Associate Creative Director

Organization Overview

At Lilly, we serve an extraordinary purpose. Every day, we make a difference for people around the globe by discovering, developing, and delivering medicines that help them live longer, healthier, and more active lives.

As Lilly's in-house agency, Thread Collective, we fuse data, creativity, and technology to turn bold ideas into work that moves people worldwide. As a true creative engine, we partner across the enterprise, uniting deep brand expertise with integrated insights and modern production to deliver breakthrough ideas with confidence and speed.

We deliver human-centric experiences that build trust, deepen understanding, and drive measurable outcomes. Together, we push past "good enough" to achieve creative excellence and operational agility. If you are driven to raise the bar every day, join us as we redefine what a best-in-class in-house agency can do.

What We Are Looking For

• Agency-Seasoned Creative Leader - Global creative agency veteran with a portfolio of distinctive, insight-driven, multi-channel campaigns, including TV and video, bold minded, and the credibility to influence agency creative teams without formal authority
• Pharma Industry Navigator - Healthcare creative fluent in medical, legal, and regulatory (MLR) review, and workflows, who treats regulatory requirements as the frame for distinctive work
• Critic & Educator - Confident communicator who gives rigorous, constructive critique, and models Lilly processes for new-to-pharma agencies
• Quality-Driven Brand Steward - Meticulous professional who ensures consistency, quality, and brand alignment in every deliverable, so pull-through work remains aligned across all channels

What You'll Work On

• Serve as the embedded creative leader to agencies new to Lilly from scoping through completion, modeling Lilly ways of working and modulating support as the relationship matures
• Help sharpen briefs and consumer insights, pressure-test concepts for MLR viability and distinctiveness with consumer audiences
• Give constructive critique that pushes agency work past typical pharma conventions toward human, differentiated ideas
• Help define what agencies and Thread Collective each own, execute, consult on, QC, with agencies leading the big idea
• Join pre-production and shoots as needed, and guide work back from launch dates to set asset needs and delivery
• Verify agency handoff packages, then brief Thread Collective studio teams and oversee pull-through of tactics through final approval
• Connect creative to results that turn learnings into reusable standards that meet brand, accessibility, and regulatory guidelines
• Guide staff to generate case studies, sizzle reels and other documents promoting Thread Collective partnerships

Basic Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
• 10+ years as Creative Director, Associate Creative Director, or equivalent, including global creative agency experience and a portfolio of award-winning work (e.g., Cannes Lions, Effies)
• Link to portfolio required

Preferred Qualifications

• Pharmaceutical or healthcare marketing experience, including MLR or similar regulatory review
• Proven ability to evaluate and elevate creative concepts developed by others
• Strong consulting and presentation skills to educate and influence partners at all levels
• Working knowledge of TV and video production, from pre-production to final asset delivery
• Experience with Adobe Suite, Figma, Microsoft office, Claude, and other relevant apps
• Effective capacity management across multiple concurrent agency engagements
• Ability to swiftly diagnose process pain points and implement solutions via project planning to successfully manage tight timelines to completion
• Agency experience on the Eli Lilly account or other similar pharmaceutical companies
• Understanding of healthcare marketing, including the rigorous claims compliance review process
• Hands-on experience with annotation, launch-readiness processes, and documentation and cross-functional reviews
• Experience moving work between agency and in-house teams, including playbook handoff, and campaign pull-through
• Strong collaborative presence with an ego-free approach to driving results through influence versus direct authority
• Fluency in brand, content and omnichannel strategy

Other

• Position based in Indianapolis; remote work options may be considered. Relocation package provided. Travel up to 15% is expected
• Lilly may provide support for or sponsor work authorization or visas for this role for internal applicants only

Additional information

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 $132,000 - $193,600

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.

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