Sr. Director-purification and Viral Safety

Eli Lilly Eli Lilly · Pharma · Indianapolis, IN

Senior Director to lead the purification and viral safety CMC function for biologics products. This position is accountable for downstream process development including scale-up, viral clearance strategy, technology transfer, and regulatory submissions for a broad portfolio of bioproduct programs. The role serves as a key functional representative, collaborating with Discovery, Manufacturing, and Regulatory to advance programs from preclinical development through successful registration. Leads the adoption and integration of AI/ML tools, process modeling, and high-throughput screening to advance purification and viral safety workflows.

What you'd actually do

  1. Leads the purification development and viral safety department to enable development, scale-up, and technology transfer for both early- and late-stage bioproduct portfolios.
  2. Establishes and drives the strategic direction of the department, ensuring strong execution to support portfolio growth and meet organizational objectives.
  3. Provides oversight to ensure the department stays current with emerging technologies, capabilities, and evolving regulatory initiatives, and leads their effective implementation.
  4. Defines and drives innovation strategy and roadmap to ensure competitiveness and alignment with Discovery and manufacturing needs.
  5. Proactively reallocates resources to respond to changing portfolio demands, including program acceleration, while driving productivity through operational excellence.

Skills

Required

  • Ph.D. in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related fields, with a minimum of 10 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, or BS/MS with 18+ years of applicable experience
  • Deep knowledge of bioproduct development from candidate selection through regulatory submission.
  • Strong track record of technology innovation in downstream bioprocessing or viral safety.
  • Excellent communication, interpersonal, and strong leadership skills are essential.
  • Demonstrated experience leading high-performance scientific teams.

Nice to have

  • Demonstrated experience across end-to-end biologics CMC workflows, with broad knowledge of upstream, analytical, and formulation functions and hands-on regulatory filing experience for early- and late-stage programs.
  • Experience collaborating with Manufacturing on GMP implementation, including technology transfer and facility fit.
  • Proven ability to collaborate with partners to ensure effective oversight across the entire bioproduct portfolio.
  • Experience leveraging AI tools to improve efficiency in CMC workflows.

What the JD emphasized

  • AI/ML tools
  • process modeling
  • high-throughput screening