Sr. Director - Ventures - AI/ML & Biotech Innovation

Location: San Francisco
Posted on: June 23, 2025

Job Description:

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. Lilly Ventures (LV) is a pan-therapeutic, global innovation organization embedded within Eli Lilly & Company. Our mission is to identify and integrate breakthrough science - including the rapidly maturing spaces of AI/ML, computational biology, and platform technologies that drive medicine advancement - into Lilly Research Labs (LRL) to accelerate drug discovery and development. We operate at the intersection of venture capital, biotech innovation, and R&D transformation. We are seeking a Sr. Director with deep expertise in AI/ML and its application to biotech and pharmaceutical R&D. This role will be pivotal in sourcing, evaluating, and advancing external innovation opportunities, particularly those leveraging data science, machine learning, and computational platforms, to address unmet patient needs and enhance Lilly’s internal capabilities. You will report to the Vice President of Lilly Ventures and will be a critical member of the team defining strategy and tactics to expand AI/ML external innovation efforts. You will be part of our global team working closely with peers in Boston, Indianapolis, San Francisco, San Diego, UK/EU, China and Japan on the real time tracking and execution of external innovation opportunities. A strong relationship with Lilly’s Search and Evaluation colleagues responsible for individual therapeutic and functional areas (TA/FAs), and other BD and Catalyze360 colleagues will be important. Excellent communication, time-management and relationship-building skills will be required in this global matrixed environment. You will lead and co-lead venture fund interactions, collaborate with global geography leads, and work closely with our strategic VC partners, accelerators, and academic institutions. You will also help support Lilly’s Catalyze360’s broader innovation models, including ExploR&D and Lilly Gateway Labs, with a focus on AI-native or AI-augmented biotech startups. Key Responsibilities: Identify and evaluate AI/ML-driven biotech opportunities across the venture and innovation ecosystem. Prioritize emerging technologies such as large language models (LLMs), foundation models, and agentic AI systems that can transform life sciences workflows—from target discovery, molecule design/optimization, to clinical development. Conduct rigorous scientific and technical assessments of platforms, assets, and technologies, including computational pipelines, predictive models, and data infrastructure. Lead due diligence efforts and prepare investment recommendations for governance review. Build and maintain a robust pipeline of AI/ML-enabled innovation aligned with Lilly’s R&D priorities. Represent Lilly’s strategy in external engagements, including conferences, pitch sessions, and partner meetings. Collaborate with internal stakeholders across Search & Evaluation, Therapeutic Areas, and Data Science to ensure seamless integration of external innovation. Facilitate the development and maintenance of strong external networks to enhance Lilly’s potential for productive business relationships with external companies: Build a strategy to regularly engage in opportunity and deal flow discussions with a prioritized group of external VC funds which create the most promising AI companies to complement our existing Lilly Ventures biotech VC network Maintain formal contact channels with key venture funds and biotech companies (such as in meetings and conference calls) that discuss potential new opportunities, working with the Venture fund and project leads and updating them as opportunities advance through the different stages of the Lilly evaluation process. Support Lilly’s visibility at conferences and partnering meetings, including prior analysis of opportunities, planning of logistics, and follow-up communications. Some attendance at events will be expected. The ideal candidate will be both an excellent scientist and will have demonstrated the ability to find new opportunities, thoroughly evaluate them and advance projects and initiatives to a successful conclusion. Should possess outstanding EQ, problem-solving, analytical, project management, communication, and leadership skills. Must also be highly organized and able to multitask effectively with concurrent processing and implementation of many active discussions at various stages of scientific evaluation and business discussion. Basic Requirements /Qualifications: PhD in a relevant scientific discipline (e.g., Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology). 5 years of experience in biopharma, life science VC, or biotech, with a strong focus on AI/ML applications in drug discovery or development. Additional Skills/Preferences: Experience/understanding of the drug discovery and development process advantageous. Demonstrated track record of evaluating and advancing AI/ML-enabled biotech ventures or platforms. Strong understanding of LLMs, generative AI, and agentic systems, and their application in scientific reasoning, literature mining, hypothesis generation, and experimental design. Strong network across the AI-biotech and venture ecosystem, particularly in innovation hubs like the Bay Area. Excellent communication, project management, and cross-functional collaboration skills. Flexible can-do attitude to respond quickly to fast moving initiatives and priorities and work effectively in a complex matrix environment Excellent English communication skills (written and oral) Travel up to 40%. 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 $162,000 - $237,600 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. WeAreLilly

Keywords: , Palo Alto , Sr. Director - Ventures - AI/ML & Biotech Innovation, Science, Research & Development , San Francisco, California