Advisor - Synthetic Chemistry - PhD

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.

The Lilly Small Molecule Design (LSMD) group is an organization purpose-built to create molecules that make life better for people. Synthetic Molecule Design and Development (SMDD) is a critical function within Lilly Product Research & Development (PRD) responsible for the development of synthetic drug substances and drug products from the pre-clinical phase through commercialization. Together, LSMD and SMDD are responsible for the discovery and development of synthetic drug substances and drug products from lead optimization through commercialization.

Our scientists and engineers develop innovative technical and business solutions to advance a dynamic portfolio that includes small molecules, peptides, oligonucleotides, and other emerging therapeutic modalities. By encouraging a hardworking, culturally diverse workforce that exhibits deep technical expertise, we deliver on these responsibilities and help bring the next generation of life-changing medicines to patients! Within these organizations, synthetic chemistry is at the heart of everything we do.

In discovery, chemists design and synthesize the molecules that become breakthrough medicines by optimizing lead compounds into strong drug candidates. In development, chemists establish robust and sustainable routes and supply chains for the synthetic active ingredients that make up Lilly’s portfolio. We seek to use the best technologies to solve problems, and we endeavor to continuously improve the way we discover, develop, and manufacture therapeutic molecules.

The Advisor - Synthetic Chemistry will help deliver innovative technical solutions in either LSMD or SMDD as a medicinal chemist or process chemist, enabling deeper understanding of molecules, processes, and products across our diverse portfolio. The ideal candidate will possess a deep technical expertise and training in modern synthetic chemistry and use this knowledge to challenge the status quo and drive solutions to the most important scientific problems, in a fast-paced environment.

Additionally, this individual will have a demonstrated track record of novel contributions to chemical design and mechanism-based problem solving as part of project driven goals such as synthesis of complex molecules, compound optimization, and/or methodology development.

• Establish a productive laboratory program by personally conducting and managing internal and external research plans, independently planning, executing, and troubleshooting synthetic chemistry to deliver high-quality molecules that drive project decisions.
• Design and synthesize compounds and develop synthetic routes that address key project challenges, whether optimizing structure-activity relationships (SAR) for drug candidates (LSMD) or enabling scalable, robust processes for clinical and commercial supply (SMDD).
• Act as a technical point of contact for assigned projects, communicating a clear rationale for design and development priorities and proactively adjusting the scientific approach as new results emerge.
• Thrive at the interface between disciplines and be able…