Director - Clinical Design Physician – Cardiometabolic Health

Eli Lilly US, Indianapolis IN Updated 24 August 2026
Pharma

Job description

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. Organization Overview: 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. Purpose: The Clinical Design function was created to establish study design as a core capability, with tightly integrated cross-functional experts providing innovative, high quality study designs that transition seamlessly to execution. The purpose of the Director - Clinical Design Physician – Cardiometabolic Health role is to provide Medical leadership within the group. The Physician must have deep understanding of the biopharmaceutical industry, drug development, Diabetes-associated comorbidities, clinical research, and clinical study design. Through application of Industry training, clinical expertise, and relevant experience, the Director - Clinical Design Physician – Cardiometabolic Health plays a key role in the development of program and trial design options and translation into high quality clinical trial protocols. While Clinical Design’s main focus is on proof of concept and registration clinical studies, the role may work on trials across early and/or late phases of development and commercialization of the product. The Clinical Design Physician may participate in the authoring and/or review process for publications and as needed works with regulatory and other governmental agencies. They will participate, at times, in activities largely led by Asset Teams, such as outreach medical activities aimed at the external clinical customer community, including thought leaders; the development and implementation of the business unit and global strategy for the product; and various medical activities in support of demand realization. Primary Responsibilities The primary responsibilities of the Director - Clinical Design Physician – Cardiometabolic Health are generally related to phase II (proof of concept) to III (registration) studies in patients with commonly occurring cardiometabolic disease states (e.g. obesity, cardiovascular disease, renal and hepatic complications, and women's health comorbidities). The core job responsibilities typically include those listed below as well as all other duties as assigned. Clinical Plan Options and Clinical Trial Protocols As the Medical leader on a cross-functional Clinical Design team, translate therapeutic area and asset team strategy into clear objectives and associated clinical development program and trial optionality. Optionality will address business and customer needs (patient, prescriber, payer, and/or regulator); be in alignment with phase of product lifecycle; and clearly articulate associated tradeoffs in value (information gathered, risks created/discharged, cost, and time). Represent program and trial design optionality to asset teams and Sr. Leaders to inform prioritization of an option that will be translated into a clinical protocol(s). Adjust optionality in accordance with feedback from leadership. Develop study protocols in collaboration with the Design Team and partners in the Lilly Cardiometabolic Health Business Unit Development Team, Discovery, Program Phase Medicine, and Clinical Pharmacology. Provide insight into impact of study/protocol design features to execution speed/efficiency. Contribute to the development of asset strategy (e.g. identification of target patient population) in partnership with the asset team. Contribute to business unit and global alignment of portfolio clinical strategy and the associated asset-specific clinical plans. Clinical Research/Trial Packages, Execution and Support Collaborate with clinical research staff in the design and conduct clinical trials (e.g. sample size, patient commitment, timelines, grants, and governance review interactions). Champion key strategic initiatives, such as decentralized clinical trials and diversity/equity/inclusion in clinical research. Understand how design elements influence the ability to deliver on these initiatives and influence adoption of designs that enable their success. Review risk profiles to ensure appropriate communication of risk to study subjects. Participate in investigator identification and selection, in conjunction with Clinical Design and clinical teams. Actively participate in subject recruitment, diversity, and retention efforts. Support seamless transition of protocols from design to execution. Scientific Data Dissemination/Exchange Knowledge of and compliance with local laws and regulations, and global policies and procedures, compliance guidelines with respect to data dissemination and interactions with external health care professionals. Establish and maintain appropriate collaborations and relationships with external experts, thought leaders, and the general medical community on an international basis. Develop and maintain appropriate collaborations and relationships with relevant professional societies. Participate in development of scientific data dissemination, and preparation of final reports and publications. Scientific / Technical Expertise Critically read and evaluate the relevant medical literature; know the status and data from competitive products; and keep updated with medical and other scientific developments relevant to the product. Be aware of current trends and projections for clinical research, and practice, and access in the therapeutic area(s) relevant to the product. Engage appropriately with the asset teams on relevant external activities to have good understanding of their patients, medical and payer communities, and business strategy. Shared Learning Focus on organizational learning to identify best practices, delivering these as systemized standard approaches with ultimate goal to make program and protocol design streamlined, less burdensome, faster, and less expensive. Closely collaborate with asset teams and execution teams to understand the impact of design on speed to protocol approval and study startup. Work over time with other Clinical Design staff to analyze experience and improve approaches. Work closely with counterparts in Clinical Design and therapeutic areas to continue to evolve Lilly standards, tools, and best practices that span drug development. Provide clinical leadership in collaboration with other Clinical Design members in appropriate development of standardized/simplified processes, templates, and tools. Minimum Requirements: Medical Doctor or Doctor of Osteopathy. Must be board eligible or certified in a

Stand out for this role

NoxPharm tailors your CV to this exact job description — matching the keywords recruiters and ATS systems screen for. Built for pharma & life sciences.

Tailor my CV now — free to try