Cork Global Business Solutions
In July 2010, Cork was selected as the location for Lilly’s European Shared Services. Operations went live in 2011 with a team of 100 supporting a diverse geographical area of over 40 countries across Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Africa in the areas of Finance – General Accounting, Order to Cash and Purchase to Pay.
Over the past 10 years, GBS Cork has evolved from shared service provider to global business partner for many of Lilly’s key business units. The Centre offers innovative solutions that add value to the wider enterprise and has expanded far beyond its original financial mandate.
Today, in addition to finance, our team of over 1700 employees centralise, optimise and add value in areas such as global HR solutions, customer support (both patient and healthcare professional), clinical trial capabilities, scientific communications and much more.
Our success is underpinned by Lilly’s core values – Excellence, Integrity and Respect for People – and these are demonstrated in everything we do. With a ten-fold increase in employee numbers since inception in 2010, GBS Cork is a key component of Lilly’s wider productivity agenda.
Current functions at GBS Cork
General Accounting | The Lilly GA organisation is a global function supported by teams in Cork, Kuala Lumpur and Mexico. The GA team work closely with affiliates in managing financial records and providing control and compliance governance support. The team are also responsible for the maintenance of Capital Asset records, the compliance of Indirect Tax records and the iNext team provide governance of employee expenses. This combination of unique capabilities allows the team drive value for our customers and contribute to Lilly’s purpose of making life better for people around the world.
Order to Cash | The Lilly Order to Cash organisation is a global function supported by teams in Cork, Kuala Lumpur and Mexico. The O2C team works to provide medicines to patients and customers (Order Management), to manage the supply of medicine within the markets (Supply Chain) and to ensure we receive payment from our customers (Accounts Receivable). With a focus on quality and compliance, the teams work together to deliver life-changing medicines to patients through easy interactions that enable people to feel they are genuinely cared for and able to trust us.
Purchase to Pay | The P2P function in Lilly is responsible for the entire lifecycle of a vendor transaction - from the moment an item is ordered, through the receipt of goods or service, the processing of invoices and finally, payment. Lilly P2P is a global organisation and is supported by three main teams - one based in Cork responsible for North America and EMEA operations, a second in Kuala Lumpur taking charge of ASIAPAC and another in Mexico City to support Latin America (LATAM).
Corporate Audit Services | CAS are an independent and objective audit function that adds value to the operations of Lilly through a systematic and disciplined approach that evaluates and improves the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes. The team completes several different audit types globally for affiliates, third parties, process areas and SOx controls, familiarising themselves with global and local processes and procedures on each project. They will audit many different process areas including privacy, ethical interaction, information security, information technology, human resources, distributors and financial controls.
Procurement Centre of Excellence | This is a team with capabilities in data analytics, market research, and cost control. Their main objective is to reduce the cost of goods and services purchased by Lilly, ensuring the best value for money for the wider enterprise.
Strategic Sourcing | This team work in partnership with Lilly International Business Unit stakeholders to develop and deliver sourcing strategies that maximise value creation for Lilly IBU. The efficiencies generated by both teams ensure that more funding is available to invest in discovering and creating new medicines.
Global Manufacturing Procurement | This team support critical areas in Capital and our Drug Substance and Drug Product networks. The Manufacturing Procurement team is a key partner and enabler to our Global Manufacturing Organisation, ensuring a safe and reliable supply of medicine to our patients.
Working with Third Parties | This team support consistent risk mitigation practices, governance, accountability and training with regard to third parties in the full collaboration lifecycle. The activities of this team in conjunction with others strengthen oversight of third parties to enhance operational resilience and increase value derived from working with these third parties.
Customer Meeting Services | The Customer Meeting Services (CMS) team support Lilly’s meeting owners throughout Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and South Africa with meeting planning and oversight, contract and payment execution and transfer of value (TOV) data collection to enable compliance with the EFPIA Disclosure Code. CMS teams locally provide support for Meetings Oversight, while the CMS teams located in the GBS complete healthcare professional (HCP) contracting, payment, expense reimbursement, compliance and technical support.
Global Transparency | Lilly collaborates with healthcare professionals (HCPs) and healthcare organisations (HCOs) focusing on a single goal - to improve the health and quality of patients’ lives. Being transparent about the nature and extent of our relationships makes it possible to build trust and respect for how we work together to benefit patients. Consisting of two teams, Data Intelligence & Reporting and GT IT, Global Transparency ensure timely and accurate reporting of transfers of value to HCPs and HCOs.
Meetings and Events Centre of Excellence | This team ensure that all meetings involving Lilly and healthcare professionals are recorded accurately and meet all internal and external legislative requirements. They also provide consistency and deliver best practice methods to the wider meeting and events team across the globe.
Trial Capabilities | Our Trial Capabilities Centre is part of Lilly’s Clinical Delivery, Design and Analytics organisation. The team support clinical trial submissions for new drugs to ultimately bring new medicines to patients to help improve their health and quality of life. The Centre manage trials from Phase 1 to Phase 4, taking care of a range of activities across 22 countries in the EMEA region including trial set up, regulatory and ethics submissions, and coordination of logistics so that staff at trial sites are trained and have everything they need to conduct a clinical trial.
Clinical Development | Clinical Development is a global organisation working across all Lilly therapeutic areas (e.g. Oncology, Diabetes and Biomedicines) and geographies to deliver clinical trials. Serving as the point of contact with our business unit / research colleagues, Clinical Development is responsible for ensuring robust profiles and strategies exist for our medicines in treating a particular disease (indication) and working collaboratively to translate into viable clinical development scenarios. Clinical Development leads the cross-functional Clinical Trial team, monitors performance (including timeline, budget, and scope) of programs and trials and removes barriers for the cross-functional team to deliver trials and submissions.
Global Scientific Communications | GSC were established to make Lilly research meaningful for external audiences through clear and memorable communications, be it through Regulatory Documents, Publications or Transparency Disclosures. Our capabilities in Cork include Publication Writing (in support of Lilly’s International Business Unit) and Regulatory Writing.
Global Regulatory Affairs | Regulatory Associates lead and partner with Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) Regulatory Scientists in the various aspects of global marketing authorisation submission management processes. The Regulatory Associate leverages project management and communication skills to advance the submission process for new molecules. Regulatory Associates partner with CMC Scientists to help build and manage submission content, provide guidance on structure and content placement within Common Technical Document (CTD) registration submissions, and to provide assistance with submission-related Ministry of Health responses, or Lilly affiliate questions.
Scientific Communications - Regulatory | Our Global Scientific Communications team (listed above) also have capabilities in Regulatory Writing.
Our Medical Information team answer customer questions about Lilly products, be it a patient or healthcare professional. A patient for example may want to know how they can travel with their medicine when it should always be stored in a refrigerator. Or a healthcare professional may wish for information about using our products in a particular patient population. Every day in Medical Information, the team assist our customers on the proper use of our products to maximise the benefits of our treatments, helping us to achieve our company mission to improve patients’ lives.
The Lilly Answers Centre (TLAC) is the customer information centre for Lilly USA that strives to connect with each customer (Healthcare Professional, Patient, Caregiver) through meaningful interactions. TLAC ensures we deliver improved outcomes for our customers through easy interactions that enable people to feel they are genuinely cared for and able to trust us. TLAC-Cork supports the diabetes portfolio, which covers more than 10 products and is the busiest therapeutic area. TLAC also provides support for internal business partners such as Sales Representatives and Medical Science Liaisons.
Pharmacoepidemiology | GPS PE is part of the Global Patient Safety organisation. The team supports lifecycle risk management by advancing the development of medicines, in conjunction with safety management teams, business units, development teams, medical affairs, regulatory, regulators, payers, healthcare professionals, and ultimately, patients with a positive benefit/risk profile. In addition, we optimise the safe use of medications in patients through delivery of meaningful pharmacoepidemiology results. GPS PE provides global support of the proximate portfolio and is responsible for all safety-related observational research conducted by Lilly.
Our HRS centres in Cork and Kuala Lumpur provide HR support for the 14 largest countries, covering 90% of employees globally in 8 languages.
- Tier 1 teams provide the front-line interaction to employees and managers, who will receive direct support on HR processes and policies, such as resolution of manager and employee enquiries and requests that are escalated via portal, voice or chat channels.
- Tier 2 teams provide back-office support in processing transactions, maintaining data integrity, reporting and analytics and executing specialist work.
- The HR Solutions organisation is responsible for supporting employees with general HR and workday self service queries in addition to processing HR transactions related to recruiting, data administration, compensation and talent management for our large countries globally. The Contingent Worker team are responsible for the onboarding of our contingent workers (non-Lilly employees) globally.
Lilly provides grants and charitable contributions for healthcare professional education, patient advocacy and consumer education programs in a variety of therapeutic areas through the Lilly Grant Office. Additionally, Lilly has entered into partnerships and alliances with other pharmaceutical companies and established grant offices to support continuing medical education for healthcare professionals in specific therapeutic areas. Our LGO team manage this application process including documentation requirements, review procedure and decision notification.
Integrated Services Group | The ISG was created to prioritise and support cross-functional projects related to SAP (current transition to S4HANA) and the many systems and processes that connect to it. The ISG organisation includes members representing Supply Chain Master Data, LSP Integration Leads, Automation, and Business Process Knowledge Centre.
GBS Global Capabilities Optimisation & Automation | GCOA offer a wide range of end-to-end optimisation services that maximise value to our business partners and employees. Solutions look beyond the sole lens of automation, firstly taking time to assess and optimise processes, prior to implementing any technical/automated solutions. Capabilities include Data Processing & Analytics, Automation, Power BI/Power Platform, Robotics, and Process Optimisation.
Information & Digital Solutions | IDS is critical to driving business outcomes through operational support, solutions, and services, enabling the connections between people, information, and processes. The team works cross-functionally, allowing a unique view of the organisation thus enabling creative, innovative strategies to be formed. Capabilities include Software Development, Data Processing, Power BI/Apps, and Service Operations.
The Global Customer Operations (GCO) team is responsible for delivering operational compliance and excellence globally to the business/affiliates through efficient and consistent maintenance of master data for our customer facing applications. To achieve this, the team work on data alignment services for sales reps/medical liaisons and the creation and maintenance of product data by working and communicating effectively with affiliates. Along with ensuring correct and appropriate access to various platforms, the team also support affiliates in their needs for reporting on recurring basis or by delivering ad hoc reports to affiliates where data is not accessible to the affiliate.
Investigations and Forensic Monitoring | This team is responsible for directing global investigations of high-risk allegations of potential wrongdoing or violations of our policies and procedures as well as for building the Ethics and Compliance program’s forensic monitoring capabilities. This team helps ensure that we uphold our commitment to high standards of corporate conduct in our business dealings around the world.
Global Privacy | At its core, our privacy program reflects our commitment to being open and honest about how we collect, manage, use and disclose personal information, and to being intentional about protecting it. It also reflects our intentions to only share personal information with those who are authorised and have a legitimate business need to see it. Our program is overseen by our Chief Privacy Officer who is supported by an international team of dedicated privacy professionals, along with a network of Ethics and Compliance professionals worldwide. Key components of our program include a principles-based policy supported by an infrastructure of procedures, job aids, training and other materials governing the collection and use of personal information. Our goal at Lilly is to deliver on the promises that we make to individuals – in every business operation, in every location around the world – regarding the ethical use and management of the personal information that we collect and use.
This team of lawyers work on a wide variety of agreements including confidential disclosure, material transfer, consortium, feasibility, and research agreements. They coordinate with Lilly’s scientists, patent attorneys and other internal stakeholders and are committed to continually enhancing Lilly’s contracting processes to best serve the needs of Lilly and to work collaboratively with external stakeholders such as universities, research institutes and companies located across the globe.
This diverse team provide key site-wide supports to all GBS Cork functions and employees. In ensuring a cohesive and consistent approach in the rollout of services, the following areas have been brought under the umbrella of People and Operations – local HR & Recruitment, Integrity, Infrastructure, People Development, Communications, HSE, Culture and Finance.
The role of the Strategic Projects team is to partner with Lilly businesses that seek to benefit from the GBS capabilities as a key enabler to deliver in their strategic agenda. Building this strong partnership involves working with the business on the strategy, planning, implementation, recruitment and stabilisation of the new capability to ensure a successful integration into GBS. The team also consult and advise on large internal projects.
