Scientist - Cell Culture Automation

100 Eli Lilly and Company; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 74,000 - 191,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance bonus

401(k) plan

Medical benefits

Paid vacation

Job summary

Lilly is seeking a highly experienced cell culture automation scientist to join the Automation Engineering team at the Boston Seaport R&D site. The role focuses on deploying and qualifying automated cell culture systems to improve throughput, reproducibility, and scalability in RNA Therapeutics workflows.

Reporting to the Director of Automation Engineering, you will own biological qualification, develop protocols across multiple formats, supervise automated liquid handling, monitor cell health,

Qualifications

• BS or MS with 8+ years in cell biology or related field, with hands-on automated workflows.
• Experience authoring biological qualification reports and SOPs.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary scientific interface between the automation engineering team and cell culture scientists, ensuring biological requirements are captured in automated workflows.
• Independently own and implement biological qualification of automated cell culture platforms from study design through final report sign-off.
• Develop and optimize cell culture protocols for automated execution across multiple well-plate formats and cell lines.
• Operate automated liquid handling platforms to implement, monitor, and troubleshoot cell culture workflows.
• Perform ongoing cell health monitoring including mycoplasma testing and image-based confluency/viability assessment.
• Maintain complete, traceable experimental records in Benchling and contribute to continuous platform improvement.

Skills

Cell culture expertise

Automation experience

Biological qualification

Communication skills

Education

BS/MS in cell biology / biochemistry / related field

Tools

Hamilton automation systems

Benchling

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. We are seeking a highly experienced cell culture automation scientist to join Lilly's Automation Engineering team, enabling automated cell culture initiatives within the Genetic Medicine RNA Therapeutics program at the Boston Seaport R&D site. Reporting to the Director of Automation Engineering in RNA Therapeutics, this role operates within a multidisciplinary team responsible for deploying and qualifying automated cell culture systems that improve the throughput, reproducibility, and scalability of RNA discovery workflows.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as the primary scientific interface between the automation engineering team and cell culture scientists, ensuring biological requirements are accurately captured and implemented in automated workflows
• Independently own and implement biological qualification of automated cell culture platforms from study design through final report sign-off
• Develop and optimize cell culture protocols adapted for automated execution across multiple well‑plate formats and cell line types
• Operate automated liquid handling platforms to implement, monitor, and troubleshoot cell culture workflows in routine and qualification contexts
• Perform ongoing cell health monitoring including routine mycoplasma testing and image‑based confluency and viability assessment
• Identify and resolve biological and operational performance issues on automated platforms, distinguishing system variability from biological variability
• Establish documentation, SOPs, and reusable workflow standards to support maintainability, reproducibility, and scalability of automated cell culture operations
• Enable knowledge transfer to internal scientists to support long‑term operation of qualified platforms
• Partner with automation engineers to refine platform configuration, liquid handling parameters, and workflow integration based on biological performance data
• Maintain complete, traceable experimental records in Benchling in accordance with Lilly documentation standards
• Contribute to continuous improvement of platform reliability, biological performance, and workflow coverage as the automation program expands

Basic Qualifications:

• BS or MS with 8+ years, of industry experience in cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, or a related scientific field, with hands‑on responsibility for automated cell culture workflows.

Additional Skills/Preferences:

• Demonstrated track record of independently driving biological qualification or process validation studies on automated liquid handling platforms in an industry setting.
• Expert‑level mammalian cell culture across multiple cell line types and well‑plate formats, with direct experience adapting protocols for automated execution.
• Hands‑on experience operating Hamilton or equivalent automated liquid handling systems in a cell culture context, including troubleshooting of liquid handling behavior and workflow performance.
• Experience qualifying automated cell culture workflows spanning passaging, seeding, media exchange, feeding, sampling, expansion, harvest, and imaging steps.
• Experience with routine cell health monitoring methods including mycoplasma testing and image‑based confluency or viability analysis.
• Proven ability to author biological qualification reports, SOPs, and technical documentation to a standard suitable for internal audit or regulatory review.
• Experience with adherent human cell lines relevant to gene therapy or RNA therapeutics research environments.
• Experience operating in fast‑paced R&D environments with defined milestones and evolving requirements.
• Proficiency in ELN platforms such as Benchling or equivalent, and standard data analysis tools.
• Strong communication skills and demonstrated ability to work effectively with both scientific and engineering partners.
• Ability to operate as a senior individual contributor with full ownership of assigned biological workstreams and independent decision‑making within scope.

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions.

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 $73,500 - $191,400 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.

#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! #WeAreLilly