Sr Director - HSE - GMP - Alabama

Eli Lilly and Company; Huntsville (TN); On-site; USD 164,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) Plan

Pension

Vacation benefits

Medical/Dental/Vision

Flexible benefits

Life insurance

Time off and leaves

Well-being programs

Job summary

Lilly is seeking a Senior Director HSE to lead the site HSE program at a new GMP manufacturing facility in the United States. You will oversee all operations—manufacturing, labs, utilities, waste, and emergency response—while aligning with corporate HSE goals.

Responsibilities include building the HSE organization, defining priorities, and preparing for regulatory inspections during startup and full-scale operations. Strong leadership and regulatory experience are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant discipline.
• 5+ years leading HSE teams and programs, preferably with PSM and API manufacturing experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead the site HSE team and oversee all site operations to ensure compliance.
• Define HSE priorities and roadmap; establish systems and processes.
• Serve as key HSE liaison during project execution and regulatory inspections.
• Support startup and scale to full GMP manufacturing.

Skills

HSE Leadership

Regulatory Compliance

PSM

API Manufacturing

Cross-functional Collaboration

Education

Bachelor's Degree in a relevant discipline

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.

Lilly is currently constructing an advanced manufacturing facility for the production of API molecules. This facility is intended to provide APIs for current and future products, including new modalities. This is a unique opportunity to be a part of the leadership team for the startup of a manufacturing site, and the successful candidate will help to build the organization, the facility and the culture to enable a successful startup into GMP manufacturing operations.

Main Purpose and Objectives of Position:

The Senior Director HSE is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining HSE programs and systems at the Lilly manufacturing site. This includes oversight of all site operations—manufacturing, labs, utilities, waste, emergency response, and administrative areas—ensuring compliance with global and regulatory standards.

This role leads the site HSE team, supports employee development, and serves as the primary liaison with corporate HSE to ensure alignment and readiness for regulatory inspections.

As a member of the Lilly Site Lead Team, the Senior Director contributes to strategic planning and cross-functional leadership. During the project delivery and startup phase (2029–2030), the role will focus on building HSE systems, processes, and culture to support GMP operations and enable a safe, compliant launch of full-scale manufacturing.

Key Responsibilities for this role include:

Pre-Startup and Startup Phase:

• Lead collaboratively and inclusively across all aspects of operational readiness and startup.
• Build an HSE organization with the capability, capacity, and culture to support safe, compliant, and efficient operations.
• Define HSE priorities and roadmap; implement systems and processes using internal expertise and external best practices.
• Establish and lead the site HSE Lead Team, embedding safety and environmental focus throughout project delivery and startup.
• Serve as a key HSE stakeholder during project execution—guiding design, startup planning, and contractor safety in partnership with Global Facilities Delivery.
• Develop and scale the HSE organization to support full GMP manufacturing, including environmental and PSM capabilities.
• Build strong technical partnerships with corporate/global teams and lead site-level execution of strategic initiatives.

Post Startup:

• Own the HSE Management System to ensure compliance with regulations and Lilly Global standards.
• Define and manage HSE priorities, roadmap, business initiatives, metrics, and the HSE Plan in collaboration with functional partners.
• Ensure ongoing compliance with reporting and recordkeeping requirements, including Title V.
• Benchmark best practices across the Lilly network and external industry.
• Develop future HSE leadership for both site and global roles.
• Escalate critical HSE issues to site and corporate leadership as needed.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in relevant discipline
• 5+ years of experience leading HSE teams and programs (preferably with PSM and API manufacturing experience)

Additional Preferences:

• Proven leadership of HSE programs and management systems in manufacturing, including Process Safety Management (PSM).
• Experience implementing and managing environmental compliance programs, including Title V reporting and recordkeeping.
• Skilled in engaging with regulatory agencies on environmental, health, and safety matters.
• Strong ability to build effective relationships across all levels, including close collaboration with the Site Leadership Team.
• Demonstrated success in developing high-performing, engaged teams and fostering a strong safety culture.

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

$163,500 - $239,800

Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance).

• 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
• 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.