Sr. Principal Scientist - MES Process Area Lead

Eli Lilly and Company • Lebanon, IN

1d • 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 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 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 Lebanon, IN (Lilly Lebanon API). This facility is Lilly’s largest investment in manufacturing capacity and is intended to provide APIs for current and future products, including new modalities. This is a unique opportunity to be a part of the startup team for a greenfield manufacturing site, and the successful candidate will help to build the processes and facility to enable a successful startup into GMP manufacturing operations. Position Description: Lilly's Lebanon API site is our first large-scale API manufacturing facility designed from day one to be digitally native — where Manufacturing Execution System (MES)/Electronic Batch Record (EBR) isn't a retrofit, it's the foundation that every compliant batch is built on. As the MES Process Area Lead, you'll be at the intersection of pharmaceutical science and digital manufacturing — translating process knowledge into the intelligent systems that make compliant, data-driven production possible at scale. Syncade MES is foundational to enabling compliant, efficient, and digital-first GMP operations for the future of Lilly, and the successful candidate will play a key role in translating manufacturing requirements into executable MES solutions. This position requires comprehensive knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry, regulatory requirements, and the essential role scientists and engineers play in making medicine and creating real-world solutions. This role is positioned at the leading edge of Lilly's digital manufacturing buildout — offering rare visibility into site startup and long-term ownership of a foundational system.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Science, Engineering, or related field.
• Minimum 5 years experience including 2 years within a GMP manufacturing environment or equivalent regulated manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated history of working across multi-disciplinary teams in the Automation/MES space.
• Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Lilly 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

• Prior experience implementing electronic batch records preferred but not required
• Demonstrated capability to critically evaluate technical issues, manage multiple priorities, and meet project deadlines.
• Oral and written communication skills that demonstrate an ability to effectively (clearly, succinctly) communicate with all levels of the organization.

Responsibilities

• Own the MES technical agenda for your process areas — from design through operational readiness.
• Shape how digital batch records are designed, challenging assumptions and driving alignment across engineering, ops, and QA.
• Provide system owner and support model leadership for MES production environments during manufacturing start-up phases.
• Support risk assessments, deviation investigations, and problem resolution related to MES-enabled operations.
• Partner with Operations, QA, QC, Engineering, Automation, and Validation to ensure integrated execution and issue resolution.
• Build the playbook — establish best practices that will scale across the site and potentially influence Lilly's broader MES network.
• Enable the people who run these systems — develop and deploy training that turns operators into confident MES users.
• Leverage MES-generated process data to support continuous improvement, performance trending, and operational decision-making.

Benefits

• Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance).
• In addition, Lilly offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees, including eligibility to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k); pension; vacation benefits; eligibility for 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; and 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: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees