Manager - Operational Readiness

100 Eli Lilly and Company; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 65,000 - 161,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan

Pension

Vacation benefits

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Flexible benefits

Life insurance

Paid time off

Employee well-being programs

Job summary

Lilly is constructing an advanced manufacturing facility for API production in Houston, TX, seeking a leader to drive operational readiness across the project lifecycle. This role ensures timely startup into GMP manufacturing and integrates readiness with construction and qualification schedules.

Candidate will coordinate with site leaders, manage milestones, and uphold Lilly's safety and quality standards while delivering informed decisions to senior management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in biology, chemistry, engineering, or related scientific discipline.
• Minimum 3 years of manufacturing experience, preferably pharma/biotech.
• Experience in project management.

Responsibilities

• Partner with site leaders and subject matter experts to define and mature operational readiness scope across multiple technical areas.
• Lead cross-functional project teams to translate operational readiness scope into a fully integrated, milestone-driven schedule.
• Own end-to-end tracking of operational readiness deliverables, providing clear metrics and progress reporting to drive stakeholder accountability.
• Integrate operational readiness schedules with the overall project master schedule, enabling real-time critical path visibility.
• Bridge operational readiness activities with construction and qualification schedules, ensuring seamless handoffs.
• Serve as the site Subject Matter Expert for Project Management, embedding best practices and governance.
• Escalate concerns with timely and accurate status updates to leadership.
• Uphold Lilly's standards for safety, environmental stewardship, quality, and operational excellence.
• Lead structured problem-solving sessions to resolve technical and operational issues.

Skills

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Process improvement

Scheduling software

Education

Bachelor's degree in biology, chemistry, engineering, or related scientific discipline

Tools

Microsoft Project

Primavera P6

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.

About the Role

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. This role provides critical capacity and capability within the Operations function, with end-to-end accountability across the full project lifecycle for Operational Readiness at Lilly's advanced API manufacturing facility in Houston, TX. The position drives day-to-day issue resolution and continuous improvement, ensuring all operational readiness deliverables are rigorously planned, scheduled, and executed — enabling a successful, on-time startup into GMP manufacturing operations at this first-of-its-kind greenfield site.

Primary Responsibilities

• Partner with site leaders and subject matter experts to define and mature operational readiness scope across multiple technical areas, ensuring alignment from concept through execution.
• Lead cross-functional project teams to translate operational readiness scope into a fully integrated, milestone-driven schedule.
• Own end-to-end tracking of operational readiness deliverables, providing clear metrics and progress reporting to drive stakeholder accountability and informed decision-making.
• Integrate operational readiness schedules with the overall project master schedule, enabling real-time critical path visibility and proactive risk identification.
• Bridge operational readiness activities with construction and qualification schedules, ensuring seamless handoffs and no gaps in the path to GMP startup.
• Serve as the site Subject Matter Expert for Project Management, embedding best practices, tools, and governance standards across all functional areas.
• Proactively escalate concerns, providing timely and accurate operational status updates to leadership.
• Champion and uphold Lilly's standards for safety, environmental stewardship, quality, and operational excellence in all aspects of the role.
• Lead structured problem-solving sessions with cross-functional teams to resolve technical and operational issues, drive root-cause analysis, and implement durable corrective actions.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in biology, chemistry, engineering, or related scientific discipline.
• At least 3 years of experience in manufacturing (preferred in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry).
• Project management experience.
• 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.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to adjust quickly to changing priorities and to influence decision-making on complex technical issues.
• CAPM or PMP Certification.
• Experience with capital project execution and operational readiness in a GMP environment.
• Ability to make critical decisions 7 days/week and effectively communicate decisions to staff and upper management.
• Strong written and verbal communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills.
• Experience utilizing project scheduling software.
• Ability to work as a team leader to execute multi-disciplined, cross-functional projects.
• Must exhibit a team-first attitude.

Equal Opportunity / Accessibility

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.

Employee Resource Groups

• 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 $65,250 - $160,600. 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)

Work Location and Contract

Location: Houston, TX. Contract: Full-time.

Company Culture

#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!