Senior Director, Business Development Communication

Eli Lilly and Company • Us, IN

4d • Onsite

About The Position

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. Reporting to the Associate Vice President, Enterprise Communications, the Senior Director, Business Development Communications, sets and leads the external narrative around Lilly's business development activity. This leader owns the strategy for how Lilly's capital allocation decisions, pipeline economics, and M&A activity are framed and communicated to investors, analysts, financial media, and the broader market, and builds and develops the team and capability needed to deliver it.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Journalism, Public Relations, Finance, Marketing, or a related field.
• 9+ years of experience in communications, including substantial time in business development/M&A communications, corporate communications supporting deal activity, or related fields; demonstrated experience leading and developing teams.
• 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 and 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

• Demonstrated experience translating corporate strategy and deal rationale into external narratives — including deal announcements, partnership launches, and integration milestones — and partnering directly with Business Development, Legal, and Investor Relations.
• Previous experience leading the business development or M&A communications function at a Fortune 500 company, large pharmaceutical or healthcare organization, or top-tier corporate or financial communications agency — including ownership of strategy, team, and senior-leader counsel.
• Established relationships with business and biotech reporters covering deals and dealmakers across outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, Financial Times, STAT, Endpoints, BioPharma Dive, and Fierce — and an active network among emerging voices, including independent creators, podcasters, newsletter writers, and influential community members on platforms like X, LinkedIn, Reddit, and Substack.
• Fluency in deal and corporate finance concepts — deal structures, valuation rationale, pipeline economics, and capital allocation — sufficient to translate them into clear, compelling narratives for both expert and generalist audiences.
• Direct experience supporting M&A and business development announcements — from pre-announcement planning through close and integration — including familiarity with disclosure requirements and Reg FD considerations.
• Proven ability – with examples – to proactively storytell between deal announcements, using pipeline, partnership, and operational datapoints to drive sustained narrative coverage rather than reacting to transactions alone.
• Experience navigating matrixed global organizations, building trust and influence across Business Development, Legal, Finance, Investor Relations, and Communications while maintaining strategic alignment.
• Deep understanding of the pharmaceutical industry and the biotech deal landscape, with the credibility to engage reporters, analysts, and dealmakers on pipeline, partnership, and strategic topics.
• Stays current with communications trends and tools, including AI-enabled platforms; brings fresh thinking beyond traditional pharmaceutical communications and demonstrates sound judgment in high-stakes and crisis situations.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead the business development communications function — setting clear priorities, developing the team, and building the capability needed to operate at the pace of the business.
• Set the enterprise business development communications strategy, defining the through-line narrative that connects Lilly's deal activity, pipeline progress, and strategic priorities into a coherent story for employees, media, and the broader market.
• Build a proactive business development storytelling agenda — using deal rationale, integration landmarks, and partnership progress to land sustained, narrative-driven coverage across business and trade media between announcements.
• Go beyond legacy outlets to engage new and emerging media that shape how deals and dealmakers are perceived — including independent creators, business and biotech podcasters, deal-focused newsletters and Substacks, and biotech and life-sciences communities — and build a current, relevant rolodex across them.
• Support business development and M&A communications end-to-end — partnering with Business Development, Legal, Finance, and Investor Relations to develop announcement strategy, press materials, internal communications, executive talking points, media and analyst engagement plans, and post-close integration storytelling for partnerships, licensing deals, acquisitions, and divestitures.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO, CFO, Head of Business Development, and other members of the executive team on deal-related communications — counseling on message, sequencing, audience reaction, and risk, and preparing materials and talking points for Board-level discussions where appropriate.
• Partner closely with global communications counterparts across media & influence, therapeutic areas, employee communications, and policy to ensure BD storylines are tightly integrated with the broader corporate narrative and consistently land across collaborator audiences.
• Partner with the Financial Communications lead as a peer — ensuring business development activity is woven into the company's earnings communications.

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