Manager - Operational Readiness

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.

Lilly is currently constructing an advanced manufacturing facility for production of API molecules located in Houston, TX. 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 site technical team for the startup of a greenfield 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.

This role provides critical capacity and capability within the Operations function, with end-to-end accountability across the full project lifecycle for Operational Readiness at Lilly's advanced API manufacturing facility in Houston, TX. The position drives day-to-day issue resolution and continuous improvement, ensuring all operational readiness deliverables are rigorously planned, scheduled, and executed — enabling a successful, on-time startup into GMP manufacturing operations at this first-of-its-kind greenfield site.

• Partner with site leaders and subject matter experts to define and mature operational readiness scope across multiple technical areas, ensuring alignment from concept through execution.
• Lead cross-functional project teams to translate operational readiness scope into a fully integrated, milestone-driven schedule.
• Own end-to-end tracking of operational readiness deliverables, providing clear metrics and progress reporting to drive stakeholder accountability and informed decision-making.
• Integrate operational readiness schedules with the overall project master schedule, enabling real-time critical path visibility and proactive risk identification.
• Bridge operational readiness activities with construction and qualification schedules, ensuring seamless handoffs and no gaps in the path to GMP startup.
• Serve as the site Subject Matter Expert for Project Management, embedding best practices, tools, and governance standards across all functional areas.
• Proactively escalation concerns, providing timely and accurate operational status updates to leadership.
• Champion and uphold Lilly's standards for safety, environmental stewardship, quality, and operational excellence in all aspects of the role.
• Lead structured problem-solving sessions with cross-functional teams to resolve technical and operational issues, drive root-cause analysis, and implement durable corrective actions.

• Bachelor's degree in biology, chemistry, engineering, or related scientific discipline.
• At least 3 years of experience in manufacturing (preferred in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry).
• Project management experience
• 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.

• Demonstrated ability to adjust quickly to changing priorities and to influence decision‑making on…