Scientific Lead - Global Sample Management

100 Eli Lilly and Company; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 126,000 - 205,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan

Pension

Medical+Dental+Vision

Flexible benefits

Life insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

Lilly in Indianapolis seeks a Scientific Lead to oversee the Global Sample Management site, directing a blended team of staff and contractors in high‑throughput sample production and data stewardship.

You will drive capacity planning, SOPs, and cross‑functional collaboration with chemistry, biology, and computational groups, while advancing automation initiatives and ensuring compliant, high‑quality outputs for discovery teams.

Qualifications

• PhD in chemical, biological, or engineering sciences with 2+ years lab experience in compound or sample management.
• BS/MS in STEM with 5+ years lab experience in the same field.
• Experience with LIMS and laboratory automation is required.

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily sample management operations and throughput.
• Serve as primary operations contact for discovery scientists.
• Manage priorities, turnarounds, and capacity metrics.
• Maintain readiness of instrumentation and automation platforms.
• Provide day-to-day leadership and development for the site team.
• Ensure data integrity and compliance across LIMS systems.

Skills

Leadership

High-throughput

LIMS proficiency

Automation experience

GxP/compliance

Education

PhD in chemical/biological/engineering

BS/MS in STEM

Tools

Beckman Echo

Tecan

High Res Biosystems

Hamilton

Azenta

Cellario

Fluent Control

Job description

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. Our employees around the world work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to our communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. We give our best effort to our work, and we put people first. We’re looking for people who are determined to make life better for people around the world.

Position Summary

At Lilly, the molecules that become medicines start as ideas — and behind every breakthrough is a team that ensured the right compound reached the right assay at the right time. The work of Global Sample Management is foundational to drug discovery, and the people who do it well make science move faster. The Scientific Lead is responsible for operational leadership of Eli Lilly's Indianapolis sample management site within the Global Sample Management (GSM) organization. This role leads a blended team of full-time employees and contractors across a wide remit of sample activities in service of large-scale, high-throughput sample production and data stewardship, ensuring consistent, high-quality delivery to discovery teams across modalities. As GSM accelerates its adoption of intelligent automation and agentic workflows, the Scientific Lead will be at the center of that transformation — sustaining operational excellence today while actively shaping what sample management looks like tomorrow. This lab-based role serves as the primary point of escalation for site-level issues, a liaison between the bench and leadership, and a driver of process, capacity planning, and staff development. The ideal candidate brings strong scientific and operational credibility, people leadership experience, and a genuine appetite for building the next generation of high-throughput sample management capability. The level of appointment will be determined by the experience and qualifications of the selected candidate.

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily operations across all sample management functions, including compound registration, plate preparation, neat/weigh operations, liquid handling, and sample delivery to internal and external stakeholders.
• Serve as the primary operational point of contact for Indianapolis‑based discovery scientists, triaging requests, managing priorities, and ensuring turnaround commitments are met.
• Own site throughput, queue status, and processing time metrics, escalating capacity constraints and service disruptions to leadership with clear data and recommended actions.
• Maintain readiness across instrumentation and automation platforms, coordinating maintenance, troubleshooting, and vendor engagement as needed.
• Provide direct day‑to‑day leadership for the site team, including scheduling, task assignment, performance feedback, onboarding, and development planning to build capability across core GSM competencies.
• Foster a culture of safety, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with leadership on workforce planning, capacity forecasting, and succession considerations for key roles.
• Ensure data integrity, quality, and compliance across LIMS and related systems by maintaining accurate material records, supporting compliance expectations, and strengthening traceability through standardized workflows.
• Drive process improvement by identifying bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and risk points, and implementing workflow, automation, or robotics enhancements in collaboration with global sample management and cross‑functional partners.
• Document and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs) for critical LCC processes and ensure the team is trained to current standards.
• Engage with medicinal chemistry, biology, and computational teams to understand evolving sample management needs and proactively align GSM capabilities.
• Collaborate across the sample management network to share best practices, enable sample transfers, support network‑level capacity balancing, and represent Indianapolis operations in project discussions with clarity and confidence.
• Contribute to strategy and execution of the expansion of operations into new modalities.

Basic Requirements

• PhD in chemical, biological, or engineering sciences, or a STEM field AND 2+ years of hands‑on laboratory experience in compound management, sample management, or a closely related discipline;
• BS/MS in chemical, biological, or engineering sciences, or a STEM field AND 5+ years of hands‑on laboratory experience in compound management, sample management, or a closely related discipline.

Additional Skills and Preferences

• Proficiency with LIMS or comparable sample tracking and inventory management systems.
• Hands‑on experience with laboratory automation and instrumentation relevant to sample management (e.g., liquid handlers, acoustic dispensers, automated storage systems).
• Demonstrated experience leading or supervising a laboratory team, with direct accountability for people, priorities, and performance outcomes.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously in a high‑throughput environment.
• Deep knowledge of high‑throughput screening workflows and plate‑based assay preparation at scale.
• Demonstrated aptitude for agility in sustaining throughput commitments during staffing gaps, demand spikes, and system transitions.
• Exceptional communication skills—written and verbal—with the ability to translate operational data into clear summaries for scientific and leadership audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to work across multidisciplinary teams and build effective working relationships at all levels of the organization.
• Experience generating assay‑ready plates for high‑throughput screening across geographies.
• Experience with automation platforms common to compound management (Beckman Echo, Tecan, High Res Biosystems, Hamilton, Azenta) and associated control software (Cellario, Fluent Control or equivalent).
• Experience supporting or managing CRO logistics for sample shipment and external compound delivery.
• Exposure to multi‑modality sample types (small molecules, peptides, biologics, oligonucleotides, or ADCs) and associated handling and tracking requirements.
• Working knowledge of programming, data tools, or modern AI tools (Python, Excel, Claude, for example) used in a laboratory operations context.
• Exposure to high‑throughput screening or biochemical assay operations, with an understanding of how sample quality and format impact assay outcomes.
• Prior experience in a regulated or GxP‑adjacent environment with awareness of data integrity and compliance expectations.

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 Network, Black Employees at Lilly, Chinese Culture Network, Japanese International Leadership Network (JILN), Lilly India Network, Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), PRIDE (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN), Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL), enAble (for people with disabilities). Learn more about all of our groups.

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location.

The anticipated wage for this position is $126,000 - $204,600 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.

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!

#WeAreLilly