Scientist​/Engineer, Technical Operations - Lilly Medicine Foundry

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.

We 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, combining research and manufacturing in a single location, will allow Lilly to further develop innovative solutions to optimize manufacturing processes and increase capacity for clinical trial medicines, while also reducing costs and environmental impact.

The Lilly Medicine Foundry Manufacturing Scientist/Engineer – Technical Operations supports and potentially executes on shift operations activities to ensure effective and consistent execution on the operation floor. This role provides on‑floor execution working directly with operators, supports batch readiness and release, and works cross‑functionally to provide technical and operational oversight to routine operations. The Scientist/Engineer – Technical Operations becomes an expert in their assigned area – Small Molecule, Hybrid, or Biologics – and serves as a key integrator with Process Engineering, Process Translation and Execution (PTE), and Product Research and Development (PRD) in introducing new processes into the plant.

The Scientist/Engineer becomes an operational leader in detailed planning of process changeover and the new product introduction process. In the pre‑startup phase, the Scientist/Engineer will contribute heavily to Operational Readiness activities for the new facility supporting technical processes, tech transfer, operational readiness, delivery of trainings, procedures, and workflows. Initially, the Scientist/Engineer will be responsible for supporting equipment qualification and site acceptance tests (SAT) while developing standard operating procedures and operator training plans.

Upon completion of the project phase, the Scientist/Engineer will provide technical oversight and ownership for the operations team, providing on‑floor training and process support, and leading incident investigations. This role plays a key technical role working collaboratively with the Process Translation and Execution (PTE), Processing Engineering (PE) and Product Research and Development (PRD) to prepare for effective delivery of our products.

This role provides key technical input and participates in pre‑startup activities such as Process Hazard Reviews (PHRs), development batch instructions, and support on the floor operations. The Scientist/Engineer could participate in performing routine manufacturing activities and may be on shift as needed in future operations. The Scientist/Engineer – Technical Operations ensures a safety‑first, quality‑always approach while managing a production process that encompasses diverse unit operations and manufacturing skills.

This role may require domestic and international travel to collaborate, train, and learn from sites that currently produce APIs.

• Provide on‑floor shift support for the operations staff for technical, training, and process support and at times execute production activities.
• Leverage problem‑solving skills to evaluate process & protocols, deviations real‑time and provide assessments to cross‑functional process teams.
• Apply independent judgement and discretion to execute equipment commissioning and qualification testing under the guidance of the C&Q Conduct and appropriately document production via adherence to digital manufacturing batch records and affiliated SOPs.
• Adhere to all applicable procedures, cGLP,…