Global Sample Ops Lead: High-Throughput & Automation

BioSpace; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 126,000 - 205,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan

Pension

Vacation benefits

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Flexible benefits

Job summary

Lilly, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, seeks a Scientific Lead to oversee the Global Sample Management site. The role drives high-throughput sample production, data stewardship, and automation adoption, balancing science with operations.

The ideal candidate has strong scientific credibility, leadership experience, and a drive to shape the next generation of sample management capabilities across modalities. This is a site leadership role with broad scope.

Qualifications

• PhD or BS/MS with hands-on lab experience in compound management or sample management.
• Experience leading or supervising a laboratory team with accountability for people and outcomes.
• Proficiency with LIMS and automation platforms used in high-throughput sample management.

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily operations of sample management functions at the Indianapolis site.
• Triaging requests from discovery scientists and managing priorities to meet turnaround commitments.
• Own throughput, queue status, and processing time metrics with data-driven actions.
• Maintain readiness of instrumentation and automation platforms; coordinate maintenance and vendor engagement.
• Provide day-to-day leadership for the site team, including scheduling and development planning.
• Drive safety, accountability, and continuous improvement across the team.
• Collaborate with leadership on workforce planning and capacity forecasting.
• Ensure data integrity and compliance across LIMS and related systems.

Skills

LIMS proficiency

Laboratory automation

People leadership

High-throughput sample management

Data integrity & compliance

Communication skills

Python/Excel

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Education

PhD in chemical/biological/engineering sciences

BS/MS in chemical/biological/engineering sciences

Tools

Beckman Echo

Tecan

High Res Biosystems

Hamilton

Azenta

Cellario

Fluent Control

Job description

Lilly, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, seeks a Scientific Lead to oversee the Global Sample Management site. The role drives high-throughput sample production, data stewardship, and automation adoption, balancing science with operations.

The ideal candidate has strong scientific credibility, leadership experience, and a drive to shape the next generation of sample management capabilities across modalities. This is a site leadership role with broad scope.