Postdoctoral Scientist, Autonomous NMR Characterization Full-time NEW

Postdoctoral Scientist, Autonomous NMR Characterization (LSMD)

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 35,000 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.

Do you have a strong interest in analytical chemistry, foundational NMR experience, and a passion for building tools that other scientists use every day? Whether your strength is at the spectrometer, in scientific software development, or in Bayesian optimization and autonomous experimentation, if you are excited to help build the first autonomous, agentic NMR characterization platform, one that reasons about what to measure, optimizes each measurement, and decides when enough data has been collected, apply today!

The Molecular Characterization team within Lilly Small Molecule Discovery (LSMD) is building the next generation of automated analytical capabilities, with the goal of extracting more chemical information from every measurement and freeing expert scientists to focus on the hardest problems across our drug-discovery and development portfolio. This postdoctoral role will develop an autonomous NMR characterization platform that decides what to measure, optimizes each measurement, and learns when enough data has been collected, with CRAFT time-domain processing as the operator-free data layer beneath these decisions. The ideal candidate has strong attention to detail, excellent problem-solving skills, a high level of learning agility, and the willingness to move fluidly between the spectrometer and the codebase while collaborating across analytical, medicinal, and process chemistry teams. We are an innovative and dynamic group committed to advancing the tools and methods that help us make life better for patients around the globe.

The Lilly Small Molecule Discovery (LSMD) group is an organization purpose-built to create molecules that make life better for people. We focus on using innovative science to unlock novel approaches that can treat people suffering from diseases with poor treatment options. We continually challenge ourselves to deliver molecules that can provide breakthrough efficacy with the highest possible safety margins. We are dedicated to optimizing our mindset, technology, and processes for faster, more nimble execution. Our success is built on a culture that empowers innovative problem-solving through open collaboration and individual accountability.

Advanced Molecule Design (AMD) is dedicated to optimizing molecules into strong drug candidates that become breakthrough medicines for patients. AMD brings together core functional areas — medicinal chemistry, synthetic chemistry, analytical chemistry, computational chemistry, and molecular pharmacology — to accelerate the identification and advancement of high-quality small molecule candidates across a breadth of modalities and therapeutic areas.

Discovery Chemistry Technologies (DCT), a key function within AMD, provides critical scientific expertise and technology solutions that support molecule optimization and scale-up efforts. Within DCT, the Molecular Characterization Team serves as the definitive scientific authority on molecular structure, identity, and other chemistry insights across Lilly's small molecule discovery portfolio. The team primarily applies advanced NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and complementary analytical techniques to solve the most complex structural elucidation, reaction characterization, and conformational challenges — delivering the molecular-level insights that enable discovery chemistry teams to make confident, rapid compound progression decisions. Team members are expected to embrace collaboration, adopt a forward-thinking and growth-oriented mindset, and take individual responsibility for their scientific contributions and professional development.

We are looking for someone who can:

• Keep safety as the top priority, maintaining a strong safety culture in both laboratory and computational work
• Prepare and characterize pharmaceutical compounds and mixtures, acquiring high-quality 1D and 2D NMR data across a fleet of high-field spectrometers
• Develop and validate an autonomous NMR characterization platform that optimizes acquisition parameters, selects which experiments to run, and processes data without operator intervention
• Design, set up, and run chemical reactions using modern reaction methodologies, and monitor them in situ by NMR to track reactants, intermediates, products, and byproducts
• Apply and extend modern analytical and computational methods, including 1D/2D NMR, time-domain signal processing, Bayesian optimization, machine-learning property prediction, and multivariate chemometrics
• Build reproducible scientific software and closed-loop instrument automation through the TopSpin Python API and related interfaces, partnering with instrument and software vendors to troubleshoot and extend capabilities
• Collaborate across analytical, medicinal, and process chemistry to translate methods into deployed tools, and communicate results through publications and presentations

We will consider a broad range of experiences for our open positions. If working for a company where you feel valued and heard is important, apply today and help us improve the lives of patients around the world.

Basic Qualifications:

• PhD in chemistry, analytical chemistry, computational chemistry, cheminformatics, or a related discipline with all requirements completed by October 2026.
• Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Lilly will not provide support for or sponsor work authorization or visas for this role.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Experiences:

• A record of scientific contributions, including peer-reviewed publications, presentations, and/or patents
• Demonstrated ability to program scientific data analysis (for example, Python or R)
• Strong interest in creating and advancing new technologies in analytical and data-driven chemistry
• Motivation to translate methods into deployed tools that other scientists use in production workflows
• Hands-on experience acquiring and interpreting 1D and 2D NMR data
• Experience with reaction monitoring or in situ analytical techniques
• Familiarity with additional analytical methods such as LC-MS, GC-MS, or IR
• Experience with NMR automation or pulse-sequence-level work (e.g., TopSpin, IconNMR)
• Experience with scientific software development
• Experience with Bayesian optimization, active learning, or autonomous experimentation
• Familiarity with multivariate or chemometric analysis (e.g., PCA, PLS, PARAFAC)
• Expertise in Bruker NMR hardware and TopSpin/IconNMR software; familiarity with analytical data processing software such as MestReNova/Mestre or ACD
• Proficiency with scientific informatics, data visualization, or data management tools that support analytical decision-making and AI-enabled workflows
• Learning agility — demonstrated ability to rapidly acquire new technical skills and apply them to evolving characterization challenges
• Demonstrated ability to work productively in interdisciplinary, cross-functional, and international team environments; views personal success in the context of team success
• Excellent English oral and written communication and the ability to engage effectively in a multidisciplinary, global team

Additional Information:

• This is an onsite, lab-based position based in Louisville CO
• This position is not permanent. It is a fixed-term position up to 2 years with a possible 2 year extension.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands of this job are consistent with both a laboratory and an office/computational environment.

Work Environment:

This position's work environment includes both a laboratory and an office/computational setting. The role will be requiring hands-on work with chemical reagents, synthetic equipment, and analytical instrumentation in a research laboratory setting. Standard personal protective equipment is required, and the scientist may occasionally support work across multiple lab spaces or collaborate in office and meeting environments.

Eli Lilly and Company, Lilly USA, LLC and our wholly owned subsidiaries (collectively “Lilly”) are committed to help individuals with disabilities to participate in the workforce and ensure equal opportunity to compete for jobs. If you require an accommodation to submit a resume for positions at Lilly, please email Lilly Human Resources (Lilly_Recruiting_Compliance@lists.lilly.com) for further assistance. Please note This email address is intended for use only to request an accommodation as part of the application process. Any other correspondence will not receive a response.

Lilly is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, 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 help our company develop talented individuals for future leadership roles. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia Network, African American Network, Chinese Culture Network, Early Career Professionals, Japanese International Leadership Network (JILN), Lilly India Network, Organization of Latinos at Lilly, PRIDE (LGBTQ + Allies), Veterans Leadership Network, Women's Network,