Director/Sr. Director/Exec. Director Computational Biophysics, Advanced Molecular Design (AMD)

Lilly • Louisville, CO

5d • $193,500 - $338,800 • Onsite

About The Position

At Lilly, we serve an extraordinary purpose. We make a difference for people around the globe by discovering, developing and delivering medicines that help them live longer, healthier, more active lives. Not only do we deliver breakthrough medications, but you also can count on us to develop creative solutions to support communities through philanthropy and volunteerism.
The Lilly Small Molecule Discovery group is an organization purpose-built to create molecules that make life better for people. We focus on using cutting edge science to unlock new approaches that can treat people suffering from diseases with poor treatment options. We continually challenge ourselves to deliver molecules that can provide breakthrough efficacy with the highest possible safety margins. We are dedicated to optimizing our mindset, technology, and processes for faster, more nimble execution. Our success is built on a culture that empowers innovative problem solving through open collaboration and individual accountability.
Lilly’s Advanced Molecular Design (AMD) team is responsible for small molecule lead optimization with rapid progress toward new clinical candidates for patients in need. The AMD team is seeking an exceptional computational biophysicist to tackle the problems our discovery teams have yet to solve. This is not a traditional computational chemistry role — it is a scientific leadership position for someone who sits at the intersection of deep physical theory, computational methods, and AI-enabled data analysis, and uses that combination to transform intractable problems into tractable ones. The ideal candidate engages with discovery teams when new perspectives, analyses, or solutions are needed, revealing understanding buried in datasets and structures, and provides teams with fundamentally deeper understanding leading to new paths forward. The position requires thinking at the level of first principles, building whatever tools are necessary, and measures success not by workflows delivered but by scientific understanding created.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science or related discipline
• 10 or more years of research experience

Nice To Haves

• A deep scientific background in theoretical and computational biophysics
• Proven track record of leadership and success applying computational biophysics toward a deeper understanding of structure-function relationships in human health
• Proactive and effective collaboration with computational chemists, medicinal chemists, structural biologists, and other disciplines to achieve project goals and timelines
• A strong desire to establish a deeper understanding of all aspects of drug discovery, including conformational ensembles of biological systems, small molecule-protein interactions, physicochemical properties, and ADME
• A proactive and highly engaged approach to solving challenging problems in drug discovery
• A desire to stay continually up to date with the latest industry developments and novel techniques employed in discovery, including statistical mechanics, free-energy and enhanced sampling methods, AI, and machine learning models
• Excellent communication of goals and priorities to discovery teams
• Agility and adaptability to change research priorities as necessary for success
• A commitment to mentoring earlier career scientists
• Strong core desire to help patients in need

Responsibilities

• Develop and deploy advanced physics-based algorithms to characterize biophysical processes and their application across a range of therapeutic areas
• Play a key role in prioritizing computational methods and workflows to efficiently and effectively enable drug discovery efforts leading to highly focused work and rapid progress
• Ensure the timely delivery of data and results to project teams to enable rapid iterative design cycles
• Maintain critical timelines and set team expectations for the efficient delivery of computational technologies with strong impact on therapeutic programs
• Work closely with other AMD and therapeutic area leaders to move our portfolio of molecules from leads to quality drug candidates that have a strong potential to become breakthrough drug
• Contribute to the ongoing evaluation of external technologies

Benefits

• company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance)
• company-sponsored 401(k)
• pension
• vacation benefits
• 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: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree