Engineer - SMDD Foundry Readiness

Company: Eli Lilly and Company
Location: Indianapolis
Posted on: January 30, 2026

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. 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: Synthetic Molecule Design and Development (SMDD) is involved in key activities for the development of synthetic active pharmaceutical ingredients from pre-clinical phases through commercialization of drug substances and drug products. Our scientists and engineers develop key technical and business solutions across the portfolio using their deep technical expertise to accelerate testing of the clinical hypothesis and overall drug development. SMDD delivers on these responsibilities by recognizing diverse talent and cultures are necessary to bring the next generation of life changing medicines to patients. Our team is looking for creative and energetic candidates to facilitate unit operation development and process optimization of synthetic drug candidates to support clinical trials, regulatory submission, and product commercialization. The position presents an opportunity to work on dynamic teams comprised of process chemists, analytical chemists, formulation scientists, and engineers. Responsibilities: Generate process design and unit operation knowledge based on engineering principles for small molecules, peptides, oligonucleotides, and other emerging therapeutic modalities. Ensure successful scale-up of processes through fundamental engineering principles and equipment knowledge. Design and execute laboratory experiments. Develop drug substance processes and manufacturing technologies. Engage in generating creative solutions for improving existing processes and the creation of novel ones. Transfer process technical information to internal and external manufacturing sites. Provide technical oversight to external collaboration partners for laboratory and manufacturing activities. Author and maintain documentation such as laboratory notebooks and technical reports. Apply fundamental engineering and business principles to design and characterize synthetic processes. Use numerical engineering modeling tools to characterize reaction kinetics, reaction mechanisms, and process separations. Design effective and efficient process and equipment flow strategies, ensuring equipment is selected which is suitable and appropriate for its intended use, given the specific needs of the process. Stay informed about new technology and best practices. Propose, justify, evaluate, and implement new equipment, processing techniques, and technologies. Utilize technology to improve safety, quality, and productivity, both in development and manufacturing. Publish and share original research externally through peer-reviewed articles and conferences. Basic Requirements: B.S/M.S. in chemical engineering or closely related field. Strong technical skills in synthetic organic chemistry with experience as a hands-on technical contributor in a laboratory environment. Additional Skills/Preferences: Demonstrated problem solving skills. Strong verbal and written communication skills and ability to collaborate in a team environment. Ability to prioritize multiple activities and handle ambiguity. Additional Information Physical Demands/Travel: The physical demands of this job are consistent with a lab environment . Travel: 0 to 10% 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: This position’s work environment is in a laboratory environment. The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. *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 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 $66,000 - $171,600 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

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