Post-Doctoral Scientist, Bioconjugation Process Innovation Full-time NEW

Postdoctoral Scientist Position

At Lilly, the work is demanding because patients are waiting. We unite caring with discovery to help make life better for people around the world, knowing that every decision, every detail, and every day matters. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, our over 50,000 employees around the globe take on complex challenges to discover and deliver life-changing medicines, strengthen how health is understood and managed, and support the communities we serve. This is hard, urgent, selfless work—but it's work worth doing. If you're driven by purpose and ready to bring your best to work that truly matters for patients, we invite you to join us.

At Lilly, we serve an extraordinary purpose. We make a difference for people around the globe by discovering, developing and delivering medicines that help them live longer, healthier, more active lives. Not only do we deliver breakthrough medications, but you also can count on us to develop creative solutions to support communities through philanthropy and volunteerism.

This postdoctoral position sits within the Purification Process Development group in BR&D and focuses on advancing In-Process Conjugation (IPC) as a next-generation manufacturing platform for Antibody RNA Conjugates (ARC) and Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADC). The postdoc will work at the intersection of downstream purification, conjugation chemistry, and process analytics — a uniquely broad technical scope that prepares candidates for cross-functional roles in antibody conjugate process development.

Responsibilities:

• Design and execute purification development experiments to evaluate and optimize the in-process conjugation workflow.
• Collaborate with the Bioconjugation group to investigate conjugation efficiency and product quality attributes.
• Collaborate with Analytical teams to assess impurity detectability.
• Engage with the Medicine Foundry and PAT-knowledgeable collaborators to explore integration of in-line process analytical tools for real-time CQA monitoring.
• Collaborate with the Virology group to assess impacts on viral clearance.
• Document experimental results rigorously; author technical reports and contribute to potential patent filings and peer-reviewed publications in alignment with Lilly legal and IP processes.
• Present findings at internal forums (BR&D group meetings, API Forum, BR&D Seminar) on a regular cadence (every 3–6 months).

Basic Requirements:

• Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Biomolecular Engineering, or a closely related field, conferred within the past 3 years (or anticipated prior to start date).
• Hands-on experience with preparative protein chromatography (affinity, IEX, HIC, SEC) using ÄKTA or equivalent chromatography systems.

Additional Preferences:

• Familiarity with antibody conjugate modalities (ADC, ARC, or similar) and/or bioconjugation chemistry.
• Experience with analytical characterization methods relevant to conjugate process development (LC-MS, ELISA, HCP assays, DAR determination).
• Exposure to tangential flow filtration (TFF) or other membrane-based separation operations.
• Interest in or experience with process analytical technology (PAT) or process intensification.
• Strong written and oral communication skills; publication and/or conference presentation experience preferred.
• Highly collaborative with demonstrated ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams.
• Self-directed, intellectually curious, and motivated to build a career in the biopharmaceutical industry.

Additional Information:

• This position is part of Lilly's post-doctoral training program, which provides an exceptional environment and the opportunity for professional growth through learning, collaboration, networking, and mentorship from Lilly's leading scientists, aimed at facilitating groundbreaking discoveries.
• This position is not permanent. It is for a fixed duration of two years with the potential to extend to a maximum of 4 years. You will have opportunities to apply for full-time positions after your duration is complete.

About Eli Lilly's Postdoctoral Scientist Program:

• When it comes to research and development, our goal is to discover and deliver innovative medicines that make life better for people around the world. It's challenging, expensive, and often filled with failure. But even when we fail, we advance medical science and understanding by learning more about diseases, biology, and chemistry -ultimately bringing new solutions one step closer to reality. Over the course of our history, we have shed light on some of the toughest health care problems known to man – diabetes, heart disease, infectious diseases, neuroscience disorders, cancer, and more. We could not pursue this without our research and development team.
• Postdoctoral scientists help us continue this pursuit. During your experience you will get: top industry research experience, mentoring by some of Lilly's top scientists, laboratory and classroom training and education to further your development, collaboration and networking across dozens of postdoctoral scientists and other researchers.

Physical Demands:

• The physical demands of this job are consistent with a lab environment.
• The physical demands here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Work Environment:

• This position's work environment is in a laboratory.
• The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.
• *To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the role and responsibilities satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions. If you require accommodation to submit a resume for a position at Lilly, please complete the accommodation request form for further assistance. Please note this is for individuals to request an accommodation as part of the application process and any other correspondence will not receive a response.

Lilly is proud to be an EEO Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender identity, sex, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Our employee resource groups (ERGs) offer strong support networks for their members and are open to all employees. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia (AMECA), Black Employees at Lilly (BE@Lilly), Chinese Culture Network (CCN), EnAble, Evolve, Lilly Indian Network (LIN), Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), Pride (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN) and Women's Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL).

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate's education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is $58,000 – $123,200. 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). Lilly reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion and Lilly's compensation practices and guidelines will apply regarding the details of any promotion or transfer of Lilly employees.

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