Senior Operational Leader, DMPK/ADME

Lilly • Indianapolis, IN

4d • Onsite

About The Position

The DMPK/ADME organization is seeking an expert Senior Operational Leader with strong project management, portfolio operations, and budget governance experience to transform how we plan, forecast, track, and deliver our book of work. This leader would manage a diverse group of individuals to complete this strategy. The ideal candidate is a systems‑focused operational expert with hands‑on experience in Smartsheet, Prism, and other enterprise project management tools. This role ensures accurate forecasting, consistent results tracking, transparent KPI reporting, optimized resource management, and operational excellence across the portfolio.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in operations management, project management, business, life sciences, or related field.
• 10+ years of industry experience in R&D operations, PMO, or scientific project management.
• Experience with project management tools including timeline management, forecasting, dashboarding, and cross‑functional reporting workflows.
• Experience in operational leadership roles requiring forecasting, budgeting, KPI development, and portfolio management.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and stakeholder‑management skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience driving operational transformation initiatives.
• Experience with Smartsheet and/or Prism
• Familiarity with Power BI, Polaris, Spotfire, or other enterprise analytical tools.
• Experience working across modality‑diverse R&D portfolios (e.g., small molecules, biologics, emerging modalities).

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of scientists.
• Lead transformation of operational workflows to create a consistent and transparent system for tracking project plans, results, and risks.
• Maintain high‑quality project timelines, achievement links, and status updates to ensure real‑time visibility and alignment across functions.
• Coordinate monthly and quarterly operational reviews based on standardized baseline and variance reporting.
• Develop and maintain accurate short‑ and long‑range forecasts using Prism’s integrated project data.
• Partner with functional planners and scientific leaders to ensure forecast accuracy and alignment with sanctioned scope, resource demands, and business planning cycles.
• Analyze forecast vs. actual performance and identify corrective actions tied to project, modality, or vendor-driven changes.
• Build and maintain enterprise-standard KPIs measuring on‑time delivery, study throughput, financial accuracy, and vendor performance.
• Use Smartsheet, Prism, and dashboarding tools (e.g., Power BI) to create automated, reliable portfolio visualizations.
• Provide leadership with clear operational insights, executive summaries, and risk assessments.
• Own operational budget tracking, ensuring ongoing alignment between forecasted spend and actuals.
• Accountable for monthly reconciliation activities and support quarterly and annual planning cycles.
• Elevate budget consistency and accuracy by implementing standardized processes and improving data robustness within operational systems.
• Partner with project teams, finance partners, ADME planners, BioA, Tox, and external collaborators to ensure unified operational excellence.
• Drive alignment in how project plans, financial models, and timelines are maintained across systems and functions.
• Serve as the operational subject‑matter expert for DMPK/ADME, ensuring clear communication and punctual decision‑making.

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