Senior Director - Catalyze360 AI/ML Product Lead

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.

Overview

As the Catalyze360 AI/ML Product Lead, you will be responsible for driving the product development and execution of innovative AI/ML-based solutions that advance drug discovery and development at Eli Lilly. This role blends product strategy, technical insight, and cross-functional collaboration to ensure the platform delivers meaningful impact across R&D workflows. You will oversee the end-to-end product lifecycle, from ideation to deployment, working closely with internal teams and external partners to prioritize use cases, ensure technical scalability, and maximize the platform's value for stakeholders. The Product Lead will also ensure the platform is user-centric, highly performant, and scalable, enabling the integration of AI/ML models into therapeutic and functional area workflows.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy and Vision
  • Develop and articulate a clear product strategy for the Catalyze360 AI/ML platform, ensuring prioritized use-cases are alignment with Eli Lilly’s corporate and R&D goals.
  • Define the roadmap for each use case, prioritizing those with the highest potential impact on drug discovery.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to ensure the platform’s strategic direction aligns with technical feasibility and market needs.
  • Define and monitor success metrics that inform platform performance and product impact.
  • Ensure the strategy incorporates market research, competitive analysis, leadership objectives, and user feedback.
• Product Development and Lifecycle Management
  • Lead the ideation, technical development, and launch of AI/ML platform products and features, ensuring seamless execution from concept to deployment.
  • Collaborate with engineering and data science teams to develop clear product specifications, guiding the technical development process with well-defined user stories and requirements.
  • Oversee the full product lifecycle, managing the product backlog, and ensuring alignment with timelines, resources, and business goals.
  • Continuously refine the platform based on user feedback, market trends, and emerging technologies, ensuring it remains competitive and relevant.
• Impact Assessment and Model Improvement
  • Assess and demonstrate the impact of AI/ML models on R&D workflows, focusing on model improvement, predictive accuracy, and business outcomes.
  • Regularly report on key performance indicators (KPIs), showing how the platform’s AI models improve efficiency, accuracy, and decision-making in drug discovery.
  • Work closely with therapeutic and functional areas (TAs/FAs) to incorporate models into existing workflows, ensuring that they enhance processes and deliver measurable results.
  • Develop metrics to assess the overall impact of the platform on R&D, including time-to-market improvements and cost reductions.
• Technology Stack and Scalability
  • Collaborate with Tech @Lilly to ensure the platform's technical stack is scalable, reliable, and performant as it grows to support additional use cases and data requirements.
  • Ensure the platform can handle increasing data complexity and model sophistication as it scales to support broader use cases across the enterprise.
• User Experience and Specifications
  • Collaborate with UX/UI designers and stakeholders to ensure the platform provides a seamless, user-friendly experience for internal teams and external partners.
  • Gather and incorporate user feedback from stakeholders across TAs, FAs, and external collaborators to continuously improve the platform’s usability and functionality.
  • Work with partners to define detailed product specifications, including model performance requirements and data contribution standards.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration and Communication
  • Coordinate closely with internal teams, including R&D, engineering, data science, and business development, to ensure the product meets user needs and business objectives.
  • Drive collaboration with external partners to develop and deploy AI/ML solutions that enhance the platform's capabilities.
  • Evangelize the platform’s value proposition, ensuring key stakeholders across the organization understand its benefits and use cases.
  • Communicate product plans, progress, and impact to leadership and other stakeholders.
• Market and Competitive Analysis
  • Monitor market trends and competitive landscape to ensure the platform remains differentiated and continues to address unmet needs in AI-driven drug discovery.
  • Perform competitive analysis to identify opportunities for innovation and potential threats to the platform’s success.
  • Explore new use cases and new user segments, driving platform awareness and adoption across the organization and partner networks.

Qualifications

• Required
  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in relevant field.
  • 6+ years of product management experience in life sciences or AI/ML-focused industries.
  • Proven track record of managing all aspects of product development and lifecycle management, from ideation to launch and continuous improvement.
• Preferred
  • Strong analytical skills with a data-driven mindset to evaluate product success and drive decisions.
  • Excellent communication skills with the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams in a matrix organization.
  • Deep understanding of AI/ML technologies and their applications in drug discovery or biopharma.
  • Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies and product management frameworks.
  • Technical background, with experience in software development, AI/ML models, or cloud-based platforms.

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