Advisor Research Scientist

Indianapolis, Indiana

Eli Lilly and Company
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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 Brand Description:


The Lilly API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Dry Product Network is rapidly expanding to meet the demand for new products, and several new greenfield sites are under construction and will be starting up in the coming years. The new sites are staffed based on full-scale, steady state production, however additional surge capacity is needed to support the site start-up and help quickly ramp to full capacity rates.


The ADN RAMP (Rapid Access to Medicines for Patients) team is a cross-functional team that will bring deep manufacturing expertise and will support each site start-up through Operational Excellence knowledge, rapid troubleshooting and problem-solving capability, and surge capacity resources. This unique opportunity will enable team members to work at our new sites, create a larger Lilly network, build and use their technical skills, and learn leadership skills through formal training and on-the-ground experiences. This team will also build strategies to help other new Lilly sites to start up faster, helping to accelerate Lilly's vision of serving more patients.


Success in this challenging role will require supporting the sites through startup through direct technical execution, coaching next employees, and strong collaboration - and development of the local technical and operational teams to be ready for full operation.


The team will directly report through their respective functions but will be coordinated by the Ramp Team Sr. Director.

Key Responsibilities:


  • Lead the successful transfer of new molecules into production at Lilly Sites
  • Leverage internal and external expertise to improve existing production processes focused on purification of peptides
  • Establish a world class methodology to ensure new manufacturing processes are robust, cost effective and can be transitioned safely and rapidly into production
  • Maintain a thorough understanding of the state of the art of manufacturing and regulatory requirements and build these into our processes
  • Develop strong working relationships with both R&D and plant sites to ensure success
  • Serves as a member of multidisciplinary product development teams responsible for the commercial scale development of new processes. He/she typically directs the laboratory activities and development of one or more junior staff members
  • Participate in the Science Lead Team- part of scientific governance/oversight for Lilly sites.
  • Provide technical oversight to the Post Launch Optimization Team (PLOT) and other relevant TS/MS technical projects. Be the technical steward on all products they are accountable for.
  • Define and lead TS/MS technical projects (experimental, modelling and/or production data analysis) to improve process control, yield, purity and/or productivity.
  • The Research Scientist/Senior Research Scientist should also have a proven track record in the following areas.
    • Demonstrated ability to commercialize and solve manufacturing problems.
    • Hands on experience supporting production at different scales from both a commercialization and supply perspective.
    • Proven track record of working with diverse groups across the value chain and in multiple locations
    • Understanding the interaction of bulk drug substance and drug product formulation
      interaction of equipment set(s) with process (drug substance and drug product)
    • Significant experience with registration, including authoring of technical reports, Development History Report, regulatory responses, or direct interactions with regulatory agencies.

Basic Requirements:

  • BSc/MSc/PhD in Chemistry/Biochemistry or related science discipline.
  • BSc requires 10+ years of industrial experience. MSc/PhD requires 5+ years of industrial experience.
  • Deep technical interest and understanding in manufacturing operational excellence principles.

Additional Skills/Preferences:

  • Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
  • Collaborative skills with operations, automation, and other process team members.
  • Ability to coach others.
  • Ability to influence without authority.
  • Ability to clarify and simplify complex issues.
  • Strong trust building with peers and leaders.
  • Willing to work off-shift hours as needed to support project milestones and training of new employees.

Other Information:

The ADN RAMP team will support multiple new API/Dry Products sites in various locations (US and OUS). Significant travel may be required to current startup sites in order to meet business needs, along with potential short-term assignments across the network (can include international relocations). Candidates must be mobile and flexible.

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 ( ) 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

$123,750 - $198,000

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.



Date Posted: 12 March 2025
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