Sr. Advisor/director - Process Engineering -peptides/small Molecule Scientist

Eli Lilly Eli Lilly · Pharma · Hyderabad, India

This role focuses on process engineering for drug substance and drug product manufacturing, involving laboratory-scale process development, optimization, and technology transfer. It requires collaboration with scientists and cross-functional engineering groups, hands-on experimentation, data analysis, and ensuring safe and compliant laboratory operations. The position emphasizes applying engineering fundamentals to improve process understanding and robustness, with a focus on pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

What you'd actually do

  1. Partner with TS/MS scientists in US and Ireland to design, develop, and refine laboratory‑scale processes.
  2. Establish, maintain, and optimize unit operations used in the process development lab (e.g., chromatography, filtration, mixing, crystallization, upstream/downstream studies, formulation experiments, and others).
  3. Develop scale‑down models that accurately represent full‑scale operations and use them to support process characterization, robustness studies, and troubleshooting.
  4. Conduct hands‑on laboratory experimentation, data analysis, and technical reporting to support key development and manufacturing decisions.
  5. Support tech transfer activities by preparing process documentation, generating process parameters, and enabling smooth movement of processes from lab to pilot or manufacturing scale.

Skills

Required

  • Process development
  • Laboratory-scale engineering
  • Technology transfer
  • Scale-up/scale-down
  • Unit operations (chromatography, filtration, mixing, crystallization, etc.)
  • Data analysis
  • Technical reporting
  • Process modeling software (Aspen, MATLAB)
  • Statistical design tools
  • GMP expectations
  • Laboratory quality systems
  • 3D modeling tools (SolidWorks)
  • Pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry experience
  • Chemical Engineering fundamentals

Nice to have

  • Peptide chemistry
  • Automation engineering
  • Analytical engineering
  • Instrumentation engineering

What the JD emphasized

  • Ph.D. in scientific disciplines of Biochemistry, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related fields, or equivalent industry experience /Ph.D + Post Doc in Chemistry (focusing more Peptide chemistry) with 12+ years
  • Minimum 5–8 years of experience in process development, lab‑scale engineering, or manufacturing support in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or similar industries.
  • Demonstrated experience in technology transfer and scale‑up/scale‑down, in laboratory‑scale unit operations relevant to the role (e.g., chromatography, TFF, bioreactors, mixing systems, filtration and drying technologies).