Advisor – Operations Optimization – Lilly Medicine Foundry

At Lilly, we unite caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We are a global healthcare leader headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our employees around the world work to discover and bring life‑changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to our communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. We give our best effort to our work, and we put people first.

We’re looking for people who are determined to make life better for people around the world.

Lilly recently announced a $4.5 billion investment to create the Lilly Medicine Foundry, a new center for advanced manufacturing and drug development. The first‑ever facility of its kind combines research and manufacturing in a single location, allowing Lilly to further develop innovative solutions to optimize manufacturing processes and increase capacity for clinical trial medicines, while also reducing costs and environmental impact.

In the project delivery phase and startup phase of the project (startup expected 2025 to 2027), Advisor /Sr Advisor – Operations Optimization is responsible for supporting operational readiness activities of the operations areas at the Foundry. This role works with front line resources, leadership, and project partners to ensure site deliverables to support startup are appropriately planned, scheduled, and implemented to enable on‑schedule and on‑budget project delivery.

The scope of operational readiness is expansive, stretching across multiple functional areas of the site, requiring the Advisor /Sr Advisor – Operations Optimization to build breadth of knowledge and work cross‑functionally.

Once in the production phase, the Advisor /Sr Advisor – Operations Optimization will work cross‑functionally with the Foundry Process Engineering, Process Translation and Execution, Quality, Automation, Supply Chain, and Health and Safety groups as well as Product Research and Development (PRD) on projects to improve the speed, flexibility, and reliability of operation process flow plus development and ownership of operational efficiency metrics aligning with the mission of the Foundry.

The Advisor /Sr Advisor – Operations Optimization will drive Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement in safety, quality, and productivity.

Additionally, this role will work with the other operation areas on site to drive consistent best practices across the nodes. The Advisor /Sr Advisor – Small Molecule Operations Optimization will be a member of the Operations Area Lead Team.

• Analyze process introduction data to look for opportunities for speed and execution improvements. Utilize Lean and OpEx principles to influence and drive improvement across the entire PRD organization related to work at the Foundry.
• Work with site and corporate PSM experts to improve the Process Hazard Review process so that we are focusing on the critical safety items while right‑sizing the review process.
• Drive prioritization of cross‑functional initiatives to support operations and improve speed, flexibility, and robustness of new process introduction.
• Use project management tools to lead the implementation of the change and improvement agenda for the assigned area, ensuring cross‑functional support and integration while driving significant operational optimization.
• Maintain Safety, Quality, and Operational excellence by supporting lean principles.
• Support business operations Key Performance Indicators and help drive improvement projects.
• During site start‑up, lead cross‑functional project teams to develop/manage operational readiness scope within the site’s integrated schedule.
• This role will support one of the three operation areas (based on candidate background) at the Lilly Medicine Foundry (Small Molecule, Biologics, or Mixed Modalities) while working with peers in the other areas to share consistent best practices across the site’s operation areas.

• Minimum of a bachelor's degree in science, engineering, or technical field with 12+ years of experience in pharmaceutical or chemical manufacturing…