Vice President, Pharmacovigilance & Safety

About this role

Centessa Pharmaceuticals, a wholly subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company is advancing a portfolio of high conviction programs with strong biological validation. Our asset-centric model offers a unique R&D logic that has been applied by single asset companies to improve productivity. This operating model has minimal centralized infrastructure, reduced hierarchy, and exclusive focus on data driven capital allocation. Our teams are uniquely incentivized to expeditiously interrogate key scientific hypotheses. We believe the asset-centric model can lead to improved success rates for programs with greater speed and modest costs.

Description of Role

The Vice President, Global Medical Safety / Pharmacovigilance will serve as the global leader for drug safety, providing strategic vision and medical oversight across all pharmacovigilance and risk management activities. This role is responsible for leading pre- and post-marketing safety activities across all phases of clinical development (Phase I–IV) and post-approval, ensuring proactive benefit–risk assessments, regulatory compliance, and the highest standards of patient safety. The VP will drive an integrated, science-driven global safety strategy for the company’s small molecule pipeline, working closely with internal stakeholders and teams, as well as global health authorities. In addition, this role will oversee departmental operations, including organizational planning, budgeting, and the development of scalable pharmacovigilance capabilities to support a growing biotech organization.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Oversight

• Develop and execute a comprehensive pharmacovigilance (PV) strategy aligned with corporate objectives and regulatory expectations.

• Lead safety governance and benefit-risk management for small molecule assets across development and post-marketing.

• Ensure compliance with global PV regulations (FDA, EMA, ICH, MHRA, etc.).

• Provide strategic safety input into clinical trial designs, protocols, and regulatory submissions.

• Establish and oversee PV partnerships, vendors, and external collaborations