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.
Lilly makes a significant investment in its people — in how they are paid, how they are supported, and what they experience as members of TEAM Lilly. The Associate Director, Employee Value & M&A Communications turns that investment into something employees can see, feel, and act on. This role leads the communications that help employees understand the full value of working at Lilly — from compensation and benefits to the moments of transition that test an organization’s dedication to its people.
On the compensation and benefits side, the Associate Director partners with HR to develop targeted global and U.S. campaigns, maintain a multi-quarter communications roadmap, and sequence high-priority communications — including ACR for leaders and bonus communications — so that every message lands with clarity and strengthening Lilly’s position as an employer that invests in its workforce. On the M&A side, this role is the internal comms point person: developing employee-facing communications from confidential pre-announcement preparation through Day 1, deal announcements, workforce transition communications, and acquired employee integration into TEAM Lilly.
The Associate Director partners closely with HR, Legal, Business Development, Finance, and colleagues across Global Communications to ensure all Employee Value and M&A communications are accurate, aligned to business priorities, and consistently reflect the strength of Lilly’s employer value proposition — for current employees, new employees, and those joining Lilly through acquisition.
Key Objectives/Deliverables
- Own the global and U.S. compensation and benefits communications strategy — developing campaigns that help employees understand and value what Lilly offers, covering programs including Annual Compensation Review (ACR), benefits enrollment, and Lilly stock programs.
- Maintain and evolve a multi-quarter communications roadmap and editorial calendar — aligning compensation and benefits communications to enterprise workforce engagement priorities and sequencing messages to avoid employee overload.
- Frame compensation and benefits communications through an EVP lens — ensuring every communication reinforces Lilly’s commitment to its people and helps employees, at every stage of their career, connect the full value of what they receive to why Lilly is a place worth staying, growing, and investing in.
- Stay current on compensation, benefits, and workforce trends and evolving employee expectations — proactively informing communications planning and ensuring Lilly’s EVP narrative remains competitive and compelling.
- Draft and coordinate high-impact employee communications — ensuring consistency with the enterprise narrative, benefits policies, and legal requirements, and modeling the quality standard for the team.
- Coordinate content reviews and approvals with subject matter experts across HR, Legal, and other partners to ensure accuracy and appropriate delivery.
- Deliver communications across multiple channels — selecting the right format and channel for each audience and moment, whether employees have been with Lilly 20 years or 20 days.
- Serve as the primary communications practitioner for M&A internal communications — owning execution from pre-announcement through workforce transition, deal close, and the integration of acquired employees into TEAM Lilly.
- Develop M&A communications that address employee questions about pay, benefits, and continuity during transitions — translating complex topics into clear, compassionate messaging that strengthens Lilly’s commitment to the people joining its workforce.
- Coordinate closely with Legal, External Communications, and HR Business Partners to ensure M&A messaging is accurate, compliant, and delivered through the right channels at the right time.
- Maintain a rapid-response communications capability for time-sensitive M&A announcements — including confidential pre-announcement preparation under strict information controls.
- Develop briefing materials and leader messaging guides that equip managers to communicate pay decisions, benefits updates, and workforce changes with confidence, consistency, and a clear connection to Lilly’s investment in its people.
- Own the editorial calendar for high-priority global and U.S. compensation and benefits communications — ensuring content is current, accessible, and consistently maintained across internal channels including LillyNow.
- Use employee feedback and engagement metrics to assess communications effectiveness — continuously refining strategy and execution to ensure Lilly’s EVP story is landing with employees at every level and stage.
- Contribute to team-wide editorial standards, process development, and guidelines as a senior communications team member.
- Serve as a flexible communications resource across the Workforce Engagement function — deploying against emerging priorities, filling critical capability gaps, and leading work where the business demands it.
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, or related field.
- 7 years of experience in internal communications, corporate communications, or HR communications
- 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 or visas for this role, including but not limited to F-1 CPT, F-1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, J-1, H-1B, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, or L-1
Additional Skills/Preferences
- Demonstrated experience developing communications for compensation, benefits, or workforce transition programs.
- Experience supporting or leading communications for M&A activity, organizational change, or workforce transitions.
- Experience managing complex, multi-audience editorial calendars and global communications campaigns.
- Pharmaceutical, life sciences, or healthcare industry experience preferred.
- EVP Storytelling: Understands that compensation and benefits communications are an expression of Lilly’s employer value proposition — able to translate program details into compelling narratives that help employees understand, appreciate, and feel the full value of working at Lilly.
- Compensation & Benefits Fluency: Solid understanding of compensation structures, benefits program design, open enrollment processes, and how these programs fit into a broader employer value proposition — able to engage credibly with HR partners and translate program complexity into clear, human-centered employee communications.
- M&A Communications Discipline: Proven ability to manage sensitive, time-critical communications with accuracy, discretion, and composure — from pre-announcement preparation through workforce integration, with a consistent focus on what employees most need to hear and when.
- Editorial Judgment: Able to hold quality, tone, and strategic intent across a broad portfolio — including policy-governed, legally sensitive, and high-visibility employee communications — without losing the human voice that makes EVP communications land.
- Stakeholder Management: Proven ability to manage cross-functional reviews and approvals with accuracy and efficiency — building credibility with HR, Legal, Finance, and Business Development partners.
- Composure Under Pressure: Solutions-oriented in high-stakes, time-sensitive situations — able to deliver accurate, high-quality communications on compressed timelines without sacrificing rigor or the employee-first perspective.
- Channel Fluency: Proficiency with internal communications platforms including LillyNow, SharePoint/intranet, Viva Engage, LillyTV, and enterprise email — with the judgment to match channel to audience and moment.
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
$127,500 - $187,000
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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