Post-Doctoral Scientist (FDE) - Organic Chemistry (SMDD)

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 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.

Synthetic Molecule Design and Development (SMDD) is an innovation-focused organization within Eli Lilly and Company. Our dynamic group is made up of chemists, pharmaceutical scientists, analytical chemists, and engineers. We strive to identify, develop and apply groundbreaking technologies to deliver maximum benefit to our patients. Within SMDD, process chemistry is essential to establishing a robust and sustainable supply chain for small molecules as well as other synthetic molecules such as peptides, oligonucleotides and antibody-drug conjugates. We seek to use new technologies for key problems, and we endeavor to continuously improve the way we develop and manufacture therapeutic molecules.

Are you a creative and innovative synthetic chemist? Do you have a unique technical skillset and are you driven to improve those around you? Are you interested in learning about pharmaceutical process chemistry and development?  If the answers are yes, this can be the right position for you to make an impact, acquire valuable training and connections, and improve the future of drug manufacturing. You will have the chance to collaborate across scientific areas such as chemical synthesis, analytical chemistry, high-throughput screening, and chemical engineering.  This role will enable the researcher to conduct process chemistry research relevant to our development pipeline while generating data that can be published externally to generate value for Eli Lilly and the scientist.

Responsibilities:

Top candidates for this position will be expected to:

• Use a strong background in modern synthetic chemistry and the scientific and technical resources in SMDD to establish a world-class laboratory program by conducting in-house chemical research in a safe and hygienic manner while documenting the research to industry standards. 
• Be able to independently conduct chemical research and draw conclusions for logical next steps while keeping the team informed of progress and being receptive to input and guidance.
• Embrace and celebrate diversity by using a relevant but unique background and set of experiences to provide new ideas to deliver innovative solutions. Strong communication (oral, written), organizational, and leadership skills are expected.
• Produce novel contributions to chemical design and mechanism-based problem solving as part of project driven goals such as the synthesis of complex molecules and/or novel methodology development. It is expected that the candidate will author peer-reviewed external publications as a primary work output.
• Bring new and useful concepts and methods for how research can be improved and share these to make our group better and better.
• Demonstrate learning agility by grasping and exploiting new scientific concepts and methods across functions and apply these findings to relevant problems. Actively conduct chemical development using the most modern technologies, including continuous processing, automated reaction screening, and computational chemistry.

Basic Qualifications:

• PhD in synthetic chemistry or related field.

Additional Skills/Preferences:

• Good interpersonal skills and a persistent tendency for collaboration
• Demonstrated self-initiative and appropriate risk-taking behaviors.
• Knowledge and experience with management of technical projects
• Demonstrated leadership capabilities especially in a team environment.
• Ability to prioritize multiple activities and thrive in a setting that requires quick movement between scientific challenges.
• An active scientific curiosity and interest for complementary disciplines within the pharmaceutical industry
• Demonstrated success in persuasion, influence and negotiation in a scientific setting.
• Proficiency in scientific writing and publication in peer-reviewed journals along with scientific presentation skills.
• Passionate about improving technological solutions using new and emerging technologies.
• Ability to balance multiple activities, prioritize and handle ambiguity.
• Demonstrated exemplary teamwork/interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated problem solving, attention to detail and result oriented behaviors in a fast-paced environment.

Additional Information:

• Possible exposure to chemicals, allergens and loud noises
• Travel: 0 to 10%
• Position Local: Indianapolis, IN; Lilly Technology Center-North (LTC-N)
• This position is not permanent. It is for a fixed duration of two years with the possibility to extend to 3 years and for maximum of up to 4 years. You will have opportunities to apply for full time positions after your duration is complete.

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 complicated, 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

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, Working and Living with Disabilities. Learn more about all of our groups.

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