Sr. Director - Sustainability Strategy and Reporting

Eli Lilly and Company • Full-time • Indianapolis, Indiana, United States • $120k - $180k / year • 2d ago

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.

Stakeholders - including investors, regulators, governments, employees and potential employees - are increasingly focused on companies' sustainability practices. Sustainability has also been referred to as Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices, and Corporate Social Responsibility. These topics reflect 'how' a company delivers on its purpose. For a medicine company such as Lilly, these topics include addressing climate change, improving access to medicines, creating an inclusive environment for employees to bring their best efforts, and protecting confidential information about the company and our stakeholders, to name a few.

Sustainability has always been central to our purpose of making medicines. We voluntarily communicate important sustainability topics, goals, and progress at sustainability.lilly.com.

The sustainability landscape is evolving, with increasing expectations for consistency across companies, improved rigor for data, and greater clarity on the sustainability topics on which a company focuses. New regulations seek to address these concerns, such as the European Union (EU) Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), EU Green Taxonomy (Taxonomy), and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). There are numerous other regulations in development worldwide that will further impact this rapidly evolving space.

The Sustainability team is responsible for monitoring the regulatory landscape, convening public and governmental affairs colleagues to positively shape regulations in development, acquiring expert knowledge of regulations in force, and leading Lilly efforts to comply with sustainability regulations. Beyond these regulatory responsibilities, the Sustainability team also leads our voluntary sustainability efforts, and serves as the central point-of-contact across the many functions that contribute to our sustainability strategy, as well as the authority and communication hub externally for stakeholders, particularly investors.

Do you have the background and passion for helping to grow sustainability teams and capabilities? Consider joining Lilly today and becoming part of the successful Lilly story!

Responsibilities:

This position reports to the Associate VP of Sustainability and collaborates with senior leaders, various functions throughout the company, external stakeholders such as large investors, and external advisors. The role encompasses both strategic and operational responsibilities.

This is an exciting role that will lead the sustainability reporting process and oversee report production, encompassing both strategic and operational aspects. This includes identifying reporting requirements and evolving the reporting process to align with emerging regulatory standards, such as the CSRD.
The successful candidate will:

Lead Sustainability Reporting
Develop and oversee the strategy for the annual sustainability report, ensuring comprehensive stakeholder communication and alignment across functions.
Provide guidance on the disclosures that will be required in the report, based on regulation and Lilly's sustainability commitments.
Work with subject matter experts (SMEs) to align on Lilly's relevant disclosures and mechanisms by which the disclosures will be prepared for reporting.
Work with SMEs to obtain detailed qualitative and quantitative information needed for report disclosure.
Synthesize information gained from SMEs into report disclosure.
Collaborate with the broader Sustainability team and SMEs to develop plans and timelines for disclosure and report preparation and publication.
Implement necessary processes for data gathering, reviews, approvals and report production.
Consult external advisors, legal and benchmarks to validate CSRD report content and format against regulation requirements.
Work with external assurance providers in the assurance process that will be required for the CSRD report.
Institutionalize Sustainability Reporting Processes
Develop and implement processes to streamline future report preparation and enhance SME accountability.
Provide input to digital enablement activities to support efficient sustainability reporting.
Lead efforts to evolve voluntary reporting as appropriate in the more highly regulated future state.
Track external sustainability trends and focus areas, influencing external reporting standards and benchmark trends to inform the company's overall strategy.
Develop approaches to comply with future regulations
Identify interdependencies, inconsistencies or possible conflicts across regulations and develop efficient compliance strategies.
Communicate Lilly Sustainability Strategy to Stakeholders
Assist in communicating and championing Lilly's sustainability strategy, priorities, goals, metrics and progress to external stakeholders such as investors, and internal partners.
Contribute to the sustainability governance structure, including the messaging to relevant committees, performance tracking, and reporting.
Lead the data gathering and submissions of Lilly information for various sustainability surveys and awards and supporting other functions that require sustainability information.
Provide 'surge capacity' for other members of the Sustainability team as needed. The small size of the team and the cyclical nature of the work require flexibility among all members of the team to assist one another.

Basic Requirements:

Bachelor's degree required.
10+ years of experience in investor relations, sustainability and/or communications role.
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 Preferred skills:

Exceptional written and verbal communication: convey complex sustainability concepts clearly and effectively to diverse audiences.
Report writing: expertise synthesizing diffuse information into clear written reporting.
Critical thinking: translate broad or unclear requirements (from regulations, for example) into actionable steps and tangible disclosures.
Independent work- building on the skill above - autonomously translate requirements into actionable steps, confirming actions with the team.
Experience in communications/marketing functions preferred.
Multi-tasking: leading multiple workstreams, effective project management and influence without authority.
Work well under pressure: multi-task effectively and prioritize effectively.
Pharma industry knowledge: understand Lilly strategy and key points of contact to gather and assimilate information.
Quick thinking: respond quickly "on your feet".
External engagement: Build relationships with external partners.
Accountability: strong drive for execution and delivery.
Strategic project management and organizational skills: effectively set and meet deadlines in a fast-paced and dynamic environment
Sustainability expertise: Familiarity with reporting frameworks and climate risk management, including SBTi, TCFD, CDP, and Net-Zero initiatives.
Sustainability reporting: reporting or proxy and financial-reporting.
Sustainability topics: human capital, access to medicines, emissions, governance.
Collaboration: Work effectively with cross-functional and cross-geographic partners.
Achieve results through others: Collaborate across internal functions and external partners.

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 an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, 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 help our company develop talented individuals for future leadership roles. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia Network, African American Network, Chinese Culture Network, Early Career Professionals, Japanese International Leadership Network (JILN), Lilly India Network, Organization of Latinos at Lilly, PRIDE (LGBTQ + Allies), Veterans Leadership Network, Women's Network, Working and Living with Disabilities. Learn more about all of our groups.

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