Lilly Posted September 2, 2026

Senior Associate, Clinical Development Trial Lead (CDTL)

Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America FULL_TIME
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About this opportunity

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.

Purpose:

The Clinical Development Trial Lead (CDTL) Associate leads the cross-functional study team in the development and execution of clinical trials and is accountable both regionally and globally to deliver trial(s) with quality, on time, and within scope and budget. The CDTL Associate leverages project management, regional operational knowledge, clinical trial process leadership and expertise, and scientific expertise to drive actions and coordinate efforts to achieve or exceed these trial deliverables.

Primary Responsibilities:

This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the job requirements at the time it was prepared. The job requirements of any position may change over time and may include additional responsibilities not specifically described in the job description. Consult with your supervision regarding your actual job responsibilities and any related duties that may be required for the position.

Trial Leadership, and Regional Operational Knowledge

Use processes and tools to develop, execute, and deliver local, regional and/or global clinical trials as described below:

Understand the scope of work required to complete the clinical trial successfully. Monitor the status and make changes (per change control process) as needed to meet the deliverables of the trial.

Timeline – Develop and track global milestones by gaining alignment and integrating inputs across functions and geographies

Risk - Assess, identify and monitor trial-level risks. Incorporate scientific knowledge, trial process, and regional expertise to create one integrated trial-level risk mitigation and contingency plan.

Budget - Understand the cross-functional, trial-level budget components. Create and monitor the grants and non-grants, and assumptions using financial tracking tools. Routinely network with appropriate business partners on trial-level budget status and changes.

Partner with other organizations to coordinate and deliver Investigator Study Specific Training (ISSTs)/ Affiliate Study Training (ASTs)/Investigator Engagement Meetings.

Drive and coordinate local, regional and global, cross-functional study team throughout study implementation, execution and closure empowering them to meet the clinical trial deliverables, including issue management, contingency planning and issue resolution.

Be accountable for trial/regional enrollment strategy and execution starting from country allocation through Last Patient Entered Treatment (LPET) o Partner with the Investigator Engagement organization to achieve regional enrollment goals.

Manage relationships and serve as a single point of contact and central owner for trial communication, to and from the Clinical Design and Delivery organization, all cross functional team members, and Third Party Organization (TPOs).

Apply problem-solving skills to daily issues with cross-functional study team (including with vendors, affiliates/regions, global team members and other business partners).

Identify and assist in developing continuous improvement activities based on important trends such as industry, regulatory, new technology, etc.

Manage TPO qualification process, selection, and oversight. Clinical Trial Process Leadership and Expertise

Demonstrate understanding of drug development process. Acknowledge inter-relatedness of cross-functional activities and understand the impact of project decisions on the overall clinical trial. Look for opportunities to expand and deepen clinical trial process expertise.

Be knowledgeable of the global and regional operating model; coordinate and facilitate obtaining regional input to provide to the study teams

Single point of accountability for the Trial Master File, working closely with functional record owners to ensure the file is current and inspection ready at all times.

Network and leverage expertise to anticipate trial and regional issues, identify areas of process breakdown, assess situations and propose proactive approaches that reduce and/or mitigate risks that impact ability to deliver the clinical trial.

Demonstrate ability to lead and influence in the midst of ambiguity. • Coach peers, cross-functional team members and TPOs on aspects of clinical trial process and regional specificities.

Apply expertise and knowledge of global/regional regulations, Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and Lilly standards of operation in the conduct of clinical trials. Liaise with affiliates and other appropriate resources to understand local regulatory requirements.

Scientific Expertise

Leverage scientific and regulatory knowledge to prepare and/or provide technical consultation for clinical and regulatory documents, prepare for meetings with regulatory agencies and draft responses to questions from regulatory agencies, TPOs and affiliates.

Combine scientific clinical trial operational knowledge, and process expertise to impact clinical trial design, feasibility implementation, and execution.

Utilize clinical development knowledge, problem solving and critical thinking skills to support the scientific needs of the business and clinical programs

Minimum Qualification Requirements:

Bachelors or University degree (scientific or health-related field preferred)

3 years clinical research experience or relevant clinical trial experience in a scientific or health-related field; or an advanced degree.

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"

Highly Desired Skills:

Previous experience in the Immunology therapeutic space

Applied knowledge of trial execution methodology, processes, and tools

Demonstrated ability to work cross-culturally with global colleagues and with TPOs

Ability to influence without authority

Strong leadership and networking skills exhibited while working in cross-functional and cross-cultural teams (internal & external) and on projects

Effective and influential communication, self-management, and organizational skills

Demonstrated ability to manage complex situations through problem-solving, critical thinking and navigating ambiguity

Flexibility to adjust to altered priorities

Other Information/Additional Preferences:

Need to travel periodically to AST/ ISST/Investigator Engagement meetings and potentially other scientific or regional symposium

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 (AMECA), Black Employees at Lilly (BE@Lilly), Chinese Culture Network (CCN), EnAble, Evolve, Lilly Indian Network (LIN), Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), Pride (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN) and Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL).

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

$65,250 - $148,500

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

Job details

Seniority
Senior
Function
Clinical Development
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America
Employment type
FULL_TIME

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Clinical Development role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 230 comparable Senior Clinical Development roles across 53 biopharma companies.

230Comparable roles tracked
213Currently active
53Companies hiring similar roles
20Countries represented

Salary context

71 of 230 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject $65,250/yr – $148,500/yr
Peer group range $96,200 – $315,000 (median $181,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 230 comparable roles

United States106
India55
United Kingdom13
Poland9
Germany8
Switzerland6

+ 14 more countries

Seniority mix

230 of 230 peers have a known seniority level

Associate Director108
Senior102
Principal20

Therapeutic area mix

32 of 230 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology16
Neuroscience10
Immunology3
Ophthalmology1
Respiratory1
Dermatology & Aesthetics1

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How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

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Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.