Senior Analytical Scientist – Analytical Characterization – 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.

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, increase capacity for clinical‑trial medicines, and reduce costs and environmental impact.

In the Project Delivery Phase and Startup Phase of the project (2026 to 2028), roles will be fluid and dynamic as we endeavor to support the project delivery, build a new organization, develop and implement the necessary systems and business processes required to support GMP operations. This requires significant collaboration, creativity, and resilience as the Lilly Medicine Foundry goes from design, start‑up, and steady‑state operations.

The Senior Analytical Scientist – Analytical Characterization is a technical‑track, lab‑based position that oversees analytical characterization efforts (e.g., spectroscopy and chromatography) supporting the production of synthetic and biologic drug substance processes. This role collaborates with Chemistry Manufacturing and Control (CMC) development organizations to understand portfolio needs and analytical methods required for the drug substance control strategy. The scientist works closely with process engineers, synthetic chemists, process analytical scientists, and production staff, requiring strong communication and prioritization skills.

• Drive implementation of technical solutions and analytical strategies to enable drug substance production at the Lilly Medicine Foundry, leveraging traditional off‑line testing in laboratories or in‑line/on‑line testing via PAT on the production floor.
• Select and implement appropriate analytical techniques (LC, GC, NMR, MS, XRD, etc.) to support chemical process development, independently generating data that elucidates reaction mechanisms, characterizes kinetic behavior, and identifies process‑related impurities.
• Provide technical leadership for analytical and biophysical characterization of a wide variety of molecules, ensuring methods are technically sound, well developed, and fit‑for‑purpose.
• Transfer analytical methods from Product Research and Development laboratories, emphasizing communication with other analytical scientists and improving test methods for robustness, accuracy, precision, and other ICH‑outlined attributes.
• Demonstrate high learning agility and the ability to understand and exploit effective scientific concepts across multiple subject areas (chemistry, engineering, analytical sciences, data sciences, etc.).
• Plan and manage short‑term and long‑term development activities, develop and/or review technical agendas and timelines for project work, recommend resource allocation, communicate progress, and propose changes in timeline, objectives, or direction.
• Collaborate closely with organizations across development and manufacturing to deliver material and information for clinical trials and regulatory submissions for multiple modalities (small molecules, oligonucleotides, peptides, antibodies, antibody conjugates, and other modalities).
• Welcome varied perspectives to create new solutions.
• Coordinate instrumentation between different projects to allow equal usage of available tools for project‑specific needs.
• Author or contribute to technical documents including SOPs, technology…