Sr. Director -qms Operational Controls

Eli Lilly Eli Lilly · Pharma · Indianapolis, IN

Senior Director role overseeing Operational Controls within the Quality Management System (QMS) for a global healthcare company. Focuses on process excellence, governance, compliance with regulatory standards, and continuous improvement across commercial and clinical supply functions. Requires leadership of Global Process Owners and collaboration with various internal and external stakeholders.

What you'd actually do

  1. Lead Global Process Owners (GPOs) of non-Quality-owned processes to deliver process excellence in the Operational Controls Pillar of the QMS framework.
  2. Implement a structured governance and monitoring model to deliver excellence beyond Quality-owned processes across the framework.
  3. Design and develop, in partnership with Management Review, a model for determining the health of the QMS process ecosystem.
  4. Consult with Lilly manufacturing, external supplier organizations, marketing affiliate quality operations, research and development, and other functions to educate on the quality system.
  5. Proactively ensure compliance of Lilly’s Quality Systems with various country agency standards, industry trends, and scientific principles.

Skills

Required

  • Pharmaceutical industry experience
  • Quality Management Systems (QMS)
  • Operational Controls
  • Process Excellence
  • Governance and Monitoring
  • Regulatory Compliance
  • Global Standards
  • Leadership
  • Matrixed Organization Navigation
  • Strategic Thinking
  • Data Analysis
  • Change Management
  • Communication Skills
  • Process Improvement
  • Influential Leadership
  • Decision Making
  • Risk Management
  • People Management

Nice to have

  • External organization engagement
  • Additional languages

What the JD emphasized

  • 10+ years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry in business or quality operational roles across Research and Development or commercial manufacturing.
  • Bachelor’s degree in Natural Science, Engineering, Pharmacy, or other Life Science-related field.
  • Proven ability to work in a matrixed organization leading diverse teams and influencing areas not under direct control.
  • Experience leading a major multi-site or global functions improvement initiative.
  • Strong strategic thinking capability with a focus on the ability to execute strategic decisions while balancing conflicting priorities.
  • Ability to drive process improvements and strategic decisions by analyzing and interpreting complex data.
  • Demonstrated change agility in anticipating and leading others through change and ambiguity.
  • Excellent teamwork, interpersonal, and communication skills, with the ability to communicate and collaborate at all levels through various formats.
  • Expertise in developing scalable and standardized processes across global operations to improve efficiency and reduce complexity.
  • Demonstrated influential leadership expertise and experience engaging with senior-level functional leads.
  • Strong leadership capability to make and act on decisions while balancing speed, quality, and risk to deliver value-added business results.
  • Strong capabilities in establishing governance structures and proactively addressing quality and regulatory risks.
  • Demonstrated people management experience.
  • Expertise in navigating and ensuring adherence to global regulatory standards and frameworks.