Associate Director – Maintenance

100 Eli Lilly and Company; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 123,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan

Pension

Vacation benefits

Medical benefits

Flexible benefits

Life insurance

Job summary

Lilly is building a greenfield API manufacturing startup in Houston, TX, aiming to scale to full GMP operations. The Associate Director – Maintenance leads the maintenance org, staffing, planning, and control of CMMS and spare parts, ensuring compliance, safety, and reliability as the site transitions from startup to steady-state operations.

The role requires a strong engineering background with 7+ years in manufacturing maintenance and 3+ years in leadership, plus expertise in SAP/Maximo and a

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or equivalent.
• Minimum 7+ years in engineering/maintenance in manufacturing.
• At least 3+ years in a management/leadership role.

Responsibilities

• Lead, supervise, and coach the maintenance organization and staff to ensure qualification and training.
• Own maintenance staffing, recruitment, capability development and succession planning for GMP operations.
• Ensure maintenance planning, scheduling and work completion meet production needs.
• Own CMMS, stores and spare parts inventory, including contractor oversight.
• Provide maintenance input to site functions and participate in asset performance reviews.
• Execute inspection and preventive maintenance per PSM and mechanical integrity programs.

Skills

Maintenance leadership

Project management

Team coaching

Regulatory compliance

Lean principles

Decision making

Cross-functional collaboration

Maintenance planning

Reliability knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Chemical, Electrical or Mechanical)

Tools

SAP

Maximo

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 is currently constructing an advanced manufacturing facility for production of API molecules located in Houston, TX. This facility is intended to provide APIs for current and future products, including new modalities.

This is a unique opportunity to be a part of the site technical team for the startup of a greenfield manufacturing site, and the successful candidate will help to build the organization, the facility and the culture to enable a successful startup into GMP manufacturing operations.

The Associate Director – Maintenance provides leadership and direction to the maintenance organization supporting Houston API manufacturing, ensuring that maintenance deliverables are sufficiently resourced and qualified to support Small Molecule and Oligonucleotide production goals and the site business agenda.

The role holder is directly responsible for maintenance planning, scheduling, and work execution, and for the systems, materials, and contract resources required to deliver that work, executing the maintenance strategy defined by the reliability function.

During the project delivery and startup phase (expected 2029–2030), leadership roles will be fluid and dynamic, requiring significant collaboration and resilience as the site scales to full GMP manufacturing operations.

Following startup, the role holder is responsible for the day-to-day effectiveness of maintenance support and for planning the function across a six to twelve month horizon.

Responsibilities

• Lead, supervise, and coach the maintenance organization, including maintenance supervisors, planner/schedulers, craft staff, and contract resources, completing performance management and development planning and ensuring staff are qualified, trained, and authorized to perform their assigned work.
• Own maintenance staffing, including recruitment, resource planning, capability development, and succession planning, and build the organization, systems, and business processes required to support GMP operations, leveraging existing Lilly knowledge and practices while incorporating external experience and lean principles, and support the project team as they deliver the facility to the site organization.
• Ensure maintenance planning, scheduling, and work completion meet production and site business needs, executing the preventive and predictive maintenance strategy defined by the reliability function.
• Own the computerized maintenance management system, maintenance stores, and spare parts inventory, including contractor selection and oversight, and ensure the accuracy and integrity of the work order, equipment history, and failure coding data relied upon for reliability analysis and retained as GMP records.
• Provide maintenance work coordination in support of all manufacturing areas and site objectives, provide maintenance input to key functional groups and partners, and participate in the site asset performance review forum led by the reliability function.
• Execute inspection, testing, and preventive maintenance activities for Process Safety Management (PSM) covered equipment in accordance with the mechanical integrity program, and nurture a safety culture through personal actions and coaching of the team.
• Set and reinforce maintenance standards in partnership with the engineering function and the Engineering Tech Center, ensure compliance with corporate maintenance performance expectations including preventive maintenance execution performance, and ensure equipment and facilities are maintained in a compliant and qualified state.
• Identify, track, and report key indicators of maintenance performance, support site governance through participation and leadership in cross-functional meetings and initiatives, and represent maintenance in site expense, capital, and resource planning processes in compliance with the Financial Responsibility and Authorization Policy (FRAP).

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Chemical, Electrical or Mechanical Engineering preferred).
• 7+ years of experience in engineering and/or maintenance in a manufacturing environment.
• 3+ years of management or people leadership experience.

Additional Skills/Preferences

• Previous experience in maintenance leadership at an FDA regulated, GMP, and Process Safety Management covered manufacturing site.
• Previous experience with active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing, including small molecule or oligonucleotide unit operations.
• Proficient in computerized maintenance management systems such as SAP or Maximo, including work management, planning and scheduling, and maintenance data governance.
• Prior work with maintenance planning and scheduling, shutdown and turnaround execution, maintenance stores management, and contractor oversight.
• Proven ability to build and sustain a team culture focused on customer responsiveness and a Safety First, Quality Always mindset, and to train, mentor, and develop supervisors and craft staff.
• Proven ability to make independent decisions and influence diverse groups across functions, and to provide innovative solutions that leverage ideas from other functional areas.
• Proficient in maintenance management practice at a level recognized by industry certification such as CMRP or CMM.

Additional Information

Occasional access to manufacturing and processing areas where personal protective equipment and gowning are required per applicable procedures. This position is associated with a new advanced manufacturing facility currently under construction; startup is expected between 2029 and 2030. During the project design and delivery phase, the role may partner with the corporate Global Facilities Delivery (GFD) organization on facility and equipment delivery, and transitions to a fully site-based function upon project completion. During the startup phase, role scope and responsibilities will be fluid and may evolve as the organization, facility, and site culture are built out.

Position Location

US: Houston TX

Travel Percentage

Travel up to 20% of the time; may include domestic and/or international travel.

Shift Information

The standard schedule is Monday through Friday, days, with flexibility expected during the project delivery and startup phase. The role holder supports a 24/7 manufacturing operation, including on-call coverage outside standard hours as operations begin.

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.

EEO & Diversity

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.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

• 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)
• Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL)

Compensation

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is $123,000 - $180,400 Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance).

Benefits

• 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!