Engineer - Drug Substance Synthetic Molecule Design and Development

BioSpace; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 66,000 - 172,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company bonus

401(k) plan

Health insurance

Vacation benefits

Pension

Job summary

Lilly, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, seeks a ChemE for synthetic molecule design and process development. The role focuses on developing and optimizing crystallization processes, PAT integration, and scale-up for drug substances and products.

You will collaborate with chemists, engineers, and formulation scientists to deliver robust, well-characterized processes supporting clinical trials and commercialization. Travel 0–10% is possible, with a strong emphasis on safety and quality.

Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in chemical engineering or closely related field.
• Authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis; Lilly does not sponsor visas.

Responsibilities

• Generate process design and unit operation knowledge for small molecules.
• Ensure successful scale-up of processes.
• Design and execute laboratory experiments for crystallization process design and optimization.
• Develop drug substance processes and crystallization to meet properties and purity requirements.
• Leverage PAT and analytical technology for robust crystallization processes.
• Characterize reaction kinetics and process separations with modeling.

Skills

Synthetic organic chemistry

Crystallization design

PAT and analytical techniques

Problem solving

Communication skills

Project prioritization

Education

B.S. or M.S. in chemical engineering

Tools

XRPD

DSC

TGA

FBRM

Image analysis

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.

Synthetic Molecule Design and Development (SMDD) is involved in key activities for the development of synthetic active pharmaceutical ingredients from pre-clinical phases through commercialization of drug substances and drug products. Our scientists and engineers develop key technical and business solutions across the portfolio using their deep technical expertise to accelerate testing of the clinical hypothesis and overall drug development. SMDD delivers on these responsibilities by recognizing diverse talent and cultures are necessary to bring the next generation of life changing medicines to patients.

Our team is looking for creative and energetic candidates to facilitate unit operation development and process optimization of synthetic drug candidates to support clinical trials, regulatory submission, and product commercialization. The position presents an opportunity to work on dynamic teams comprised of process chemists, analytical chemists, formulation scientists, and engineers.

Position Responsibilities

• Generate process design and unit operation knowledge based on engineering principles for small molecules, and other emerging therapeutic modalities.
• Ensure successful scale-up of processes through fundamental engineering principles and equipment knowledge.
• Design and execute laboratory experiments, including manual and automated high- and low-throughput reactors, in support of crystallization process design and optimization.
• Develop drug substance processes and manufacturing technologies, with a focus on defining the physical properties of the API required for the drug product and designing crystallization processes to fulfill physical property and chemical purity requirements.
• Leverage and develop process analytical technology (PAT), continuous processing, mechanistic models, and novel formulation platforms to develop well-understood and robust crystallization processes capable of enhancing or tailoring API physical properties.
• Apply fundamental engineering and business principles to design and characterize synthetic processes. Use numerical engineering modeling tools to characterize reaction kinetics, reaction mechanisms, and process separations.
• Engage in generating creative solutions for improving existing processes and the creation of novel ones.
• Transfer process technical information to internal and external manufacturing sites. Provide technical oversight to external collaboration partners for laboratory and manufacturing activities.
• Author and maintain documentation such as laboratory notebooks and technical reports.
• Design effective and efficient process and equipment flow strategies, ensuring equipment is selected which is suitable and appropriate for its intended use, given the specific needs of the process.
• Stay informed about new technology and best practices. Propose, justify, evaluate, and implement new equipment, processing techniques, and technologies.
• Utilize technology to improve safety, quality, and productivity, both in development and manufacturing.
• Publish and share original research externally through peer-reviewed articles and conferences.

Minimum Qualifications

• B.S or M.S. in chemical engineering or closely related engineering field.
• 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 Skills/Preferences

• Strong technical skills in synthetic organic chemistry with experience as a hands-on technical contributor in a laboratory environment.
• Utilization of chemical engineering fundamentals towards crystallization process design: heat and mass transfer, thermodynamics, crystallization and precipitation kinetics, solid–liquid separations, drying, particle size reduction (milling), mixing theory, and experimental design.
• Experience with online and offline analytical techniques and PAT such as image analysis tools, IR, Raman, FBRM, and solid-state characterization techniques such as XRPD, DSC, TGA, particle size analysis, and microscopy.
• Demonstrated problem solving skills.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and ability to collaborate in a team environment.
• Ability to prioritize multiple activities and handle ambiguity.

Additional Information

• Travel: 0 to 10%.
• Location: Indianapolis, IN; Lilly Technology Center – North (LTC-N)

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

$66,000 - $171,600

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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