Senior Scientist/Principal Scientist, Upstream Process Development

BioSpace; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 80,000 - 169,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus program

Comprehensive benefits

401(k) plan

Professional development

Job summary

Lilly, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is advancing biologically derived products through BR&D. This hands-on, lab-based role develops and optimizes processes for recombinant proteins and genetic medicines, with emphasis on scale-up, technology transfer, and cross-functional collaboration to support clinical and commercial manufacturing.

The successful candidate will design experiments, analyze data, and communicate insights to teams while supporting automation and emerging

Qualifications

• Experience operating cell culture in shake flasks and small-scale bioreactors.
• Ability to design and execute experiments to evaluate processes and equipment.
• Strong written and verbal communication; capable of cross-functional collaboration.
• Familiarity with regulatory documentation and technology transfer activities.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute experiments to evaluate and optimize processes and equipment.
• Operate cell culture in shake flasks and small-scale bioreactors.
• Analyze data and present scientific insights to project teams.
• Author technical reports, protocols, and regulatory documentation.
• Support equipment qualification, scale-up, and tech transfer of bioprocesses.

Skills

Cell culture

Bioprocess development

Analytical skills

Regulatory documentation

Communication

Automation

AI tools

Education

B.S./M.S. in chemical/biological engineering or related

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.

Overview

At Lilly, we serve an extraordinary purpose. We make a difference for people around the globe by discovering, developing and delivering medicines that help them live longer, healthier, more active lives. Not only do we deliver breakthrough medications, but you also can count on us to develop creative solutions to support communities through philanthropy and volunteerism.

Position Summary

This role is within Bioproduct Research and Development (BR&D), a multidisciplinary organization that develops and optimizes biologically derived products. Upstream Process Development engineers develop and optimize processes for recombinant therapeutic proteins and genetic medicines, including control strategy, characterization, qualification, scale-up, and technology transfer.

This is a hands-on, lab-based role supporting program progression from Research to Manufacturing. The successful candidate is self-motivated, analytical, and an effective communicator who works well across functions and with external partners (vendors/academia) to evaluate new technologies and benchmark best practices.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and execute experiments to evaluate, optimize, characterize, and troubleshoot processes and equipment with minimal guidance.
• Operate suspension cell culture in shake flasks and small-scale bioreactors (e.g., Ambr250, 5 L benchtop bioreactor).
• Analyze and interpret data independently.
• Author technical reports, protocols, and regulatory-supporting documentation.
• Present clear, actionable, scientific insights to project teams and leadership.
• Support equipment qualification, scale-up/scale-down, and technology transfer of mammalian-based bioprocesses to clinical and commercial manufacturing.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and equipment to advance platform capabilities.
• Develop novel hypotheses, connect insights across fields, and propose experiments beyond the project plan.
• Build internal and external networks to leverage capabilities and accelerate progress.
• Implement automation to streamline analysis, improve visualization, and maintain data integrity.
• Occasional weekend work may be required for sampling or equipment preparation.

Basic Requirements

• Principal Scientist: B.S. or M.S. degree in chemical engineering, biological engineering, or related discipline with 6-9 years (BS), or 4-6 years (MS) of relevant industry experience.
• Senior Scientist: B.S. or M.S. degree in chemical engineering, biological engineering, or related discipline with 4-5 years (BS), or 1-3 years (MS) of relevant industry experience.
• PhD will not be considered at this job level.
• Experience in operating cell culture in shake flasks and small-scale bioreactors.
• 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.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to communicate with operations staff and management.
• Strong problem-solving skills
• High learning agility

Additional Skills/Preferences

• Ability to work independently and mentor junior scientists in a collaborative, cross-functional environment.
• Comfort using AI tools (e.g., Claude, Copilot) for analysis and design.
• Working knowledge of molecular biology, omics, metabolic flux analysis, and PAT.
• Creativity to identify improvement opportunities and the initiative to implement them.
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver results in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Experience managing external collaborations with CDMOs.

Additional Information

Physical Demands/Travel:

The physical demands of this job are consistent with a lab environment.

The physical demands here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Work Environment

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the role and responsibilities satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

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

$79,500 - $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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