Senior Director - Leadership Recruiting

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LillyFeatured
October 29, 2026
Indianapolis, IN, US
$166,500 – $244,200/yr
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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.
Senior Director, Leadership Recruiting
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.
Position Summary
Lilly is seeking a Senior Director, Leadership Recruiting to work directly with senior executives and hiring managers to find, attract, and hire the leaders who will shape Lilly’s future. Alongside your own portfolio of searches, you will lead and develop a team and help shape Lilly’s approach to leadership recruiting. The role reports to the AVP of Global Talent Acquisition and focuses on the US, with the opportunity to expand globally.
Responsibilities
Lead leadership searches

  • Own a portfolio of senior director and vice president searches from intake through offer acceptance.
  • Build a search strategy for each role based on business priorities, market conditions, and workforce plans.
  • Find and engage passive talent through direct sourcing, professional networks, and referrals, and give hiring managers strong, well-screened slates.
  • Represent Lilly to senior candidates with a clear and compelling case for our mission, strategy, and culture.
  • Run a high-touch process that keeps candidates and hiring managers informed and anticipates what comes next.
  • Lead offer strategy, negotiation, and close, partnering with Executive Compensation to build competitive offers that align with Lilly’s leadership pay programs.
  • Partner with search firms and other Talent Acquisition teams when a search calls for it.

Lead and develop the team

  • Help build the leadership recruiting team, partnering with the AVP of Global Talent Acquisition on its structure, roles, and hiring.
  • Lead, coach, and develop the team as it grows.
  • Set clear expectations for quality, speed, and stakeholder experience, and hold the team accountable to them.
  • Assign and balance the team’s search portfolio based on business priority and search complexity.
  • Build the team’s skills in senior-level search, market mapping, and influencing executives.
  • Set the standard for leadership recruiting through the way you run your own searches.

Advise senior leaders

  • Build strong relationships with the business leaders you support, and learn their strategy, culture, and talent needs.
  • Partner with HR Strategic Business Partners to anticipate leadership hiring needs before roles open, using workforce plans and business priorities.
  • Act as a trusted advisor on the talent market, candidate selection, and competitive offers.
  • Coach hiring managers on how to attract, interview, and select senior talent.
  • Challenge and influence senior leaders when needed to keep searches on track and aligned with process requirements.

Shape leadership recruiting at Lilly

  • Partner closely with the Head of Executive Recruiting and with other Talent Acquisition teams that hire leaders across Lilly.
  • Lead projects that improve how Lilly hires leaders, from idea through execution.
  • Embrace AI to improve the candidate experience and make processes more efficient.
  • Track and report leadership recruiting metrics, and use the data to spot trends and guide decisions.
  • Build effective working relationships with Ethics and Compliance, Legal, Relocation, and Immigration.
  • Make sure searches follow Lilly’s recruiting and compliance requirements across all stakeholders.

Minimum Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree
  • 10+ years of recruiting or HR experience
  • Experience leading people
  • Executive presence and credibility to influence beyond positional authority
  • Proven ability to challenge and influence senior leaders
  • Track record of leading projects from idea through execution with enterprise or team impact
  • Strong strategic thinking, written and verbal communication, and presentation skills

Additional Preferences

  • 5+ years recruiting for director-level roles or above
  • Experience building or scaling a recruiting team
  • Experience recruiting across multiple regions or globally
  • HR Strategic Business Partner experience
  • Strong negotiation skills and a working knowledge of senior leadership pay, including incentives, equity, and buyouts
  • Business and data acumen
  • AI fluency and comfort using AI as part of everyday work
  • Sound judgment and comfort with ambiguity in a fast-moving environment
  • Self-motivated, with the initiative to work effectively with limited supervision

Additional Information

  • Travel: 5-10%
  • Location: Indianapolis, IN

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
$166,500 - $244,200
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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