Senior Director – Manufacturing And Quality – L&D Center Of Excellence

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.
Learning Center of Excellence (CoE):
The CoE is the powerhouse of our Global Manufacturing and Quality learning ecosystem—the strategic hub where scalable, digital, and compliant learning experiences are designed, governed, and deployed.
We are seeking a Senior Director to lead the CoE, driving future-ready capability development in a global, regulated enterprise where learning must be both innovative and audit-ready.
The CoE sets a high bar for operational excellence, driving industry leading learning standards that position Lilly as a benchmark in regulated manufacturing and quality.
Responsibilities
The Senior Director – Center of Excellence (CoE) will provide strategic leadership and direction for the Learning & Development (L&D) organization supporting Global Manufacturing & Quality (M&Q) sites and functions.
The role will strategically enhance and streamline learning operations, enabling L&D professionals to support global manufacturing and quality teams to be effectively trained, compliant with quality standards, and equipped with the necessary skills to drive operational excellence.
The position has a global scope in support of all manufacturing and quality employees who operate in accordance with Lilly quality systems.
This is an essential component of making medicine with confidence and is fundamental to ensuring compliance in ongoing M&Q operations.
This role sets and implements a high-performance bar across people, processes and platforms – ensuring Lilly remains an industry leader in learning excellence.
Architect the Learning Operating System (OS)
Design the enterprise-wide learning framework—governing how training is structured, deployed, and measured across the organization.
Integrate regulatory and quality expectations into learning standards in partnership with L&D Global Process Owner.
Learning Processes and Technology:
Ensure the development and execution of streamlined learning processes that influence innovative technology and data analytics to improve training efficiency.
Define and lead the long-term roadmap for a fully integrated learning tech stack, including mobile learning, immersive learning platforms, and AI-powered personalization engines.
Lead vendor selection, system integration, and continuous improvement to meet business and learner needs at scale.
Identify best practices in learning methodologies and integrate them into the training framework to champion a culture of continuous improvement.
Develop targeted solutions that address specific challenges and enhance overall team performance.
Explore and recommend improvements to processes and systems based on organization demands and product enhancements using industry trends and benchmarking.
Learning Programs
In partnership with AVP, Global M&Q L&D, lead the execution of the L&D strategy for all sites, including new sites and site expansions to ensure sites are fully operational on time without delays, and with no risk to compliance or safety.
Ensure training programs, curricula, and qualification processes are in place to build workforce capability and operational readiness in alignment with GMP and regulatory requirements.
Cross-Functional Partnerships
Partner with MQLD Functional Leader and MQLD Site Leaders to drive global functional integration among the global M&Q sites and streamline processes and training.
Partner with Global Quality Systems to define the curricula architecture global standard to enable performance clarity and learning effectiveness measurement.
Partner with Global Learning Solutions to define and lead technology components needed for training, including system interfaces for positive user experiences.
Partner with HR and Tech@Lilly to facilitate integration of learning systems with other HR systems and systems of work to improve the learner experience.
Work with the Lilly Global Learning Services organization and outsourced Learning Services partner; represent M&Q L&D in appropriate cross-functional governance forums.
GMQ Learning Operations
Ensure learning processes and systems meet quality system requirements.
Drive the standardization of training design, recordkeeping, and effectiveness evaluation to support both internal quality metrics and external audits/inspections.
Own and deliver on the ways to work in GMQLD CoE.
Develop a culture driven by data to measure the effectiveness of learning and identify areas for improvement.
Regularly review learning outcomes and feedback to refine and optimize learning initiatives, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
Establish robust learning data governance and strategy, including data pipelines, dashboards, and integration with HRIS and quality systems.
Use data to drive predictive insights for compliance risks, learning value, and workforce capability readiness.
Build a 'system of intelligence' on top of learning systems—unifying data from multiple sources to surface actionable insights and support executive-level decision making.
Strategic Innovation & External Leadership
Drive innovation in adult learning, incorporating AI, AR/VR, adaptive learning, and micro-learning where appropriate.
Establish thought leadership through partnerships through participation in industry forums and publishing insights from CoE activities.
Represent Lilly as a global L&D leader with vision and partner with external team members and consortia to remain at the forefront of enterprise learning.
Learning Culture and Talent Analytics
Champion a culture of continuous learning aligned with Lilly's values and business outcomes.
Implement enterprise competency frameworks and predictive skills analytics to guide capability planning.
What Success Looks Like
Learning is scalable, standardized, and quality-aligned and executed with operational excellence.
CoE becomes a trusted partner to Quality, Regulatory, and Business leaders.
Systems and content are digitally enabled and inspection ready.
Learners move faster from onboarding to performance, safely and compliantly.
The CoE is recognized externally for innovation and impact.
Operational excellence is driven through consistent execution of best-in-class standards and continuous innovation.
Basic Requirements
Bachelor's degree.
10 years in enterprise L&D or digital learning strategy.
Experience in a regulated industry (pharma, biotech, healthcare, medtech, etc.).
5 years in a leadership role coordinating teams and pivotal initiatives.
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 and/or visas for this role.
Additional Skils and Preferences
Demonstrated leadership experience and able to guide teams and drive impact.
Strong understanding of GxP, compliance frameworks, and inspection readiness.
Consistent track record of leading a Learning CoE or similar strategic function.
Expertise with modern learning platforms (LMS, LxP, AI/automation tools).
Master's degree preferred in Adult Learning, Instructional Systems Technology, Performance Technology, Human Resources, or a related field.
Experience working in a GMP-regulated environment (strongly preferred).
Strategic and systems thinking with ability to navigate complexity.
Change management expertise to drive transformation.
Ability to lead and influence across a matrixed global organization.
Data-driven decision-making; ability to translate insights into action.
Human Performance Improvement (HPI) certification preferred.
Additional Information
Travel %: ~25%.
Position location: US: Indianapolis, Remote
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 () 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.
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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 Network, 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 $150,000 - $220,000.
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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