Principal Associate Engineer - HSE (Environmental)

Eli Lilly and Company; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 65,000 - 169,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company bonus

401(k) plan

Health, dental, vision benefits

Job summary

Eli Lilly and Company in Houston, TX is seeking an Environmental Engineer - Associate to help build and sustain environmental programs during the greenfield startup of a new API manufacturing facility. You will support waste and water management, permitting, and regulatory requirements, partnering with Project Delivery, Engineering, Operations, and HSE to enable site readiness.

After startup, the role shifts to ongoing environmental support, ensuring compliance with federal, state, local

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental/engineering field.
• Minimum 5 years of environmental, engineering, manufacturing, or compliance experience.
• Authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement site environmental programs and waste/water management during startup and long-term compliance.
• Provide environmental input during design, construction, commissioning, and startup to ensure permits and regulatory requirements are incorporated.
• Support environmental permitting strategies and regulatory documentation; track commitments and prepare calculations and reports.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and HSE to integrate environmental requirements into startup readiness and procedures.
• Provide environmental technical support for API manufacturing operations after startup to maintain permit compliance and corporate standards.

Skills

Environmental engineering

Regulatory compliance

Waste management

Water management

Cross-functional collaboration

GMP operations

Technical writing

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor’s degree in environmental/engineering fields

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.

Job Position Overview

Lilly is constructing an advanced manufacturing facility to produce API molecules that support current and future products, including new modalities. The Environmental Engineer - Associate will support the development, implementation, and sustainment of site environmental programs, permits, plans, procedures, and management systems, with an emphasis on waste management and water compliance. During construction, commissioning, qualification, pre-startup, and startup, this role will partner with Project Delivery, Engineering, Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and HSE teams to help establish environmental compliance systems and integrate environmental requirements into site readiness activities. After startup, the role will transition into an operational environmental support position focused on supporting compliance with applicable federal, state, local, and corporate environmental requirements, including but not limited to TPDES, POTW, and RCRA; supporting assigned environmental programs; preparing required records and reports; and contributing to continuous improvement across site operations.

Responsibilities

Pre-Startup and Startup Phase

• Support the development and implementation of site environmental programs, procedures, training, tools, and management systems required for successful startup and long‑term compliance, including waste and water management programs.
• Provide environmental technical input during facility design, construction, commissioning, qualification, and startup to ensure applicable permit, regulatory, and corporate requirements are identified and incorporated before transition to GMP operations.
• Support environmental permitting strategies for projects and startup activities, including waste and water permitting; help identify required permits, review applications, track commitments, prepare regulatory documentation, and support required calculations, records, and reports.
• Partner with Engineering, Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and HSE teams to integrate environmental requirements into startup readiness plans, operational procedures, training, equipment handover, governance processes, and assigned environmental program implementation.
• Participate in design reviews, environmental reviews, process hazard reviews, change evaluations, and project impact assessments; support onboarding, training, and knowledge‑sharing activities to build environmental capability and reinforce compliant work practices.

Post-Startup Phase

• Provide environmental technical support for API manufacturing operations to help maintain compliance with applicable permits, regulations, corporate standards, and assigned environmental programs, including EPA and TCEQ hazardous and non‑hazardous waste requirements.
• Support the maintenance and administration of assigned environmental program documents, procedures, permits, records, tools, metrics, training materials, and compliance deliverables, including reports, permit renewals, regulatory documentation, emissions calculations, and waste records.
• Support operational areas in understanding and implementing environmental requirements, including troubleshooting, field engagement, periodic inspections, coaching, corrective and preventive action follow‑up, and waste classification and disposal outlet confirmation.
• Support evaluation of process changes, capital projects, chemical substances, deviations, and events to identify potential environmental impacts, required controls, permit implications, reporting obligations, and prevention or improvement opportunities.
• Participate in incident investigations, root cause analyses, environmental reviews, self‑assessments, audits, regulatory inspections, agency interactions, environmental release reporting on‑call rotation, metrics review, trend analysis, and continuous improvement planning.

Basic Qualifications

• Education Level: Bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, or related engineering field.
• Experience: Minimum of 5 years of environmental, engineering, manufacturing, or compliance‑related experience; experience in chemical or pharmaceutical manufacturing support preferred.
• Licenses: N/A
• Language Requirements: N/A
• Required Skills Testing: N/A
• 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

Preferred qualifications include experience supporting environmental programs, permitting, compliance reporting, inspections, audits, or environmental calculations in a manufacturing or industrial setting.

• Engineer in Training (EIT) or Professional Engineer (PE) certification preferred.
• Working knowledge of environmental regulatory requirements and programs such as air emissions, wastewater, stormwater, hazardous and non‑hazardous waste, spill prevention, refrigerants, and DOT hazardous materials.
• Experience preparing or supporting environmental records, regulatory reports, permit applications, permit renewals, calculations, or second‑person verifications.
• Previous experience interfacing with HSE‑related regulatory agencies, consultants, contractors, or corporate environmental resources.
• Strong technical writing, documentation, data analysis, and presentation skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively across cross‑functional teams and communicate environmental requirements effectively to diverse audiences.
• Strong organizational, time management, troubleshooting, and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic startup environment.
• Willingness to operate in a dynamic, greenfield startup environment requiring creativity, flexibility, and resilience as organizational systems and culture are being built.

Additional Information

This role supports a greenfield facility currently under construction. The scope and day‑to‑day responsibilities will evolve from the project/startup phase through full GMP operations.

• Candidate will provide environmental engineering and compliance support for site readiness, program development, permitting, operational support, and continuous improvement activities.
• Position Location: US: Houston TX
• Travel Percentage (%): 5%
• Shift Information: N/A

NOTE:

This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the job requirements at the time it was prepared. The job requirements of any position may change over time and may include additional responsibilities not specifically described in the job description. For GMP purposes, the job description should be updated for significant changes. As always, you should consult with your supervisor regarding your actual job responsibilities and any related duties that may be required for the position.

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

$65,250 - $169,400

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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