Advisor - Molecular Biology

Eli Lilly and Company; San Carlos (CA); On-site; USD 141,000 - 231,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k)

Pension

Vacation benefits

Medical, dental, vision

Well-being benefits

Flexible benefits

Job summary

Eli Lilly and Company in San Carlos, CA seeks a scientist (Advisor, Molecular Biology) to engineer DNA/RNA constructs and advance non-viral DNA therapeutics. You will design expression cassettes, optimize regulatory elements, and drive high-throughput cloning and assay development to support in vitro and in vivo evaluation.

The role emphasizes bench work, data communication, and collaboration across therapeutic areas with strong emphasis on LNP-formulated payload design and translational impact

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Synthetic Biology, Bioengineering, Biochemistry, Genetics, or related field with 1–2+ years of industry or postdoc experience.
• Deep expertise in regulatory element engineering, tissue-specific expression, and library screening.
• Experience with high-throughput cloning and LNP delivery is highly valued.

Responsibilities

• Design and optimize DNA/RNA constructs, including expression cassettes and regulatory elements.
• Lead high-throughput cloning, screening, and assay design to compare constructs for potency and specificity.
• Support transition of constructs from in vitro screening to in vivo evaluation and data package generation.

Skills

Molecular biology

Synthetic biology

DNA construct design

Regulatory understanding

Education

Ph.D. in Molecular Biology or related field

Tools

Golden Gate cloning

Gibson assembly

Lipid nanoparticle formulation

NGS-based readouts

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.

Engage Bio, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, is a biotechnology company in the San Francisco Bay Area developing a new class of non-viral genetic medicines. The Tethosome platform pairs engineered DNA payloads with lipid nanoparticle delivery to address the two problems that have historically limited non-viral DNA therapies: insufficient expression and innate immune detection. The result is durable, potent expression without the immunogenicity, payload constraints, or manufacturing burden of viral vectors and a platform whose programmability opens therapeutic applications across autoimmune disorders, metabolic disease, cancer, and beyond.

This is a unique opportunity to work in a small, fast-moving team operating with the pace and ownership of a startup and the resources and reach of Lilly Research Laboratories.

We are seeking a scientist (Advisor, Molecular Biology) to join our growing team of molecular and synthetic biologists. This is a hands-on, bench-based role that is ideal for a scientist who enjoys engineering DNA and RNA constructs and wants to see that experience translate to an impact on patients.

Key Responsibilities

Construct design and sequence engineering

• Design and optimize expression cassettes across enhancer, promoter, 5' and 3' UTR, ORF (including mono- and polycistronic architectures, signal peptides, and functional domains), PolyA signal, and the non-coding sequences that tie them together, to tune expression, durability, and tissue specificity.
• Develop and implement high-throughput cloning strategies that move from design space to testable constructs quickly, keeping screening rather than construction as the rate-limiting step.

High-throughput screening and assay design

• Design in vitro and cell-based assays and screens that resolve differences between constructs: potency, durability, specificity, and immune evasion.
• Evaluate and implement new assay technologies, automation, and readouts that increase throughput and shorten the design-build-test cycle.

Program support across therapeutic areas

• Support the transition of constructs from screening into in vitro and in vivo evaluation, including delivery-relevant design considerations for LNP-formulated payloads.
• Generate clear data packages that communicate results and inform decision-making.

Basic Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Synthetic Biology, Bioengineering, Biochemistry, Genetics, or related scientific discipline with 1-2+ years of relevant industry or postdoctoral research experience.

Additional Skills

The work spans a wide range of molecular and synthetic biology. We do not expect any single person to arrive with all the following. We are looking for genuine depth in several of these areas, a broad working familiarity across the rest, and a willingness to become an expert in what you do not yet know.

• Regulatory element engineering: promoter and enhancer design, tissue-specific and inducible expression systems, UTR optimization, and library-based or barcoded screening of regulatory sequences.
• Engineering of conditional small molecule control of genetic vector expression in mammalian systems
• High-throughput and automated cloning (Golden Gate, Gibson, or similar), library construction, liquid handling, and NGS-based construct verification or screening readouts.
• Lipid nanoparticle formulation, characterization, and LNP-mediated delivery.
• Experience with one or more nucleic acid therapeutic modalities and an understanding of how modality shapes design constraints.

Additional Information

• Location: On-site in San Carlos, CA

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions.

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).

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is $141,000 - $231,000

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:

• 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
• 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.

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