Scientist/Sr Scientist, Vaccine Discovery

Eli Lilly and Company • San Francisco, CA

2d • Onsite

About The Position

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. About the Team Lilly’s Infectious Disease research organization is advancing a pipeline of next-generation vaccine candidates. Our South San Francisco-based research team supports this pipeline end-to-end — from initial antigen design and expression through preclinical immune response profiling — generating the data that drives candidate selection and program advancement. The Opportunity We are seeking a highly motivated, exceptionally organized Scientist to join our team. This is hands-on bench role for someone who is eager to build deep expertise in virology and immunoassay techniques while directly supporting vaccine candidate discovery. Reporting to the Senior Director of Virology, this team member will be responsible for screening vaccine candidate expression in vitro and executing immunoassays to profile in vivo responses to vaccine candidates in preclinical immunizations. The role also includes an active part in organizing sample and reagent inventories, coordinating study schedules, and facilitating shipping and receiving with external partners.

Requirements

• BS or equivalent in microbiology, biochemistry, immunology, cell biology, or a related field, with hands-on laboratory experience.
• Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.
• Vaccine Company will not provide support for or sponsor work authorization or visas for this role, including but not limited to F-1 CPT, F-1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, J-1, H-1B, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, or L-1.

Nice To Haves

• Proficiency in mammalian cell culture.
• Direct experience with immunoassays, such as Luminex, ELISA or neutralization assays.
• Hands-on experience with transient transfection techniques.
• Familiarity with flow cytometry.
• Basic experience with molecular biology techniques (such as cloning, plasmid preparation/scale-up).
• 2+ years of experience in an industry laboratory setting.
• Strong ability to multi-task and willingness to work effectively in a highly collaborative and diverse environment as a team player.
• Able to maintain extremely clear written records in the form of laboratory notebooks and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• Enthusiasm for taking initiative to propose and execute solutions for laboratory, sample, and reagent organization.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Highly organized, with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

Responsibilities

• Express and screen candidate vaccine antigens transiently transfected in mammalian cell culture systems (e.g., Expi293F) in standard and medium-throughput (e.g., 96-well plate) formats.
• Analyze antigen expression by multiple methods, including Western blot/dot blot and flow cytometry.
• Execute immunoassays (e.g., neutralization assays, ELISA, Luminex) to assess preclinical immune responses to vaccine candidates.
• Prepare and quality-control critical reagents to support immunoassays, including virus stocks and recombinant proteins
• Support molecular biology workflows such as plasmid design, cloning, and isolation
• Contribute to smooth lab operations by organizing and tracking reagents/samples, coordinating inventory, and ensuring accessibility of materials to the broader team.
• Proactively identify challenges and bottlenecks and, with support, develop and implement solutions.
• Meticulously document work in an electronic laboratory notebook.
• Assist in authoring and reviewing SOPs, study protocols, reports, and other scientific and quality documents.
• Analyze, interpret, and present experimental data in team meetings, delivering reproducible, decision-driving datasets that enable candidate selection and program advancement.
• Perform all work in full compliance with Lilly Research Policies and complete required training within specified timeframes.

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: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree