulated industry
• 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, including but not limited to F-1 CPT, F-1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, J-1, H-1B, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, or L-1.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in Supply Chain Management or MBA
• Hands-on TMS experience (SAP TM, Oracle TMS, MercuryGate, or equivalent) and IoT monitoring platforms (Sensitech, Berlinger, Controlant, or equivalent)
• Import/export operational experience: trade documentation, INCOTERMS, customs clearance across multiple jurisdictions
• Accountable project lead on cross-functional initiatives with defined scope, schedule, and stakeholder reporting from initiation through closeout
• Pharmaceutical or regulated-industry background on the shipper side — not exclusively CDMO or 3PL
• APICS CSCP, CLTD, or CTL certification
• PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent project management certification
• Lean Six Sigma Green or Black Belt
• Hands-on experience managing temperature excursion investigations end-to-end and serving as a named contributor or lead on cold chain packaging qualification studies (thermal, lane, or modal)
• GDP applied in a regulated transportation environment: authored or reviewed deviation reports, supported CAPAs, and participated in transportation audits

Responsibilities

• Execute the global transportation strategy across all temperature-controlled lanes and modes
• Maintain GDP/GMP-compliant standards for cold chain shipments across markets
• Maintain and execute business continuity plans for transportation disruptions
• Drive IoT monitoring use and own the operational response to temperature excursions
• Oversee multi-modal transportation operations (air, ocean, ground, parcel)
• Provide operational oversight of carriers, freight forwarders, and 3PLs against SLAs and KPIs
• Support import/export operations including customs clearance, documentation and INCOTERMS application
• Optimize lanes and networks for cost, service, sustainability, and compliance
• Collaborates with TMS adoption, real-time visibility tooling, and analytics rollouts
• Partner with Import/Export Compliance teams to ensure trade, customs, and hazmat compliance across jurisdictions
• Support thermal packaging selection, qualification, and lane-specific validations
• Serve as the COE's operational point of accountability for transportation business processes
• Triage and resolve in-flight transportation issues, escalations, and exceptions
• Run operational governance cadences (carrier reviews, lane performance, excursion reviews)
• Drive root-cause analysis and corrective/preventive actions on recurring operational issues
• Lead end-to-end project management for COE initiatives (scoping, planning, stakeholder alignment, execution, closeout)
• Manage cross-functional workstreams across Manufacturing, Quality, Procurement, Trade Compliance, IT, and Commercial
• Maintain integrated project plans, risk/issue logs, and executive-ready status reporting
• Apply structured PM methodology (stage-gate, Agile, or hybrid) appropriate to each initiative
• Apply GDP knowledge to support compliance with Transportation Quality and regulatory processes
• Partner with Quality on deviations, CAPAs, change controls, and audit readiness for transportation activities
• Ensure sound risk analysis and documentation for our transportation processes
• Support inspections and audits (internal, regulatory, customer) related to transportation and cold chain
• Support KPI definition and governance across the COE's global transportation and cold chain operations
• Drive continuous improvement using Lean / Six Sigma methods
• Support the Global Transportation transformation initiative, including the Regional Transportation Hubs rollout
• Partner daily with Manufacturing, Quality, Procurement, Trade Compliance, and Commercial teams
• Maintain working relationships with logistics service providers and cold chain solution providers
• Represent the COE in cross-functional forums and operational reviews
• Champion adoption of new transportation processes, systems, and digital tools
• Build cross-functional alignment on operational changes driven by COE initiatives
• Coach and develop more junior team members and matrixed contributors on transportation operations and project delivery

Benefits

• company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance)
• company-sponsored 401(k)
• pension
• vacation benefits
• eligibility for medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits
• flexible benefits (e.g., 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 (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities)

What This Job Offers

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