Principal Visual Designer – Commercial

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Principal Visual Designer – Commercial Company: Lilly Location: Indianapolis, Indiana, United States Job Type: FULL_TIME Category: Commercial Design Operations / Digital Experience Design Date Posted: 2025-09-15 Experience Level: 5-10 Years

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the visual design strategy and execution for large-scale commercial digital platforms, including Lilly.com and consumer applications, ensuring a cohesive and impactful brand presence.
• Champion and elevate the visual identity, tone, and style across major commercial design initiatives, setting the benchmark for design craft within the team.
• Drive innovation in visual storytelling and user experience for product launches and digital campaigns, balancing creative exploration with brand standards and business objectives.
• Mentor and guide fellow designers, fostering a culture of design excellence and continuous improvement in visual execution and strategic thinking.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Visual Designer," the "Principal" level and the emphasis on leading flagship experiences, setting standards, and mentoring peers strongly suggest a senior role with operational oversight and strategic input into the design process, aligning it with a GTM (Go-To-Market) operations function focused on brand presentation and digital experience.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Define and implement the visual identity, tone, and aesthetic for key commercial digital platforms, including Lilly.com, brand websites, and consumer applications.
• Lead the visual execution of flagship digital experiences, ensuring adherence to brand guidelines while pushing creative boundaries for maximum impact.
• Develop and refine high-fidelity design deliverables, mockups, and interactive prototypes to effectively communicate concepts and guide development teams.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including copywriters, UX strategists, product managers, and engineers, to ensure visual solutions align with audience insights, business goals, and campaign strategies.
• Provide constructive critique and mentorship to junior and peer designers, elevating the overall quality of design output and fostering professional growth.
• Actively research and integrate emerging design trends, tools, and technologies to enhance the company's commercial creative output and digital presence.
• Present visual concepts, design rationale, and project outcomes persuasively to internal teams and executive stakeholders, securing buy-in and alignment.
• Ensure design outputs are not only visually compelling but also technically feasible for implementation across various digital product delivery channels and content management systems.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of creative leadership and operational execution, crucial for GTM functions. The emphasis on defining visual identity, leading execution, and ensuring feasibility points to a role that manages the visual aspects of the go-to-market strategy for digital products.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Design, Digital Design, Visual Communication, Graphic Design, or a closely related field, or equivalent practical experience demonstrating a strong foundation in design principles.

Experience:

• 5-8+ years of professional design experience, with a significant focus on visual design for large-scale digital platforms, interactive experiences, and integrated marketing campaigns.

Required Skills:

• Exceptional Portfolio: A robust portfolio showcasing outstanding visual design craft across diverse mediums and digital platforms, including complex websites and consumer applications.
• Design Mastery: Deep proficiency in typography, layout principles, composition, color theory, and visual hierarchy, with the ability to strategically adapt and extend brand expression for digital product experiences.
• Design Systems: Proven experience designing with and contributing to established design systems, ensuring consistency and scalability across digital touchpoints.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Strong ability to partner effectively with UX/UI designers, strategists, copywriters, product managers, and engineering teams to bring design visions to life.
• Communication & Presentation: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the proven ability to articulate design rationale persuasively to diverse audiences, including senior leadership.
• Prototyping & High-Fidelity Design: Proficiency in creating detailed, high-fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes using industry-standard design tools.
• Brand Stewardship: Ability to interpret and strategically apply brand guidelines to digital products, ensuring brand consistency and effective communication.

Preferred Skills:

• Healthcare/Pharma Experience: Prior experience designing for the healthcare, pharmaceutical, or other regulated industries, understanding the unique communication and compliance needs.
• CMS Experience: Familiarity with enterprise content management systems (CMS) such as Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), Drupal, or similar platforms, including their visual design implications.
• Mentorship & Leadership: Demonstrated experience in mentoring junior designers and providing constructive feedback to elevate team performance.
• Agile/Lean Methodologies: Experience working within agile or lean development environments, adapting design processes to iterative workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirements emphasize a strong understanding of design principles and practical application in digital environments, crucial for visual aspects of GTM strategies. The preference for healthcare experience and CMS knowledge is specific to the company's industry and operational needs.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Visual Design Excellence: Submissions must clearly demonstrate exceptional visual design craft, showcasing mastery of typography, color, layout, and composition for digital platforms.
• Brand Integration: Examples should illustrate how brand identity and guidelines were interpreted and applied effectively within digital experiences, maintaining consistency and impact.
• User-Centric Design: Showcase projects that highlight an understanding of audience insights and how visual design choices were made to resonate with target users and achieve specific campaign goals.
• System Thinking: Include examples of work within or contributing to design systems, demonstrating an understanding of scalability, consistency, and the impact of design systems on digital product development.
• Problem/Solution Framing: Present projects with a clear articulation of the design challenge, the proposed visual solution, and the rationale behind key design decisions.

Process Documentation:

• Design Process Walkthrough: Candidates may be asked to walk through their design process for a specific project, detailing how they moved from concept to final execution, including any iterative refinements.
• Collaboration Evidence: Portfolio pieces or accompanying documentation should ideally hint at or explicitly mention collaborative efforts with cross-functional teams (e.g., UX, content, development), showcasing how visual design integrated with other disciplines.
• Impact & Rationale: For key projects, be prepared to discuss the intended or actual impact of the visual design choices on user engagement, brand perception, or campaign effectiveness.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio requirements are tailored to assess not just aesthetic skill but also the candidate's ability to integrate visual design into broader digital strategies and collaborative workflows, aligning with operational effectiveness in GTM.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $63,750 - $180,400 (Annual Full-Time Equivalent)

Benefits:

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Eligibility for medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug benefits, supporting employee well-being.
• Retirement Planning: Participation in a company-sponsored 401(k) plan and a pension plan for long-term financial security.
• Paid Time Off: Generous vacation benefits and access to time off and leave of absence benefits, promoting work-life balance.
• Financial Wellness: Flexible benefits options, including healthcare and dependent day care flexible spending accounts, and life insurance/death benefits.
• Well-being Support: Access to a suite of well-being benefits, such as an employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities, fostering a healthy and engaged workforce.

Working Hours:

• 40 hours per week, typical for a full-time position, with potential for flexibility depending on project needs and team collaboration within the company's operational framework.

📝 Enhancement Note: The provided salary range is broad, typical for a Principal level role that can encompass varying degrees of experience and specialized skills. The benefits package is robust, reflecting a large, established healthcare company. The note on bonus eligibility indicates a performance-driven component common in GTM roles.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals. Eli Lilly is a global leader in discovering, developing, and manufacturing medicines, operating within a highly regulated and innovation-driven sector. This context means a strong emphasis on scientific rigor, patient focus, and ethical communication. Company Size: Large, global organization with a significant employee base. This size offers opportunities for diverse career paths, extensive resources, and structured processes, but also requires adaptability to navigate larger corporate structures. Founded: Eli Lilly and Company was founded in 1876. This long history signifies stability, established practices, and a deep-rooted commitment to its mission of making life better for people globally.

Team Structure:

• Commercial Design Team: This team operates within Eli Lilly’s Digital Office, functioning as an innovation hub that blends design, technology, and strategy.
• Reporting Structure: The Principal Visual Designer will likely report to a Design Director or Head of Commercial Design, with collaboration across Product Management, Marketing, Digital Strategy, and Engineering departments.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: The role is highly collaborative, requiring close partnerships with various business units and technical teams to ensure integrated and effective digital experiences that support commercial objectives.

Methodology:

• Human-Centered Design: The team prioritizes understanding user needs and experiences to craft solutions.
• Lean/Agile Principles: Design and development processes are guided by lean and agile methodologies, emphasizing iterative delivery and continuous improvement.
• Data-Informed Decisions: Design choices are expected to be informed by audience insights, user research, and performance analytics to drive measurable value.

Company Website: https://careers.lilly.com/us/en

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's industry and history shape its culture towards innovation, patient-centricity, and a methodical approach to development. The Digital Office's role as an innovation engine suggests a dynamic environment that balances established corporate standards with forward-thinking digital initiatives.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Principal. This level signifies a senior individual contributor role with significant influence over design strategy and execution. It implies leadership in craft, mentorship capabilities, and the ability to drive complex projects from conception to completion. Reporting Structure: The role reports within the Commercial Design Team, likely to a Director or Senior Manager of Design, and collaborates extensively with product owners, marketing leads, and development teams in the Commercial and Digital Office functions. Operations Impact: The Principal Visual Designer directly impacts the "commercial" aspect of Lilly's operations by shaping the digital presentation of products and the company brand. This visual execution is critical for customer engagement, brand perception, lead generation, and overall GTM success for digital initiatives.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Advancement: Potential to move into management roles (e.g., Design Manager) or specialize further in areas like Design System leadership or UX/UI Strategy.
• Skill Specialization: Opportunities to deepen expertise in specific areas like interactive design, motion graphics, or advanced prototyping for complex digital ecosystems.
• Strategic Influence: Grow influence in shaping the overall digital design strategy for commercial initiatives, contributing to high-level GTM planning and execution.
• Industry Exposure: Gain valuable experience within the pharmaceutical industry, a sector with unique design challenges and opportunities, enhancing marketability.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Principal" title indicates a trajectory towards senior leadership or deep technical specialization within the operations of digital product development and GTM. The direct link to commercial success highlights the strategic importance of this design role.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: While the role is listed as on-site, Eli Lilly, like many large corporations, likely offers a modern office environment designed for collaboration and productivity. This could include open-plan workspaces, dedicated team areas, meeting rooms equipped with advanced technology, and potentially quiet zones for focused work. Office Location(s): Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. This is the company's global headquarters, suggesting a central hub for innovation, strategy, and corporate functions. Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Hub: Expect a work environment that encourages interaction with diverse teams (design, product, marketing, engineering) to foster integrated solutions.
• Technology-Forward: Access to industry-standard design software, hardware, and potentially emerging technologies to support high-quality visual design execution.
• Professional Development: Opportunities for team meetups, design critiques, and knowledge-sharing sessions to enhance skills and foster a strong design community.

Work Schedule: Standard full-time hours (likely 40 hours/week) are expected, with the potential for project-driven flexibility. The emphasis on agile methodologies suggests a dynamic pace where adaptability to project timelines is valued.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement in Indianapolis, their headquarters, implies a central role within the company's digital operations, fostering direct collaboration and immersion in the company's culture and strategic direction.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: HR or Recruiter call to assess basic qualifications, interest, and cultural fit.
• Portfolio Review & Design Discussion: A session with hiring managers and/or senior designers to present your portfolio, discuss specific projects, design philosophy, and problem-solving approaches. Expect deep dives into your design craft and strategic thinking.
• Cross-Functional Stakeholder Interviews: Interviews with individuals from Product Management, Marketing, or Engineering teams to evaluate collaboration skills, communication effectiveness, and understanding of business objectives.
• Case Study/Design Challenge (Potential): You might be asked to complete a design exercise or present a hypothetical solution to a given problem, demonstrating your thought process, visual execution, and ability to work under a defined scope.
• Final Interview: Potentially with a senior leader (e.g., Director of Design, VP of Digital) for final assessment of strategic alignment and leadership potential.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate for Impact: Select 4-6 of your strongest projects that best showcase your visual design skills, strategic thinking, and experience relevant to large-scale digital platforms and commercial initiatives.
• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the design process, key decisions, the visual solutions, and the outcome or impact. Use visuals effectively to guide the narrative.
• Highlight Brand & System Thinking: Explicitly show how you've applied brand guidelines and worked within or contributed to design systems.
• Demonstrate Collaboration: If possible, note your contributions within team projects and how you collaborated with cross-functional partners.
• Showcase Craftsmanship: Ensure your portfolio is polished, visually coherent, and demonstrates a high level of detail in typography, layout, and overall aesthetic.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand Lilly's Digital Presence: Familiarize yourself with Lilly.com, their brand websites, and any consumer-facing applications. Analyze their current visual language, user experience, and messaging.
• Focus on Commercial Objectives: Be prepared to discuss how visual design supports business goals, product launches, and audience engagement in a commercial context.
• Practice Articulating Rationale: Be ready to explain why you made specific design choices, linking them to user needs, brand strategy, and business objectives.
• Prepare for Questions on Trends: Think about current and emerging design trends relevant to healthcare and digital platforms, and how they might be applied at Lilly.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is designed to assess not only design talent but also strategic thinking, collaboration, and the ability to operate within a large, regulated industry. Portfolio preparation should focus on demonstrating impact and process relevant to commercial GTM efforts.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping Software: Proficiency with industry-standard tools such as Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD for creating high-fidelity mockups, visual assets, and interactive prototypes.
• Design Systems: Experience with tools and methodologies for building, maintaining, and utilizing design systems (e.g., Storybook, Zeroheight, or internal systems).
• Collaboration Platforms: Familiarity with tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Confluence, or Asana for team communication, project management, and workflow tracking.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Web Analytics: Understanding of web analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics) to inform design decisions and measure the impact of visual changes on user behavior.
• Data Visualization: Experience with tools that facilitate data visualization for presenting insights to stakeholders.

CRM & Automation:

• Content Management Systems (CMS): Preferred experience with enterprise CMS platforms like Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), Drupal, or similar, understanding their visual design capabilities and limitations.

📝 Enhancement Note: The toolset emphasizes core design software, design system management, and collaboration platforms, essential for efficient operations within a digital product team. Familiarity with CMS is a key operational requirement for web content deployment.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Caring & Discovery: Aligned with Lilly's core mission, the design team likely values a deep understanding of patient needs and a commitment to innovative solutions.
• Human-Centered Approach: Decisions and designs are driven by a focus on the end-user experience, seeking to create meaningful and impactful interactions.
• Collaboration & Integration: A strong emphasis on working effectively across disciplines to create cohesive and integrated digital experiences that support broader business objectives.
• Excellence & Craftsmanship: A commitment to maintaining high standards of quality in all design output, from concept to pixel-perfect execution.
• Data-Driven Decisions: Utilizing insights from data and analytics to inform design choices and measure the effectiveness of digital initiatives.

Collaboration Style:

• Partnership-Oriented: The team likely fosters a collaborative environment where designers work closely with product managers, marketers, UX strategists, and developers as equal partners.
• Feedback-Rich Environment: Open to constructive critique and iterative feedback loops to refine designs and improve outcomes.
• Knowledge Sharing: Encourages the sharing of best practices, new techniques, and insights to elevate the collective skill set of the team.

📝 Enhancement Note: The team's values reflect a blend of corporate mission-driven principles and modern design team practices, emphasizing user empathy, quality, and collaborative problem-solving, which are key to successful GTM operations.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Brand with Innovation: Navigating the need to adhere to established, often strict, brand guidelines while also pushing creative boundaries for innovative digital experiences.
• Complex Stakeholder Management: Effectively communicating and aligning visual design strategies with diverse stakeholders across different departments and levels of the organization.
• Regulatory Environment: Working within the pharmaceutical industry requires an awareness of regulatory constraints and compliance standards that can influence design decisions.
• Scalability and Consistency: Ensuring visual consistency and a high-quality user experience across a wide array of digital platforms and touchpoints.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Design Techniques: Opportunities to explore and master cutting-edge design tools, techniques, and visual styles relevant to digital product design.
• Industry Best Practices: Exposure to best practices in UX/UI design, design systems, and digital strategy within the healthcare sector.
• Cross-Disciplinary Learning: Gaining insights into product management, marketing strategies, and technology development through close collaboration.
• Mentorship Programs: Access to senior design leaders and potential mentorship opportunities to guide career development and skill enhancement.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are typical for senior roles in established, regulated industries, requiring a strategic approach to design execution. The growth opportunities emphasize continuous learning and specialization within the digital design field.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How do you approach translating complex brand guidelines into engaging digital experiences for a specific audience?" (Prepare to discuss your visual design process and brand stewardship).
• "Describe a time you had to balance user needs with business objectives in a design project. What was your approach, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on your problem-solving methodology and impact).
• "How do you ensure visual consistency and quality across multiple digital platforms and touchpoints within a large organization?" (Discuss your experience with design systems and process management).
• "Walk us through a project where you significantly elevated the visual design of a digital product or campaign. What were the challenges, and how did you overcome them?" (Prepare a compelling case study from your portfolio).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What do you know about Lilly's mission and how do you see visual design contributing to it?" (Research Lilly's values, patient focus, and recent initiatives).
• "How do you approach giving and receiving constructive feedback within a design team?" (Highlight your collaboration style and openness to iteration).
• "How do you stay current with design trends, and how would you apply them to a brand like Lilly's?" (Showcase your proactivity and strategic thinking).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Context is Key: For each project, start by clearly stating the business problem or user need, your specific role, and the project's goals.
• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use high-quality visuals (mockups, prototypes, key screens) to illustrate your design solutions. Annotate key areas to explain your choices.
• Focus on Rationale: Be articulate about why you made certain design decisions. Connect these decisions back to user insights, brand strategy, accessibility, or business objectives.
• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, discuss the measurable results or impact of your designs (e.g., improved engagement, conversion rates, brand perception).
• Demonstrate Process: Walk through your design process, highlighting key stages like research, ideation, iteration, and final execution. This shows your methodology and problem-solving approach.
• Be Prepared for Questions: Anticipate questions about your design choices, challenges faced, and how you collaborated with others.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating a deep understanding of visual design principles, strategic application within commercial GTM, strong collaboration skills, and the ability to articulate design rationale and impact, particularly within the context of the pharmaceutical industry.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Principal Visual Designer position:

• Submit Your Application: Utilize the provided link on Lilly's careers page to submit your resume and any requested information.
• Portfolio Customization: Ensure your portfolio is up-to-date and prominently features projects that showcase your expertise in large-scale digital platforms, brand expression, and user-centric visual design. Tailor your portfolio to highlight work relevant to the healthcare industry if possible.
• Resume Optimization: Craft your resume to emphasize achievements and responsibilities that align with the job description, using keywords like "visual design," "digital platforms," "brand identity," "design systems," "collaboration," and "stakeholder communication." Quantify your accomplishments where possible.
• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your design process, rationale, and the impact of your work. Prepare to discuss specific portfolio projects in detail and anticipate questions about collaboration and problem-solving in a commercial and regulated environment.
• Company Research: Thoroughly research Eli Lilly, its mission, values, current digital initiatives, and the competitive landscape of the pharmaceutical industry. Understand their approach to digital marketing and patient engagement.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.