PAP SR. Director, Operations and Vendor Strategy

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.

Position Description:

At Lilly, we believe that every patient deserves access to the medicines they need. Lilly donates medicines to charitable organizations, including the Lilly Cares Foundation (Lilly Cares), which provide donated medicines for free to patients in financial need. Lilly Cares -- a separate charitable organization —   helps eligible patients access donated Lilly medications at no cost through the Lilly Cares Patient Assistance Program (Lilly Cares PAP). Lilly PAP supports Lilly’s donation of medicines to charitable organizations and also provides operational support to the Lilly Cares  to enable it to accomplish its charitable purposes.

The Sr. Director, PAP Operations and Vendor Strategy serves as the operational backbone of the PAP team. This role owns the day-to-day program execution, vendor strategy, and project management infrastructure that enable Lilly’s operational support of Lilly Cares and the broader patient assistance program mission to run with excellence. Reporting to the PAP Associate Vice President, this individual translates strategic direction into operational results across a complex, multi-vendor, multi-program environment — and serves as a key cross-functional partner across Legal, Finance, Compliance, and Analytics.

Key Objectives/Deliverables:

Operational Strategy & Day-to-Day Execution:

• Own and continuously improve the day-to-day operations and vendor management for the operational support provided to the Lilly Cares PAP, ensuring seamless, compliant, and high-quality program delivery.
• Develop and maintain scalable processes, governance frameworks, and SOPs that drive efficiency and meet regulatory, privacy, and quality standards.
• Establish, monitor, and communicate key performance indicators (KPIs) to track program health and patient impact; proactively identify and resolve issues.
• Lead operational planning cycles including forecasting, demand monitoring, and capacity management for active medicine donations supporting Lilly Cares and other charitable organizations.
• Ensure timely and clear communication of operational performance and program status to appropriate stakeholders and PAP leadership.

Vendor Strategy & Oversight:

• Lead comprehensive vendor strategy for the PAP team — including selection, contracting, onboarding, and ongoing performance management — ensuring vendors supporting Lilly’s operational support of Lilly Cares meet quality, compliance, and service standards.
• Serve as the senior operational liaison for key vendor relationships, conducting structured performance reviews and escalating issues for timely resolution.
• Maintain state-of-the-art quality assurance across vendor operations, including audit readiness and fast resolution of escalations.
• Partner with Legal, Finance, and Compliance to ensure all vendor arrangements meet applicable regulatory requirements and Lilly policies.

Project Management & Operational Transformation:

• Lead the PAP project management function, building and maintaining integrated project plans, timelines, risk registers, and status reporting across all PAP workstreams. Set internal standards that align with best practices and Lilly guidelines.
• Implement and champion agile project management systems and tools that create clarity, increase speed, and eliminate unnecessary work.
• Drive change management for operational transformation initiatives, ensuring alignment across the PAP team and cross-functional partners.
• Collaborate with the PAP AVP and the PAP Systems & Analytics Team Lead on resource planning, budget management, and prioritization across the team.

Stakeholder Engagement & Cross-Functional Partnership:

• Serve as a key cross-functional resource across US Medical Affairs, Legal, Finance, Compliance, and external partners on operational and strategic issues related to Lilly’s support of Lilly Cares and other PAP activities.
• Support the PAP AVP with materials and analysis for the Lilly Cares Board of Directors, including preparation for quarterly board meetings.
• Proactively scan the regulatory, policy, and competitive landscape affecting patient assistance programs and recommend timely adjustments to strategy and operations.

People Leadership:

• Lead, mentor, and coach direct reports with individualized development plans, fostering a high-performance, inclusive team culture consistent with Team Lilly expectations.
• Set clear expectations, hold the team accountable for results, and model the Team Lilly Behaviors (Include, Innovate, Accelerate, and Deliver) at the mid-level leader standard.
• Recruit, onboard, and develop talent to build team capability for the future.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Minimum 7 years of experience in pharmaceutical, patient services, or healthcare access operations
• Managing vendor ecosystems and multi-vendor performance in a regulated environment.
• Minimum 3 years of people leadership experience
• 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 Preferences:

• Advanced degree (MBA, MHA, MPH, or equivalent).
• Demonstrated leadership of complex operational programs.
• Strong business leadership experience accountability for team performance and development.
• Demonstrated experience building and leading project management infrastructure across multiple concurrent workstreams.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate operational data into insights and recommendations for senior leadership.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience influencing across Legal, Finance, and Compliance functions.
• Experience in patient assistance programs or specialty pharmaceutical operations, including familiarity with applicable legal and regulatory requirements (FDA, FCA, HIPAA, and privacy regulations).
• Knowledge of Lilly Good Promotional Practices (GPPs) and Compliance Policies and Procedures (CPPs).
• Experience with organizational change management methodologies.
• Lean Six Sigma or equivalent continuous improvement experience.
• Experience with Lilly internal processes (e.g., Veeva, Privacy) is a plus.

Other Information:

• Travel required: Limited travel to vendors and industry conferences is required (U.S.).

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 submit a resume for a position at Lilly, please complete the accommodation request form (https://careers.lilly.com/us/en/workplace-accommodation) for further assistance. Please note this is for individuals to request an accommodation as part of the application process and any other correspondence will not receive a response.

Lilly is proud to be an EEO Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender identity, sex, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Our employee resource groups (ERGs) offer strong support networks for their members and are open to all employees. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia Network, Black Employees at Lilly, Chinese Culture Network, Japanese International Leadership Network (JILN), Lilly India Network, Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), PRIDE (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN), Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL), enAble (for people with disabilities). Learn more about all of our groups.

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location.  The anticipated wage for this position is

$154,500 - $226,600

Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance). In addition, Lilly offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees, including eligibility to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k); pension; vacation benefits; eligibility for 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; and well-being benefits (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities).Lilly reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion and Lilly’s compensation practices and guidelines will apply regarding the details of any promotion or transfer of Lilly employees.

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