Sr Operations Manager, AI&R Office

Overview

Run the operational backbone of the AI&R function, spanning headcount, financials, vendors, reporting, process documentation and internal communications.

What you'll do

• Maintain headcount tracking against approved plan across employees and contractors; keep org charts, role mappings, and position status current; coordinate onboarding and offboarding logistics with HR and hiring managers.
• Own the full contractor lifecycle, including demand intake, onboarding and system access, extensions, rate and utilisation tracking, offboarding, and compliance with Lilly contingent-workforce policy.
• Drive procure-to-pay end to end, including sourcing requests, vendor onboarding and third-party risk review, PO creation, goods receipting, invoice tracking and issue resolution, SOW and renewal timelines.
• Build and maintain the function's reporting layer covering headcount, spend, vendor and license position, and delivery metrics; keep data current and definitions consistent.
• Consolidate status from multiple workstreams into leadership-ready reporting, business reviews, governance decks, and executive updates, writing the synthesis rather than forwarding raw submissions.
• Author and maintain SOPs, RACI matrices, and process maps for how the function operates; drive adoption, review cycles, and continuous improvement.
• Own the information architecture, SharePoint and Teams site structure, document repositories, naming and version conventions, and access governance.
• Produce newsletters, town halls, and leadership updates reaching the whole team; run the leadership operating rhythm (agendas, decision logs, action tracking) and deliver offsites and engagement events.
• Provide targeted support to the Senior Director for priority scheduling and engagement logistics (secondary component of the role).

What you'll need

• Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, commerce, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years in business operations, functional operations, or PMO roles.
• Hands-on procure-to-pay and vendor management experience in an enterprise platform (SAP, Ariba), including software and subscription procurement.
• Proven experience managing contingent workforce operations at scale, onboarding, tracking, and compliance across multiple suppliers.
• Ability to build and maintain operational dashboards independently and to define metrics that survive leadership challenge.
• Strong written English; able to produce leadership-ready narrative and whole-team communications without editing support.
• Proven discretion with confidential people, financial, and strategy information; sound judgement under ambiguity.

Nice to have

• MBA or postgraduate qualification in business, operations, or management.
• Experience supporting AI, data science, or R&D technology functions, including familiarity with cloud compute, GPU capacity, and data or model licensing commercials.
• Prior experience in pharmaceutical or life sciences, ideally within a global capability centre in India.

Details

• Location: Bengaluru, India.
• Path/Level: P3.
• Up to 10% travel, including international.
• Internal applicants must have/obtain work authorization in the country the position is located in.