Advisor – Engineering – Drug Substance

Eli Lilly and Company; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 131,000 - 211,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company bonus

401(k) plan

Medical, dental, vision benefits

Flexible benefits

Job summary

Eli Lilly and Company is seeking outstanding engineering candidates for the SMDD process design and development team in Indianapolis. The role involves designing robust, scalable chemical processes and collaborating with chemists, analytical scientists, formulation experts, and other engineers.

You will contribute to scale-up, technology transfer, and continuous learning while supporting accelerated drug development in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• PhD in Chemical Engineering is required or a closely related field.
• MSc in Chemical Engineering with 7+ years of chemical/pharmaceutical process development experience.
• BSc in Chemical Engineering with 10+ years of experience in chemical/pharmaceutical process development.

Responsibilities

• Design and optimize processes for small molecules and peptides to supply clinical materials.
• Execute lab experiments using kinetics, heat/mass transfer, and process modeling.
• Develop unit operations: crystallization, filtration, drying, milling, and batch/continuous chemistry.
• Collaborate on cross-functional teams to support scale-up and tech transfer.
• Ensure compliance with regulations, SOPs, and safety guidelines.

Skills

Process design

Scale-up

Team leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Data analytics

Modeling and simulation

Education

PhD in Chemical Engineering

MSc in Chemical Engineering

BSc in Chemical Engineering

Tools

Process modeling tools

Job description

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.

Lilly’s Synthetic Molecule Design and Development (SMDD) is involved in key activities for the development of active pharmaceutical ingredients and formulated drug products from pre‑clinical phases through commercialization of drug substances and drug products for small molecules, synthetic oligonucleotides, and synthetic peptides. Our scientists develop key technical and business solutions across the portfolio using their deep technical expertise to speed up testing of the clinical hypothesis and overall drug development. SMDD tackles this diversity of responsibilities by recognizing that an even greater diversity of talents and cultures is necessary to deliver the next generation of life changing medicines to patients.

SMDD is seeking outstanding engineering candidates to work within the process design and development team. The position presents an opportunity to work side by side with chemists, analytical chemists, formulation scientists and other engineers to develop new technical solutions to accelerate our exciting portfolio. Candidates must demonstrate a history of strong technical depth, scientific leadership, and a willingness to promote a collaborative, team‑based approach to problem solving.

Responsibilities

• Apply engineering fundamentals to design and optimize chemical processes for small molecules, oligonucleotides, and synthetic peptides, ensuring robust, scalable processes that reliably supply clinical trial materials.
• Design and execute lab experiments using knowledge of reaction kinetics, heat/mass transfer, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and process modeling to support error‑free scale‑up.
• Develop proficiency across a broad range of unit operations — including crystallization, filtration, drying, milling, and batch/continuous chemistry — to assemble complete synthetic manufacturing processes.
• Serve on integrated commercialization teams to collaboratively develop, test, and oversee process execution from lab scale through manufacturing facilities.
• Operate with full compliance within a regulated industry, adhering to applicable regulations, guidelines, SOPs, and safety procedures governing drug research and development.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with analytical, formulation, quality, regulatory, and environmental/safety teams to ensure comprehensive process development and compliance.
• Oversee scale‑up and technology transfer to internal and external manufacturing sites through team meetings, site visits, and ongoing process monitoring.
• Maintain a continuous learning mindset by engaging with relevant literature, professional organizations, and the broader scientific community through publications and conference presentations.
• With experience, provide mentorship to junior scientists and engineers while driving documentation and broad sharing of new technologies, methodologies, and process control strategies.
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative environment that encourages diverse perspectives to deliver innovative solutions to unmet technical challenges.

Education Requirements

• PhD in Chemical Engineering
• MSc in Chemical Engineering +7 years of experience in chemical/pharmaceutical process development
• BSc in Chemical Engineering +10 years of experience in chemical/pharmaceutical process development

Additional Skills and Preferences

• Experience with design, development, and optimization of synthetic process manufacturing unit operations.
• Experience with modeling and simulation tools, data analytics and predictive analytics.
• Experience in batch and continuous unit operations. Experience on technical considerations for equipment design and integration, process monitoring, integration of process analytical technologies (PAT) systems.
• Excellent oral communication and documentation skills.
• Demonstrate ability to effectively collaborate with multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrate leadership behaviors with ability to accept challenges, seek opportunities to remove barriers, influence without authority, and lead in areas of uncertainty
• Demonstrate exemplary teamwork/interpersonal skills
• Demonstrate problem solving, attention to detail and result oriented behaviors in a fast‑paced environment.

Additional Information

Travel: 0 to 10%

Position Local: Indianapolis, IN LTC- N

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is $130,500 - $211,200

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 the details of any promotion or transfer of Lilly employees.

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).