Director - Engineering - Purification & Conjugation Technologies - Br&d

Eli Lilly Eli Lilly · Pharma · Indianapolis, IN

Director of Engineering role focused on purification and conjugation technologies within Bioproduct Research and Development (BRD) at Eli Lilly. Responsibilities include providing technical expertise for GMP manufacturing of drug substance, focusing on chromatography, filtration, and bulk unit operations. The role involves developing control systems, performing risk assessments, collaborating with development scientists and manufacturing, evaluating new technologies, supporting tech transfers, mentoring engineers, and ensuring compliance with quality systems and cGMP requirements. Requires a Ph.D. or MS/BS in Chemical Engineering with significant experience in biopharmaceutical downstream processing and equipment design/qualification.

What you'd actually do

  1. Provide technical expertise and oversight to assist in the design and operation of manufacturing processes for drug substance, with a focus on chromatography, filtration and bulk unit operations (large scale).
  2. Develop control systems for unit operations and process improvements.
  3. Perform impact and risk assessments for new processes, unit operations and technology.
  4. Collaborate with development scientists and commercial manufacturing to ensure that technology adoption and integration is aligned to strategies of the broader organization.
  5. Maintains awareness of new and developing technologies to evaluate and implement, as required, that enhance current capabilities and align with commercial manufacturing needs.

Skills

Required

  • Chemical Engineering background
  • Process development experience
  • Biologics manufacturing experience
  • Downstream processing unit operations
  • Equipment design and qualification
  • Control systems (Unicorn, DeltaV)
  • Impact and risk assessments
  • Technical leadership
  • Communication skills
  • Problem-solving skills

Nice to have

  • Mentoring and knowledge transfer

What the JD emphasized

  • Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering or a related field with 8+ years of experience in process development or biologics manufacturing or a BS/MS in Chemical Engineering or a related field with 10-12+ years of experience in process development or biologics manufacturing.
  • Strong experience in biopharmaceutical production unit operations for downstream processing
  • Design and qualification of downstream equipment