Manager - Operational Readiness

Eli Lilly and Company • Houston, TX

2d • $65,250 - $160,600 • Onsite

About The Position

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 40,000 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 it 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 is currently constructing an advanced manufacturing facility for production of API molecules located in Houston, TX. This facility is intended to provide APIs for current and future products, including new modalities. This is a unique opportunity to be a part of the site technical team for the startup of a greenfield manufacturing site, and the successful candidate will help to build the organization, the facility and the culture to enable a successful startup into GMP manufacturing operations. This role provides critical capacity and capability within the Operations function, with end-to-end accountability across the full project lifecycle for Operational Readiness at Lilly's advanced API manufacturing facility in Houston, TX. The position drives day-to-day issue resolution and continuous improvement, ensuring all operational readiness deliverables are rigorously planned, scheduled, and executed — enabling a successful, on-time startup into GMP manufacturing operations at this first-of-its-kind greenfield site.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in biology, chemistry, engineering, or related scientific discipline, or equivalent work experience.
• At least 3 years of experience in manufacturing, project management, or related support areas; preferred in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry.

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated ability to adjust quickly to changing priorities and to influence decision-making on complex technical issues.
• CAPM or PMP Certification.
• Experience with capital project execution and operational readiness in a GMP environment.
• Ability to make critical decisions 7 days/week and effectively communicate decisions to staff and upper management.
• Strong written and verbal communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills.
• Experience utilizing project scheduling software.
• Ability to work as a team leader to execute multi-disciplined, cross-functional projects.
• Must exhibit a team-first attitude.

Responsibilities

• Partner with site leaders and subject matter experts to define and mature operational readiness scope across multiple technical areas, ensuring alignment from concept through execution.
• Lead cross-functional project teams to translate operational readiness scope into a fully integrated, milestone-driven schedule.
• Own end-to-end tracking of operational readiness deliverables, providing clear metrics and progress reporting to drive stakeholder accountability and informed decision-making.
• Integrate operational readiness schedules with the overall project master schedule, enabling real-time critical path visibility and proactive risk identification.
• Bridge operational readiness activities with construction and qualification schedules, ensuring seamless handoffs and no gaps in the path to GMP startup.
• Serve as the site Subject Matter Expert for Project Management, embedding best practices, tools, and governance standards across all functional areas.
• Proactively escalate concerns, providing timely and accurate operational status updates to leadership.
• Champion and uphold Lilly's standards for safety, environmental stewardship, quality, and operational excellence in all aspects of the role.
• Lead structured problem-solving sessions with cross-functional teams to resolve technical and operational issues, drive root-cause analysis, and implement durable corrective actions.

Benefits

• company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance)
• company-sponsored 401(k)
• pension
• vacation benefits
• medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits
• flexible benefits (e.g., 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 (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities)

What This Job Offers

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