Engineering Advisor​/Sr. Advisor, Laboratory Automation

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. Eli Lilly is investing in laboratory automation, robotics, informatics, and data infrastructure to transform RNA therapeutics discovery. We are seeking a senior, hands‑on automation leader to define platform architecture, lead multidisciplinary engineering programs, and build scalable capabilities across RNA Therapeutics.

This is not a traditional instrument‑support role or one focused solely on programming individual liquid handlers. You will connect scientific workflows, automation, software, informatics, and data systems to create integrated laboratory platforms. Reporting to the RNA Therapeutics Automation Lead, you will influence platform strategy, technology selection, engineering standards, project execution, and cross‑site deployment. You will lead through technical expertise rather than formal personnel management while remaining actively engaged in the laboratory.

• Define automation architecture for complex RNA discovery workflows
• Lead programs from requirements through qualification, deployment, and lifecycle ownership
• Translate scientific workflows into scalable automation, software, data, and integration requirements
• Serve as a technical authority for integrated laboratory platforms and workcells
• Coordinate execution across scientists, engineers, informatics and data teams, laboratory operations, vendors, and external partners
• Establish standards that enable solutions to be replicated across laboratories and sites
• Lead technology evaluations, platform selection, vendor engagement, and technical risk management
• Ensure systems generate reproducible results, structured metadata, and traceable experiment lineage
• Mentor engineers, review critical designs, and strengthen engineering practices
• Remain hands‑on with complex method development, integration, troubleshooting, optimization, and validation

Your work may include RNA processing and screening platforms, high‑throughput dose‑response assays, automated NGS library preparation, integrated robotics, Benchling‑connected workflows, and laboratory scheduling and orchestration. These platforms support the Design‑Make‑Test‑Learn cycle by producing high‑quality, traceable data for advanced analytics and AI‑enabled discovery.

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, life sciences, or a related field with at least 15 years of relevant experience; or a master’s degree with at least 10 years

• Demonstrated technical leadership designing and delivering complex laboratory automation platforms in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or life‑science environments
• Deep, hands‑on experience with liquid handling platforms, preferably Hamilton STAR or STARplus
• Critical hands‑on experience developing, optimizing, and deploying workflows on Echo acoustic dispensers
• Experience architecting workcells that integrate liquid handlers, acoustic dispensers, robotics, analytical instruments, and laboratory scheduling software
• Experience implementing or supporting scheduling and orchestration platforms such as High Res Biosolutions Cellario or Biosero Green Button Go
• Experience with several of the following: NGS library preparation, bead‑based workflows, assay miniaturization, molecular biology, Benchling or similar digital laboratory systems, Python, structured metadata, or cross‑site standardization
• Strong project leadership, including the ability to create clarity amid ambiguity, align multidisciplinary teams, manage technical risk, and mentor engineers
• Strong technical…