Advisor - Synthetic Chemistry - PhD

100 Eli Lilly and Company; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 129,000 - 211,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company bonus

401(k)

Pension

Vacation benefits

Medical, dental, vision benefits

Job summary

Lilly is seeking a highly skilled medicinal chemist to lead synthetic chemistry efforts within LSMD or SMDD at our Indianapolis campuses. You will design and execute complex synthesis, optimize routes, and mentor junior staff in a fast-paced, collaborative setting.

Ideal candidates hold a PhD or equivalent and bring experience in drug discovery, modern synthesis methods, and a passion for delivering life-changing medicines. Travel is modest, onsite at LTC-N/LCC in Indianapolis.

Qualifications

• PhD in organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, or related field; or BS/MS with 7+ years of equivalent experience.
• Experience designing and executing synthetic chemistry programs for drug discovery or development.

Responsibilities

• Establish a productive laboratory program and independently plan, execute, and troubleshoot synthetic chemistry to deliver high-quality molecules.
• Design and synthesize compounds and develop routes addressing SAR or scalable processes for clinical/large-scale supply.
• Act as technical point of contact for projects and adjust scientific approach based on results.
• Collaborate across disciplines to inform compound design, route choice, and prioritization.
• Mentor junior colleagues and contribute to a collaborative Team Lilly culture.
• Develop new synthetic routes and accelerate design-make-test with modern tech including parallel synthesis, automation, AI/ML, and computational chemistry.

Skills

Synthesis design

SAR/med-chem

Leadership

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Learning agility

Education

PhD in organic/medicinal chemistry

BS/MS with 7+ years of experience

Tools

AI/ML tools

Laboratory automation

Parallel synthesis

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.

The Lilly Small Molecule Design (LSMD) group is an organization purpose-built to create molecules that make life better for people. Synthetic Molecule Design and Development (SMDD) is a critical function within Lilly Product Research & Development (PRD) responsible for the development of synthetic drug substances and drug products from the pre-clinical phase through commercialization. Together, LSMD and SMDD are responsible for the discovery and development of synthetic drug substances and drug products from lead optimization through commercialization. Our scientists and engineers develop innovative technical and business solutions to advance a dynamic portfolio that includes small molecules, peptides, oligonucleotides, and other emerging therapeutic modalities. By encouraging a hardworking, culturally diverse workforce that exhibits deep technical expertise, we deliver on these responsibilities and help bring the next generation of life-changing medicines to patients! Within these organizations, synthetic chemistry is at the heart of everything we do. In discovery, chemists design and synthesize the molecules that become breakthrough medicines by optimizing lead compounds into strong drug candidates. In development, chemists establish robust and sustainable routes and supply chains for the synthetic active ingredients that make up Lilly’s portfolio. We seek to use the best technologies to solve problems, and we endeavor to continuously improve the way we discover, develop, and manufacture therapeutic molecules.

The Advisor - Synthetic Chemistry will help deliver innovative technical solutions in either LSMD or SMDD as a medicinal chemist or process chemist, enabling deeper understanding of molecules, processes, and products across our diverse portfolio. The ideal candidate will possess a deep technical expertise and training in modern synthetic chemistry and use this knowledge to challenge the status quo and drive solutions to the most important scientific problems, in a fast-paced environment. Additionally, this individual will have a demonstrated track record of novel contributions to chemical design and mechanism-based problem solving as part of project driven goals such as synthesis of complex molecules, compound optimization, and/or methodology development.

Position responsibilities:

• Establish a productive laboratory program by personally conducting and managing internal and external research plans, independently planning, executing, and troubleshooting synthetic chemistry to deliver high-quality molecules that drive project decisions.
• Design and synthesize compounds and develop synthetic routes that address key project challenges, whether optimizing structure-activity relationships (SAR) for drug candidates (LSMD) or enabling scalable, robust processes for clinical and commercial supply (SMDD).
• Act as a technical point of contact for assigned projects, communicating a clear rationale for design and development priorities and proactively adjusting the scientific approach as new results emerge.
• Thrive at the interface between disciplines and be able to quickly move from one scientific challenge to another while navigating ambiguity.
• Collaborate with colleagues across disciplines to inform compound design, route selection, and prioritization.
• Embrace and celebrate diversity by using a relevant but unique background and set of experiences to contribute new ideas and thoughts to deliver solutions for a multidisciplinary team.
• Strong communication (oral, written), organizational, and leadership skills, including mentoring and developing junior colleagues and contributing to a collaborative Team Lilly culture.
• Demonstrate learning agility across modalities (small molecule, peptide, and oligonucleotide).
• Develop new synthetic routes and accelerate the design-make-test cycle using modern technologies, including parallel synthesis, continuous processing, automated reaction screening, high-throughput experimentation, AI/machine learning, and computational chemistry.
• Maintain data quality and integrity so that every experiment delivers confident, actionable information, including “negative” results that advance the project.
• Help drive and develop the compound design or commercial manufacturing strategy and, where applicable, collaborate with manufacturing partners to deliver robust chemical processes that are ultimately suitable for large-scale manufacturing.
• Engage externally through presentations and publications.
• Identify, partner, and develop chemistry innovations to complement existing capabilities and areas of focus and incorporate these innovations across the portfolio of assets.

Basic Qualifications:

• PhD in organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, or a related field; or BS/MS with 7+ years of equivalent experience
• Experience designing and executing synthetic chemistry programs relevant to drug discovery or development

Additional Skills/Preferences:

• Use of strong interpersonal skills for collaboration
• Demonstrated self-initiative and appropriate risk-taking
• Ability to learn and apply technical knowledge to meet changing project needs
• Prioritize multiple activities and handle ambiguity
• Familiarity with AI/ML tools, laboratory automation platforms, and parallel synthesis or other high-throughput chemistry methods
• Broad experience across multiple modalities or therapeutic areas is a plus

Additional Information:

Potential exposure to chemicals, allergens, and loud noises.

Travel: 0 to 10%

This is an onsite position located in the heart of Indianapolis, IN at our Lilly Technology Center-North (LTC-N) or Lilly Corporate Center (LCC).

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions. If you require accommodation to submit a resume for a position at Lilly, please complete the accommodation request form (https://careers.lilly.com/us/en/workplace-accommodation) for further assistance. Please note this is for individuals to request an accommodation as part of the application process and any other correspondence will not receive a response.

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 $129,000 - $211,200 Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance).

• 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.

#WeAreLilly At Lilly we strive to ensure our employees are part of a team that cares about them and our shared purpose of making life better for those around the world. How do we do this? We continue to look for ways to include, innovate, accelerate and deliver while maintaining integrity, excellence and respect for people. We hope that you seek to join us on our journey as we create medicine and deliver improved outcomes for patients across the globe! #WeAreLilly