Sustainability Engineering Lead

Eli Lilly and Company • Indianapolis, IN

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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. Organization and Position Overview: The DDCS Sustainability Engineering Lead drives DDCS's sustainability vision. This role embeds environmental sustainability into device and system requirements, development processes, packaging, and end-of-life strategies. The Lead partners across functions to turn lifecycle insights into design decisions, builds finance-ready business cases, and delivers measurable impact aligned to DDCS and Lilly objectives.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Sustainability, Mechanical, Materials/Polymers, Manufacturing/Industrial, Chemical, Environmental) or closely related field.
• 7+ years of experience in product development/manufacturing/systems engineering with demonstrated sustainability outcomes (device, packaging, or operations).
• Hands-on LCA experience (tools, datasets, interpretation) and ability to translate insights into design & business decisions.
• Experience building finance-ready business cases and influencing portfolio decisions.
• Ability to demonstrate strategic thinking and problem-solving.
• Proficiency in written and verbal communication, including presentation and storytelling, and the ability to influence stakeholder mindset.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree (MS, PhD, etc.) in Sustainable/Environmental/Systems Engineering or MBA.
• Regulated industry experience (e.g., medical devices/combination products), including familiarity with quality systems and risk management.
• Systems engineering mindset.
• Experience in manufacturing optimization, including the ability to simplify and scale.
• Expertise in eco-design, circular design (durability, repair/refurbish, disassembly) or renewable materials (like-for-like substitutions).
• Experience in AI-assisted analytics.

Responsibilities

• Sustainability Strategy and Roadmap: Define and update the DDCS Sustainability Strategy and yearly priorities; translate enterprise goals into actionable DDCS initiatives and requirements; prioritize by business value and patient impact.
• Business Case & Portfolio Value: Lead development of finance-ready business cases (NPV/ROI/payback, scenarios); build risk/opportunity framing; drive decision-making in governance forums.
• Integration of "Lifecycle Thinking": Embed LCA checkpoints and circular design criteria into SOPs, design controls, and Agile PLM; guide renewable material qualifications and recyclability-by-design.
• Device & Program Enablement: Partner with platform/device teams to define sustainability requirements, trade-space, and verification plans; support CT pilots that de-risk commercialization.
• Packaging Sustainability: Advance secondary/tertiary packaging measures (e.g., recycled content, labeling) in collaboration with Global Packaging; quantify impact and cost.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Coordinate with Global Health/Safety/Environmental, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Cx, Market Access, Quality/Regulatory, Legal, and Finance; align stakeholders through training and clear decision logs.
• Standards & Compliance: Monitor and prepare teams for EPR, EU CEAP, PFAS/PVC restrictions, eco-design standards (e.g., IEC 60601-1-9 for relevant systems), and claims stewardship.
• End-of-Life & Circularity: Lead pilots and partnerships for take-back, mechanical and innovative recycling; define design-for-disassembly guidelines and labeling/claims readiness with Regulatory & Legal.
• Data, Analytics & AI: Build and maintain LCA models and datasets; standardize a "LCA Lite" approach for early phases; leverage analytics/AI to accelerate options analysis and reporting.

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