Vice President - Discovery Research

Elanco•Indianapolis, IN

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

At Elanco (NYSE: ELAN) – it all starts with animals! As a global leader in animal health, we are dedicated to innovation and delivering products and services to prevent and treat disease in farm animals and pets. At Elanco, we are driven by our vision of Food and Companionship Enriching Life and our purpose – all to Go Beyond for Animals, Customers, Society and Our People. At Elanco, we pride ourselves on fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. We believe that diversity is the driving force behind innovation, creativity, and overall business success. Here, you’ll be part of a company that values and champions new ways of thinking, work with dynamic individuals, and acquire new skills and experiences that will propel your career to new heights. Making animals’ lives better makes life better – join our team today! Job Description: Principal Inventor / Senior Advisor Position Purpose As Elanco architects the future of animal health, the Principal Inventor / Senior Advisor serves as our primary engine for de novo breakthroughs. This is a top-tier scientific leadership role within the Mechanistic and Translational Biology ‘innovation engine,’ dedicated to exploring scientific “white space” and creating novel concepts that do not yet exist in the current market. This role is tasked with decoupling discovery from luck by institutionalizing a proactive innovation engine. The Inventor is responsible for securing the foundational IP for high-value assets and defining Elanco’s therapeutic frontier beyond 2030.

Requirements

PhD and/or DVM in a life sciences field (e.g., Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Bioengineering, or related discipline). A dual degree is highly preferred.
15+ years of distinguished experience in drug discovery and invention.
A proven track record of moving from concept to successful candidate in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry.
Recognized as a global expert in their field, with a documented portfolio of high-impact patents that have demonstrably moved the field forward.
Must possess a track record of translating original concepts into protected, proprietary assets.
Deep expertise in high-barrier biology, modality engineering, and predictive biological modeling.
Ability to drive significant organizational impact without the need for a formal team structure; must be self-directed and capable of leading through influence and scientific authority.
An innovation-focused mindset with the ability to foresee market needs a decade in advance.

Nice To Haves

A dual degree is highly preferred.

Responsibilities

Pioneer De Novo Breakthroughs Innovation "White Space" Exploration: Proactively identify and explore revolutionary external and internal scientific opportunities that are 10 years away from current market solutions. This comprehensive scope includes: Novel Drug Targets & Pathways: Architecting first-in-class biological hypotheses and identifying untapped disease mechanisms. Innovative Drug Delivery Platforms: Solving high-barrier challenges such as oral delivery of large molecules and targeted intracellular delivery. Next-Generation Drug Modalities: Pioneering new therapeutic categories and molecular formats (e.g., protein degraders, advanced biologics). Advanced Target ID & Discovery Platforms: Building proprietary systems and methodologies to institutionalize a proactive discovery engine. Beyond "Me-Too" Science: Move past the adaptation of proven human health targets to engineer original, proprietary veterinary-specific biological hypotheses that don't yet exist in any market. Foundational IP: Secure and engineer proprietary Intellectual Property across all innovative domains by navigating around legacy patents to ensure Elanco owns the foundational IP for every high-value candidate.
Solve High-Barrier Biology & Platform Invention Complex Problem Solving: Tackle the most challenging technical hurdles in discovery, such as oral delivery of large molecules or intracellular targeting. Scientific Challenger: Act as an internal scientific challenger to existing programs, ensuring Elanco pushes the boundaries of what is biologically possible. Biological Firsts: Establish "biological firsts" that set the standard for the animal health industry.
Architect the 2030 Frontier Pipeline Refill: Ensure a constant state of high-value pipeline refill by architecting new therapeutic categories. Strategic Modality Optimization: Optimize known modalities while simultaneously inventing novel delivery platforms and proprietary platform builds. Innovation Strategy: Transform discovery into a proactive, strategic process that defines the market rather than following it.
Cross-Functional Partnership & R&D Integration Novel Platform Partnership: Collaborate extensively across R&D to drive the development of novel therapeutic platforms. This includes partnering with: Technical Development: Ensuring the manufacturability and technical feasibility of pioneering modalities from early invention. Small Molecule & Large Molecule Teams: Working synchronously with modality-specific experts to integrate novel platforms (e.g., specialized delivery systems or molecular formats) into the discovery engine. Discovery Pillar Collaboration: Partner deeply across the Mechanistic and Translational Biology leadership pillars to transition revolutionary concepts into the pipeline. This includes: Working with Structural Biology to refine molecular drug design and delivery viability. Aligning with Target Intelligence & Discovery to validate novel pathways and transition from "white space" exploration to formal target assessment. Collaborating with Translational Biology to ensure de novo concepts are anchored in clinical unmet needs and species-specific physiology. Broader R&D Integration: Serve as a strategic scientific advisor across the wider R&D ecosystem, partnering with Global Clinical Stewardship (GCS) , External Innovation (EI) , and CMC/Manufacturing to ensure the scalability and technical feasibility of next-generation modalities. Scientific Challenger & Mentor: Act as a high-level scientific challenger during R&D program reviews, pushing the organization to maintain the highest standards of scientific rigor. Provide peer-to-peer mentorship to high-potential scientists across the Discovery organization. Special Strategic Projects: Lead special high-impact projects that require deep scientific expertise and visionary drug design.