Sr. Principal Engineer - Project Planning & Scheduling

100 Eli Lilly and Company; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 68,000 - 174,000; Full time

Job summary

Lilly (Indianapolis-based) seeks a Sr. Principal Engineer, Project Planning & Scheduling to act as the enterprise process owner for planning and scheduling across the global capital portfolio.

You will establish, govern, and continuously improve standards, methodologies, and performance measures to support schedule development, forecasting, and execution throughout the project lifecycle. You will lead planning assurance, define requirements for all project phases including CQV, startup, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Architecture, Business, Supply Chain, or a related discipline, or equivalent work experience.
• Demonstrated expertise in planning and scheduling for large, complex capital projects, including development, governance, and assurance of integrated schedules, application of critical path methodology, forecasting, schedule risk analysis, and establishment of enterprise scheduling standards and best practices.
• Proficiency with Primavera P6. Ability and willingness to travel up to 25%. Position is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Authorized to work in the United States full-time; Lilly will not provide sponsorship.

Responsibilities

• Serve as GFD’s enterprise process owner for planning and scheduling, establishing standards, governance requirements, methodologies, and performance expectations across the capital portfolio.
• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve enterprise planning and scheduling standards, procedures, work instructions, templates, and assurance frameworks.
• Establish scheduling requirements for all phases of project delivery, including project development, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, qualification and validation (CQV), startup, operational readiness, and operational handover.
• Define and govern schedule quality requirements, including schedule development, logic integrity, critical path methodology, progress measurement, forecasting, schedule risk analysis, and schedule performance management.
• Lead planning and scheduling assurance activities across the portfolio to verify compliance with enterprise standards and drive corrective actions where deficiencies are identified.
• Establish planning and scheduling requirements for contractors, consultants, and delivery partners and ensure consistent implementation across projects and regions.
• Serve as GFD’s senior technical SME for schedule recovery, acceleration planning, scenario analysis, forecasting, and schedule risk mitigation.
• Govern enterprise KPIs and performance measures related to schedule quality, forecasting accuracy, schedule predictability, and project delivery performance.
• Partner with project teams, contractors, and business partners to improve scheduling capability, strengthen project execution strategies, and promote adoption of best practices.
• Build organizational capability through training, mentoring, communities of practice, and continuous improvement initiatives that advance planning and scheduling excellence across the portfolio.

Skills

Pl anning and scheduling

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Architecture, Business, Supply Chain, or related discipline

Tools

Primavera P6

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.

Role Summary

The Sr. Principal Engineer, Project Planning & Scheduling serves as GFD’s enterprise process owner for planning and scheduling across the global capital portfolio. The role is accountable for establishing, governing, and continuously improving standards, methodologies, systems, and performance measures that support schedule development, forecasting, and execution throughout the project lifecycle. Through technical leadership, governance, and assurance, the role ensures consistent application of planning and scheduling requirements across projects, contractors, and business partners while improving schedule quality, predictability, compliance, and project delivery outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as GFD’s enterprise process owner for planning and scheduling, establishing standards, governance requirements, methodologies, and performance expectations across the capital portfolio.
• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve enterprise planning and scheduling standards, procedures, work instructions, templates, and assurance frameworks.
• Establish scheduling requirements for all phases of project delivery, including project development, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, qualification and validation (CQV), startup, operational readiness, and operational handover.
• Define and govern schedule quality requirements, including schedule development, logic integrity, critical path methodology, progress measurement, forecasting, schedule risk analysis, and schedule performance management.
• Lead planning and scheduling assurance activities across the portfolio to verify compliance with enterprise standards and drive corrective actions where deficiencies are identified.
• Establish planning and scheduling requirements for contractors, consultants, and delivery partners and ensure consistent implementation across projects and regions.
• Serve as GFD’s senior technical SME for schedule recovery, acceleration planning, scenario analysis, forecasting, and schedule risk mitigation.
• Govern enterprise KPIs and performance measures related to schedule quality, forecasting accuracy, schedule predictability, and project delivery performance.
• Partner with project teams, contractors, and business partners to improve scheduling capability, strengthen project execution strategies, and promote adoption of best practices.
• Build organizational capability through training, mentoring, communities of practice, and continuous improvement initiatives that advance planning and scheduling excellence across the portfolio.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Architecture, Business, Supply Chain, or a related discipline, or equivalent work experience.
• Demonstrated expertise in planning and scheduling for large, complex capital projects, including development, governance, and assurance of integrated schedules, application of critical path methodology, forecasting, schedule risk analysis, and establishment of enterprise scheduling standards and best practices.
• Proficiency with Primavera P6 Ability and willingness to travel up to 25%. Position is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. 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.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional certification from AACE International, PMI, CMAA, or a similar professional organization.
• Experience serving as a planning and scheduling lead, center-of-excellence lead, or process owner supporting large capital project portfolios.
• Experience supporting integrated project delivery across engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, qualification and validation (CQV), startup, operational readiness, and operational handover.
• Experience supporting pharmaceutical, biotechnology, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, or other complex industrial capital programs, including contractor scheduling governance and assurance.
• Proficiency with enterprise planning, scheduling, project controls, and project information management systems, including application of integrated master scheduling, schedule assurance, schedule recovery, scenario analysis, KPI management, and portfolio performance reporting.

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. We welcome applications from all backgrounds.

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)
• EnAbleEvolve
• Lilly Indian Network (LIN)
• Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA)
• Pride (LGBTQ+ Allies)
• Veterans Leadership Network (VLN)
• 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 $67,500 - $173,800. 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!