Advisor, Automation Engineering

Eli Lilly and Company • Us, IN

12d

About The Position

Lilly is seeking an Indianapolis-based senior automation engineer to join the Automation Engineering team within its RNA Therapeutics group. The role builds, deploys, and supports laboratory automation for pipeline-facing science, particularly in vitro pharmacology and chemistry workflows. It combines hands-on technical work near laboratory instruments with close partnership with scientific users to understand their needs, support the systems they rely on, and enable effective adoption.

The successful candidate independently identifies key technical problems in workflows and develops practical solutions. They deliver intuitive, dependable systems for users with varying levels of automation experience, apply sound engineering judgment and methodical qualification practices, and support reproducible results. The role also involves exploring emerging tools, including LLM-based coding assistants, to accelerate method development and deployment.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, biological sciences, or a related field.
• At least 5 years of hands-on laboratory automation experience.

Nice To Haves

• Hands-on expertise with the Hamilton automation ecosystem and experience building and deploying integrated automation across other platforms, such as acoustic dispensers (e.g., Echo), oligonucleotide synthesizers, robotic arms, and Tecan instruments.
• Experience automating in vitro pharmacology and chemistry workflows.
• Strong method development and qualification skills, with a focus on reproducibility.
• Demonstrated ability to work directly with scientific users to gather requirements and support adoption.
• Experience with schedulers and end-to-end lab orchestration.
• Experience integrating automation with ELN/LIMS platforms such as Benchling.
• Experience with automated sample management systems.
• Proficiency in scripting or programming for automation.
• Experience using LLM-based coding tools or agentic assistants to accelerate method development, scripting, or systems integration.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a proven ability to build durable working relationships with scientific users.

Responsibilities

• Build, program, deploy, and maintain laboratory automation systems for in vitro pharmacology, chemistry, and related pipeline workflows.
• Develop and validate automated methods by translating scientific protocols into robust, reproducible automated processes.
• Partner with scientific users to gather requirements, understand workflows, weigh practical tradeoffs, and deliver appropriate automation solutions.
• Deploy and support automation systems tailored to pipeline processes and throughput needs.
• Provide ongoing user support and keep deployed automation running reliably day to day.
• Develop documentation, quick-reference guides, and support resources to help teams operate automated workflows independently.
• Plan and deliver hands-on training for end users on instrumentation, automated methods, and protocols, adapting instruction to their experience levels.
• Resolve hardware, software, and integration issues.
• Strengthen data reproducibility through sound standards, controls, and qualification practices.
• Integrate automation with scheduling and lab orchestration software and with ELN/LIMS platforms such as Benchling.
• Apply LLM-based coding tools and agentic assistants to accelerate method development, scripting, and systems integration.
• Contribute to generating large-scale, structured datasets suitable for AI/ML applications.
• Build effective working relationships across scientific and engineering teams to ensure solutions fit real-world needs.

Benefits

• Company bonus, depending in part on company and individual performance.
• Eligibility to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k).
• Pension.
• Vacation benefits.
• Eligibility for medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug benefits.
• Flexible benefits, including healthcare and/or dependent day care flexible spending accounts.
• Life insurance and death benefits.
• Certain time off and leave of absence benefits.
• Well-being benefits, including an employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior