Lab Automation Scientist

Organization Overview

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 Lab Automation Scientist will own the operation, development, and improvement of laboratory automation systems at the Indianapolis site, within the Scale4

Insight team of the Data Foundry. This role combines hands‑on responsibility for automation platforms with deep collaboration with pharmacologists, synthetic chemists, analytical scientists, and the Global Sample Management Center, translating scientific and operational needs into robust, scalable automated workflows. The individual will ensure platforms consistently deliver high‑quality, reproducible data, while actively partnering with scientists and sample‑management operations to identify and implement new automation opportunities across the broader Indianapolis laboratory environment.

The ideal candidate combines practical automation expertise with genuine scientific curiosity, someone who understands not only how the systems run, but what biology and chemistry they are trying to accomplish.

Safety, Quality and Compliance— Make Safety the Foundation of Every Experiment

• Maintain safety as the top priority in all laboratory and automation work, including proper identification and handling of chemical and biological materials that pose potential risks to health, safety, or the environment.
• Maintain detailed, prompt, and compliant documentation of platform configurations, experimental procedures, maintenance activities, and outcomes.

Platform Operations and Technical Ownership— Deliver Consistent Performance and Reliability

• Own the day‑to‑day operation and maintenance of laboratory automation systems supporting molecular pharmacology, small molecule chemistry, and Global Sample Management Center workflows.
• Develop, optimize, and validate automated methods and workflows; maintain SOPs, maintenance logs, and methods in accordance with internal standards.
• Drive root cause analysis and troubleshooting of automation issues; perform hands‑on repairs and adjustments for routine hardware and software problems, and coordinate with vendors for corrective and preventive maintenance when required.
• Act as the primary automation point of contact for supported scientific teams, providing real‑time support and training on platform operation, standard processes, and data interpretation.
• Collaborate with the Scale4
  
  Insight team across sites to share methods, adopt proven solutions, and contribute to a unified automation strategy.

Workflow Development and Scientific Collaboration— Understand the Science, Extend the Impact

• Partner with pharmacologists, synthetic chemists, analytical scientists, and Global Sample Management Center operations to understand their research and operational needs and translate requirements into practical automation solutions.
• Map existing manual processes and find opportunities for automation across the Indianapolis site, assessing readiness and proposing solutions aligned with team priorities and scientific objectives.
• Support the design and execution of automated biochemical and cell‑based assay workflows, compound profiling campaigns, small molecule chemistry experiments, and sample‑management operations, ensuring data quality and reproducibility standards are met.
• Contribute to the definition of data generation standards that enable effective data analysis and the training of predictive models and AI tools.

Data and Digital Integration— Connect Automation to Data and Science

• Ensure effective integration of automation platforms with compound management…