Principal Scientist, Upstream Process Development

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.

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.

This role is within Bioproduct Research and Development (BR&D), a multidisciplinary organization that develops and optimizes biologically derived products. Upstream Process Development engineers develop and optimize processes for recombinant therapeutic proteins and genetic medicines, including control strategy, characterization, qualification, scale‑up, and technology transfer. This is a hands‑on, lab‑based role supporting program progression from Research to Manufacturing. The successful candidate is self‑motivated, analytical, and an effective communicator who works well across functions and with external partners (vendors/academia) to evaluate new technologies and benchmark best practices.

• Design and execute experiments to evaluate, optimize, characterize, and troubleshoot processes and equipment with minimal guidance.
• Operate suspension cell culture in shake flasks and small‑scale bioreactors (e.g., Ambr
  250, 5 L benchtop bioreactor).
• Analyze and interpret data independently.
• Author technical reports, protocols, and regulatory‑supporting documentation.
• Present clear, actionable, scientific insights to project teams and leadership.
• Support equipment qualification, scale‑up/scale‑down, and technology transfer of mammalian‑based bioprocesses to clinical and commercial manufacturing.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and equipment to advance platform capabilities.
• Develop novel hypotheses, connect insights across fields, and propose experiments beyond the project plan.
• Build internal and external networks to leverage capabilities and accelerate progress.
• Implement automation to streamline analysis, improve visualization, and maintain data integrity.
• Occasional weekend work may be required for sampling or equipment preparation.

• Principal Scientist: B.S. or M.S. degree in chemical engineering, biological engineering, or related discipline with 6‑9 years (BS) or 4‑6 years (MS) of relevant industry experience.
• Senior Scientist: B.S. or M.S. degree in chemical engineering, biological engineering, or related discipline with 4‑5 years (BS) or 1‑3 years (MS) of relevant industry experience.
• Ph.D. will not be considered at this job level.
• Experience in operating cell culture in shake flasks and small‑scale bioreactors.
• 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.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to communicate with operations staff and management.
• Strong problem‑solving skills
• High learning agility

• Ability to work independently and mentor junior scientists in a collaborative, cross‑functional environment.
• Comfort using AI tools (e.g., Claude, Copilot) for analysis and design.
• Working knowledge of molecular biology, omics, metabolic flux analysis, and PAT.
• Creativity to identify improvement opportunities and the initiative to implement them.
• Proven ability to manage multiple…