Hybrid Associate Vice President – Methods4Insight

at Eli Lilly and Company

• Job title: Associate Vice President – Methods4Insight
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Junior, Mid level
• Salary: $259,500 - $380,600 per year
• Degree requirement: Postgraduate Degree
• Location requirements: Hybrid, San Francisco, United States

About the role

• Head of Methods4Insight directing analytical methods and computational science for drug discovery at Lilly. Leading a multidisciplinary team to innovate and implement cutting-edge analytical solutions.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the strategic leader for analytical methods across Data Foundry, maintaining deep awareness of cutting-edge approaches in cheminformatics, computational structural biology, statistical modeling, mathematical physics, and AI/ML, and establishing Methods4Insight as the authoritative source for guidance on analytical approaches to discovery challenges.
• Build and maintain a portfolio of analytical capabilities spanning classical methods to cutting-edge AI—including QSAR/QSPR modeling, molecular docking, free energy calculations, molecular dynamics, Bayesian experimental design, active learning, deep learning, and generative models—ensuring the right approach is matched to each scientific question.
• Make strategic build-versus-buy-versus-adopt decisions for analytical capabilities, balancing speed of adoption with need for customization, and collaborating with leading analytical teams across Lilly to ensure best practices are shared.
• Proactively identify strategic “data deserts”—areas where Lilly lacks sufficient data to answer critical questions—and develop strategies to fill these gaps through targeted in silico modeling or high-throughput experimental data generation, prioritized by scientific impact and strategic value.
• Establish rigorous frameworks for evaluating and validating analytical methods, including prospective validation protocols and impact metrics that demonstrate decisions influenced, timelines accelerated, and experimental success rates improved.
• Collaborate closely with the Frontier AI group to ensure analytical methods are designed as “agent-ready” capabilities with well-defined APIs, structured inputs/outputs, error handling, and uncertainty quantification for use by autonomous AI agents.
• Collaborate closely with Architecture4Insight, Scale4Insight, and Preparedness4Insight to ensure Methods4Insight analytical capabilities are fully integrated across all Data Foundry pillars and the broader discovery ecosystem.
• Build and lead a team of domain experts, each recognized as a thought leader in their analytical specialty, fostering a culture of intellectual curiosity, continuous learning, and innovation.
• Champion a culture of scientific rigor, reproducibility, and continuous improvement across all analytical workflows.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Cheminformatics, Computational Biology, Biophysics, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Statistics, or related quantitative field with strong application to drug discovery
• 15+ years of experience developing, evaluating, and deploying analytical methods for drug discovery, with significant pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry experience
• Deep expertise in at least one analytical domain with broad understanding across all domains relevant to drug discovery
• Deep understanding of statistical foundations underlying both classical and modern ML methods
• Demonstrated thought leadership through publications, conference presentations, or other recognition as a domain expert
• Demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary computational teams in a matrixed, global organization
• Breadth across multiple computational disciplines demonstrating versatility and ability to integrate approaches
• Experience evaluating and adopting external methods, tools, and platforms—demonstrating ability to critically assess new approaches
• Strong communication and collaboration skills across scientific, technical, and executive stakeholders
• Track record of driving innovation in analytical methods and enabling new scientific capabilities
• Passion for mentoring and empowering teams in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.

Benefits

• 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
• well-being benefits (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities)