Associate - External Innovations Operations

At Lilly, we unite caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We are a global healthcare leader headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our employees around the world work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to our communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. We give our best effort to our work, and we put people first. We’re looking for people who are determined to make life better for people around the world.

The Associate - External Innovations is responsible for designing, building, delivering, and maintaining all operational systems that enable External Innovation (EI) and Search & Evaluation strategy and priorities to secure pipeline. This includes delivering systems and workflows that enable cross-functional collaboration, compliance, and strategic growth. This work includes activities that ensure that key records are archived properly in relevant databases, working with Operations leadership to ensure compliance with record management policies, overseeing the process of establishing CDAs and MTAs, working with Contracting and Legal to process such requests efficiently, and maintaining continuity across legal, scientific, and operational domains.

Responsibilities:

• Systems Architecture and Stewardship
  • Conceive, build, and continuously evolve operational systems from undefined needs, transforming conceptual requirements into scalable, intuitive frameworks that drive team efficiency and cross-functional alignment.
  • Maintain and adapt a suite of workflow tracking systems, for multiple independent teams and proliferate to cross-functional partners to ensure seamless coordination and institutional continuity.
  • Treat systems as living products by proactively redesigning architecture to anticipate and prevent recurring problems and adjust infrastructure as organizational needs evolve.
• Cross-Functional Leadership & Collaboration
  • Coordinate agendas and facilitate group meetings across multiple teams, keeping discussions focused and outcomes actionable.
  • Act as a cross-domain translator, bridging legal, scientific, and operational languages to unify conflicting requirements into usable, compliant systems.
  • Support R&D scientists and external stakeholders, ensuring smooth interactions and effective partnership management.
  • Institutional Memory & Knowledge Management
    • Act as the group’s institutional memory and logic keeper by creating and representing the reasoning behind workflows, access rules, contract templates, and compliance gates.
    • Create template and database that serve as daily infrastructure for colleagues
• Legal, Contracting, and Compliance
  • Secure and maintain all legal and contracting work required for division success, including the establishment and management of CDAs, MTAs, and other business agreements.
  • Act as a central resource for Business Development, Due Diligence, Contracts, Competitive Intelligence, and legal processes, ensuring compliance and operational excellence.
• Relationship & Event Management
  • Coordinate schedules and accommodations for numerous offsite meetings across the globe, maintaining and strengthening relationships with partners
• Organizational Impact & Risk Management
  • Design frameworks that scale intelligence and efficiency across the organization, multiplying the impact of individual insights into permanent team-wide improvements.
  • Perform other essential tasks projects and responsibilities as required.

Basic Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree ideally in a scientific area
• 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.

Additional Skills/Preferences:

• Minimum of three (3) years of experience related or professional experience.

• Deep understanding of regulatory compliance, partnership management, and multi-project coordination.
• Inventive systems architect with conceptual creativity and adaptive problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability to work independently and collaboratively in complex, deadline-driven environments.

Travel Requirements

Multi-Location Day Travel: Occasional (0-30%)

Overnight Travel: Occasional (0-30%)

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions. If you require accommodation to sub