Senior Scientist, Safety Assessment and Investigative Toxicology
Lilly · US: USA, United States
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.
Organization and Position Overview
Centessa Pharmaceuticals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, is a clinical-stage company developing orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) agonists as a new class of medicines for the treatment of narcolepsy and potentially other sleep-wake disorders. Centessa’s lead investigational candidate – cleminorexton (formerly ORX750) – is being developed for narcolepsy type 1, narcolepsy type 2, and idiopathic hypersomnia. Centessa's OX2R agonist portfolio includes additional clinical and preclinical-stage assets with potential utility across a broader range of neurological, neurodegenerative, and neuropsychiatric conditions. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Centessa was recognized as a Great Place to Work® in 2026.
We are seeking an analytically elite, strategically minded Senior Scientist to join our Safety Assessment team. This is a 100% non-laboratory position designed for a seasoned bioscientist or toxicology operations expert who thrives at the intersection of dataset auditing, mechanistic evaluation, and cross-functional project leadership.
As a Senior Scientist, you will serve as a vital scientific and strategic hub connecting Centessa’s internal toxicology leaders with Project Development Teams (PDTs) and adjacent disciplines (including DMPK, CMC, Regulatory, and Clinical Operations). You will own the analytical pipeline for incoming toxicology studies—spearheading the audit of regulatory SEND datasets, engineering data visualizations of complex toxicology endpoints, and authoring authoritative literature reviews. Your insights will directly shape investigative toxicology strategies, driving early pipeline decision-making and securing project endorsements at internal governance committees.
Responsibilities
· Advanced Data Visualization & Analytics: Lead the architectural design and execution of data models that transform raw, multi-dose toxicology data streams, clinical pathology tables, and safety pharmacology metrics into publication-ready visual tools (e.g., exposure-margin heatmaps, benchmark dose plots, and cumulative trend diagnostics) to clearly define therapeutic windows.
· SEND Strategy & Regulatory Auditing: Oversee the review and quality control of incoming Standard for the Exchange of Nonclinical Data (SEND) datasets from CRO vendors. Ensure absolute compliance, schema validation, and exact data alignment with finalized nonclinical study reports prior to regulatory filing and archival.
· Mechanistic Synthesis & Literature Architecture: Conduct rigorous, comprehensive scientific literature investigations to proactively assess target-mediated or chemotype-specific safety risks. Synthesize complex, ambiguous biological data into clear, actionable technical memos that inform investigative toxicity strategies.
· PDT & Governance Leadership: Partner closely with Toxicology Leads to co-author high-impact data packages, briefing books, and executive slide decks. Actively participate in defending safety strategies and securing program endorsements within Project Development Teams (PDTs) and formal internal governance panels.
· Cross-Functional Synergy: Act as a senior scientific liaison between Safety Assessment, CMC (for compound inventory tracking), DMPK (for toxicokinetic integration), and Project Management to ensure nonclinical safety deliverables map smoothly to aggressive global project milestones.
Basic Requirements
- B.S. or M.S. degree in Toxicology, Pharmacology, Cellular/Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, or a related life sciences discipline.- With an M.S. degree: 6–8+ years of highly relevant biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or tier-one CRO industry experience.
- With a B.S. degree: 8–10+ years of extensive industrial drug-development, data management, and toxicology operations experience.
- Core Technical Competencies:- Expert-level understanding of preclinical toxicology datasets, histopathology reporting structures, and study designs.
- Hands-on proficiency auditing, validating, or working directly with regulatory SEND data structures.
- Advanced capability utilizing scientific data software to build complex data structures (e.g., GraphPad Prism, Spotfire, Excel macros, or specialized Python/R data visual tools).
- Leadership & Influence: Superb technical writing skills paired with a demonstrated ability to distill vast pools of complex data into clear arguments capable of convincing diverse, cross-functional scientific leaders.
Additional Preferences
- Intrinsically curious and deeply passionate about the work we do.
- Embrace ambiguity and push for new practices and technologies.
- Adaptive problem solver - turn issues into opportunities and translates ideas into solutions, even when the path isn’t clear.
- Leverage technical depth and a growth mindset to make impact; imagine what’s possible and pursue it with intention and energy.
- Demonstrate curiosity and drive self-identified innovation, especially in the exploration of artificial intelligence and digital.
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
$66,000 - $189,200
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 t