Postdoctoral Scientist – Synthetic & Medicinal Chemistry

Eli Lilly and Company; Boulder (CO); On-site; USD 58,000 - 123,200; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus potential

Comprehensive benefits

Occasional travel Boulder–Louisville

Job summary

Eli Lilly and Company in Boulder, CO is seeking a Postdoctoral Scientist in Synthetic & Medicinal Chemistry to advance discovery through novel targets and scalable methods.

The role combines modern synthetic chemistry with enabling technologies, including photochemistry/electrochemistry and flow processing, within a multidisciplinary team and a culture that values scientific publishing and collaboration.

Qualifications

• PhD in synthetic/medicinal chemistry or closely related field.
• Proficiency with analytical purification and characterization methods (NMR, HPLC, LC–MS).
• Experience aligning chemistry with process development and automation may be beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Design and synthesize novel compounds; develop new synthetic methodologies.
• Purify materials and characterize compounds using standard techniques.
• Apply single‑electron chemistry approaches and flow processing for scale‑up.
• Collaborate within a multidisciplinary team and communicate results.

Skills

Synthetic chemistry

Analytical techniques

Lab automation

Education

PhD in related field

Tools

NMR

HPLC

LC-MS

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.

Postdoctoral Scientist – Synthetic & Medicinal Chemistry

Company Overview

At Lilly, we unite caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We are a global healthcare leader headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, discovering, developing and delivering medicines that help people live longer, healthier and more active lives. Our employees around the world work to improve the understanding and management of disease, and to give back to our communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. We give our best effort to our work, we put people first, and we are looking for people who are determined to make life better for people around the world.

Position Summary

This Postdoctoral Scientist position offers the opportunity to work at the interface of medicinal and process chemistry within a multidisciplinary team of chemists, analytical scientists, and engineers. The scientist will design and synthesize novel chemical targets, develop and apply new synthetic methodologies, and build deep insights into structure‑function relationships that rapidly advance discovery and development efforts. We are especially interested in candidates who can pair a strong foundation in modern synthetic chemistry with emerging enabling technologies — in particular single‑electron chemistry (photochemistry and/or electrochemistry) and a strong engineering mindset for reaction scale‑up, continuous processing, and laboratory automation. This role enables the researcher to conduct innovative chemistry relevant to our pipeline while generating data that can be published externally, creating value for both Eli Lilly and the scientist.

Responsibilities

• Working within a scientific team, conceptualize and execute new synthetic methodologies to rapidly screen and optimize relevant reactions.
• Purify starting materials, intermediates, and final compounds using modern separation techniques (e.g., flash chromatography, crystallization, preparative HPLC).
• Characterize reaction components, starting materials, and products by modern analytical techniques including NMR, HPLC, LC–MS, and related methods.
• Apply and develop single‑electron chemistry approaches — photochemistry and/or electrochemistry — to enable new bond disconnections and methodology.
• Conduct chemical development using modern technologies such as continuous (flow) processing, automated/high‑throughput reaction screening, and computational chemistry.
• Build, maintain, and troubleshoot laboratory instrumentation and equipment, contributing engineering insight to experimental design and scale‑up.
• Review assay and analytical data, communicate results, and discuss the project impact of new findings.
• Author peer‑reviewed external publications as a primary work output and present work in team and scientific meetings.
• Uphold laboratory safety standards and safe chemical‑handling practices, and generate accurate, descriptive lab records to industry standards in a timely manner.

Basic Qualifications

• PhD in synthetic chemistry, organic chemistry, chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, or a closely related 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.

Core chemistry skills (required)

• Strong background in modern synthetic and/or medicinal chemistry with hands‑on bench expertise.
• Proficiency with standard analytical and purification techniques, including NMR, HPLC, and LC–MS.

Strongly Preferred

• Single‑electron chemistry: demonstrated experience in photochemistry and/or electrochemistry, including reaction setup, optimization, and mechanistic understanding.
• Engineering skills: strong engineering aptitude applied to chemistry — e.g., continuous/flow chemistry, reaction engineering and scale‑up, process development, or design and integration of automated/instrumented systems.

Additional Preferences

• Experience or familiarity with parallel reaction design, design of experiments (DoE), or high‑throughput synthesis and screening.
• Experience or familiarity with data science, and with Python, R, or other coding languages.
• Strong interest in creating and advancing new technologies in predictive and data‑driven chemistry.
• Demonstrated self‑initiative, appropriate risk‑taking, and a continual‑learner mindset.
• Demonstrated proficiency in scientific writing and publication in peer‑reviewed journals, along with strong scientific presentation skills.
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, analytical, documentation, and multitasking skills, with the ability to prioritize and manage ambiguity in a fast‑paced environment.
• Demonstrated track record of creative, mechanism‑based problem solving and effective teamwork.

Additional Information

• Work environment is a laboratory setting; the physical demands of this job are consistent with a lab environment.
• Potential exposure to chemicals, allergens, and loud noises.
• Occasional travel between Boulder and Louisville sites may be required.
• Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

Accommodation and Equal‑Opportunity Statement

Lilly is a proud EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate in hiring or employment based on race, color, religion, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other legally protected status. Lilly is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to perform essential job functions.

Compensation

The anticipated wage for this position is $58,000 – $123,200. Full‑time employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending on company and individual performance).

Benefits

Lilly offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees, including 401(k) participation, pension, vacation and leave benefits, medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, well‑being benefits (employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities). Benefits are subject to change at Lilly’s discretion.