Associate Vice President — Construction Management & HSE

Eli Lilly and Company; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 201,000 - 295,000; Full time

Job summary

Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, IN is seeking a senior leader to establish and grow the GFD owner-side Construction Management and HSE capability across mega-capital programs. You will lead construction engineering disciplines, QA/QC, contracts, and labor relations worldwide, ensuring safety, quality, and schedule adherence from design through startup.

The role requires extensive leader- ship in regulated industrial environments, notable EPC oversight, and a proven ability to build

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science Engineering, Construction Management, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 15 years of experience in construction leadership roles on major capital projects (> $1B).

Responsibilities

• Lead owner-side construction management and HSE expertise across mega-programs.
• Provide senior leadership for construction management, engineering, HSE, QA/QC, contracts, and labor relations.
• Own safety, cost, schedule, constructability, and quality accountability on projects.
• Direct field oversight of EPC/EPCm contractors, including performance, RFIs, change orders, and claims.

Skills

Construction leadership

Owner-side oversight

HSE program experience

Contract management

Labor relations

GMP familiarity

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor of Science in Engineering or Construction Management

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 - 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

The Global Facilities Delivery (GFD) Organization delivers new and renovated capital assets and technology around the world. Many of the assets delivered focus on medical innovation and delivering innovative solutions to patients; others expand the supply of existing medicines or make the supply chain more robust.

GFD is building owner-led construction capability as a core differentiator across its mega-capital portfolio. This role establishes and Technically leads Construction Engineering, Construction Management, Contractor Management, Construction QA/QC and Construction HSE as the recognized owner of technical capability; leading by example to establish all aspects of Construction expertise that will allow for a successful buildout of the organization, standards, and field-execution that proactively impact scope, schedule, quality, and safety across the portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Establish, lead, and grow GFD’s owner-side Construction Management & HSE expertise and organization, building internal capability to manage and control construction execution by discipline through the full life of each major project.
• Provide senior leadership and expertise for construction management, construction engineering (CSA, mechanical, electrical, I&C), construction HSE, Construction QA/QC, contracts management, and labor relations across greenfield and brownfield mega-programs.
• Own owner-side accountability for construction safety performance (leading and lagging HSE indicators), field cost and schedule control, constructability, and quality - ensuring deviations are caught and resolved before they compound rather than accounted for after.
• Direct the owner’s field oversight of EPC and construction contractors: subcontractor performance, change-order discipline, RFI resolution, earned-value verification, and independent challenge of contractor claims, in coordination with Project Controls.
• Lead construction workforce strategy across union and non-union environments, including site-specific industrial relations on greenfield sites.
• Set and enforce construction execution standards, HSE programs, and field quality (QA/QC) requirements as repeatable owner capability across the portfolio.
• Partner with Design Leadership, Project Management, Project Controls, Procurement, C&Q, and Site Heads to integrate construction execution from initial design through startup, ensuring constructability is built in early and operability is protected in the field.
• Responsible for all construction KPIs of project delivery, ensuring appropriate governance is in place; coordinate with leadership and with strategic EPC partners to align incentives and continuity of key personnel across programs.
• Work with management to develop business plans, including one- and multiple-year resource, expense, and capital forecasts for the construction capability.
• Develop a self-sustaining owner construction talent pipeline; hiring, developing, and retaining construction engineers and leads sized to the sustained capital baseline beyond the surge.
• Form relationships with other owners, major contractors and industry organizations to benchmark construction best practices, safety performance, technologies, and delivery models.

Basic Requirements / Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science Engineering, Construction Management, or a field related to project/construction management, or equivalent experience.
• 15 years previous experience in construction leadership roles, including owner- or contractor-side construction management of major capital projects (>$1B projects).

Additional Skills / Preferences

• Construction management leadership expertise and experience in large-scale regulated industrial environments — pharmaceutical, biotech, or adjacent capital-intensive sectors such as petrochemical, refining, semiconductor, or power.
• Demonstrated expertise and experience leading owner-side construction oversight of EPC / EPCm contractors on megaprojects, including field execution, HSE, and contractor performance management.
• Experience with construction HSE programs and a demonstrated record of strong safety performance in active construction environments.
• Expertise and experience in construction contracts management and labor relations, including union workforce environments and greenfield site execution.
• Familiarity with GMP-regulated construction and the interface between construction completion, commissioning, and qualification (C&Q).
• Demonstrated ability to lead and manage both Lilly and non-Lilly teams and to influence personnel and organizations without direct authority.
• Demonstrated ability to achieve results through people, including building a new organization and capability.
• Facilitate issue resolution, anticipate changes, and implement safely with quality, speed, and value.
• Effective communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to hold standards under execution pressure.
• Experience across most of the following: construction engineering disciplines (CSA, mechanical, piping, electrical, I&C), construction quality, project controls, scheduling, safety, and procurement.
• Professional Engineer, CCM, or equivalent technical certification (preferred).
• Past experience working and/or living outside the U.S.; competency in a foreign language(s) (preferred).
• Demonstrated willingness to embrace Operational Excellence and to be an agent for change.

Additional Information

• Travel required (30%-50%), with periods of elevated travel to active construction sites.
• Position can be located in Indianapolis, IN or may consider remote USA with higher level of travel.

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 $201,000 - $294,800.

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.

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