AI Masters ML Engineering Intern

100 Eli Lilly and Company; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 77,000 - 94,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Free parking

Lilly LIFE fitness center access

Subsidized housing

Job summary

Lilly in Indianapolis, Indiana, invites a Master’s student in CS/Engineering/Math to join its Advanced Intelligence team for a 10–12 week full-time internship. You will contribute to AI-enabled drug discovery platforms, develop scalable ML systems, and work under senior engineers to deliver production-ready code.

You will gain exposure to agent orchestration, model serving, data pipelines, and observability, while growing your technical depth in pharma R&D context.

Qualifications

• Pursuing a Master’s degree in CS/Engineering/Math with 2 years in undergrad or enrolled in a graduate program.
• Coursework or project experience in ML, distributed systems, data engineering, or software design.
• Familiar with cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure) or containerization (Docker/Kubernetes).
• Available for 10–12 weeks full-time engagement May–Sept 2027.
• Authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to design, implementation, and testing of platform capabilities in your domain.
• Build and ship features for an AIOS platform under mentor guidance.
• Write well-tested production-quality code following standards.
• Participate in code reviews, design discussions, and sprint ceremonies.
• Gain hands-on experience with agent orchestration, model serving, data pipelines and observability.

Skills

Machine learning

Distributed systems

Data engineering

Software design

Cloud platforms

Docker

Kubernetes

Git

Python

Go

Education

Master's degree in CS/Engineering/Math

Currently enrolled in graduate program

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Git

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.

Organization Overview

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.

Functional Overview

Tech@Lilly builds and maintains capabilities using cutting edge technologies like most prominent tech companies. What differentiates Tech@Lilly is that we redefine what’s possible through tech to advance our purpose — creating medicines that make life better for people around the world, like data driven drug discovery and connected clinical trials. We hire the best technology professionals from a variety of backgrounds, so they can bring an assortment of knowledge, skills, and diverse thinking to deliver innovative solutions in every area of our business. The Advanced Intelligence organization sits at the forefront of Lilly's AI transformation, driving artificial intelligence and machine learning to revolutionize how we discover, develop, and deliver medicines to patients. Leading initiatives from AI-enabled laboratories to Kernel Lilly—the AI-enabled research infrastructure stack serving as the operating system for pharmaceutical research—to strategic partnerships with world-class technology companies, to proprietary foundation models trained on Lilly's research data, this team is building the technical foundation for AI-powered R&D. With deep expertise in cutting‑edge AI technologies and pharmaceutical science, Advanced Intelligence is transforming Lilly into an AI‑first drug discovery organization, accelerating breakthrough treatments to patients.

Basic Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or related field.
• Completion of at least 2 years (junior standing) in an undergraduate program, or currently enrolled in a graduate program.
• Coursework or project experience in at least one of: machine learning, distributed systems, data engineering, or software systems design.
• Familiarity with at least one cloud platform (AWS, GCP, Azure) or containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Available for 10–12 weeks full‑time engagement between May–September 2027.
• Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full‑time basis. Lilly will not provide support for or sponsor work authorization or visas for this role, including but not limited to F‑1 CPT, F‑1 OPT, F‑1 STEM OPT, J‑1, H‑1B, TN, O‑1, E‑3, H‑1B1, or L‑1.

Additional Preferences

• Prior experience using AI tools (e.g., generative AI platforms, automation tools, or AI‑assisted research/analytics tools) in an academic, project, or work setting.

How You’ll Succeed

• Contribute to the design, implementation, and testing of platform capabilities within your assigned domain.
• You will build and ship features for an AIOS platform within your assigned domain, under guidance from your mentor.
• You will write well‑tested, production‑quality code following team architectural standards and design patterns.
• You will participate in code reviews, design discussions, and sprint ceremonies.
• Learning & Growth: develop technical depth in ML systems engineering while gaining pharma R&D context.
• You will gain hands‑on experience with one or more of the following: agent orchestration frameworks, model serving, data pipelines, and observability infrastructure.
• You will learn how architectural decisions impact platform performance, scalability, and usability across research use cases.
• You will document your work and share learnings with the broader team.
• Collaboration work effectively within a cross‑functional engineering team.
• You will pair with senior engineers on complex problems, asking questions and contributing ideas.
• You will participate in stand‑ups, retrospectives, and planning sessions.
• You will present your intern project outcomes to the team and leadership at the end of the rotation.

Learning & Growth

• Develop technical depth in ML systems engineering while gaining pharma R&D context.
• You will gain hands‑on experience with one or more of the following: agent orchestration frameworks, model serving, data pipelines, and observability infrastructure.
• You will learn how architectural decisions impact platform performance, scalability, and usability across research use cases.
• You will document your work and share learnings with the broader team.

Collaboration

• Work effectively within a cross‑functional engineering team.
• You will pair with senior engineers on complex problems, asking questions and contributing ideas.
• You will participate in stand‑ups, retrospectives, and planning sessions.
• You will present your intern project outcomes to the team and leadership at the end of the rotation.

What You Should Bring

• Curiosity about AI/ML systems and how they’re built at scale.
• Foundational programming skills in Python, Go, or TypeScript.
• Exposure to machine learning concepts (coursework, personal projects, or research).
• Familiarity with version control (Git) and collaborative development workflows.
• Strong communication skills — ability to ask good questions and document what you learn.
• Self‑direction balanced with knowing when to ask for help.
• Interest in pharmaceutical research or life sciences applications of AI (preferred, not required).

Interns will receive 1 week of paid time off during the Lilly summer shut‑down (July 5th – July 9th).

1:1 mentoring from an experienced professional in the function.

Interns will receive a competitive salary and free parking at their work site, as well as access to Lilly’s LIFE fitness center, bike garage, and many other discounts.

If the intern’s job position requires a move from another location, Lilly will provide subsidized housing.

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 $85,000 (Masters) annually.

Full‑time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance).

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.

#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