Engineer - Drug Substance Synthetic Molecule Design and Development

About the role

The Synthetic Molecule Design and Development (SMDD) team at Lilly is seeking a creative and energetic candidate to join our dynamic team. This role involves developing process design and unit operation knowledge based on engineering principles for small molecules and other emerging therapeutic modalities. You will ensure successful scale-up of processes through fundamental engineering principles and equipment knowledge, design and execute laboratory experiments, and develop drug substance processes and manufacturing technologies.

Responsibilities

• Generate process design and unit operation knowledge based on engineering principles for small molecules, and other emerging therapeutic modalities.
• Ensure successful scale-up of processes through fundamental engineering principles and equipment knowledge.
• Design and execute laboratory experiments, including manual and automated high- and low-throughput reactors, in support of crystallization process design and optimization.
• Develop drug substance processes and manufacturing technologies, with a focus on defining the physical properties of the API required for the drug product and designing crystallization processes to fulfill physical property and chemical purity requirements.
• Leverage and develop process analytical technology (PAT), continuous processing, mechanistic models, and novel formulation platforms to develop well-understood and robust crystallization processes capable of enhancing or tailoring API physical properties.
• Apply fundamental engineering and business principles to design and characterize synthetic processes. Use numerical engineering modeling tools to characterize reaction kinetics, reaction mechanisms, and process separations.
• Engage in generating creative solutions for improving existing processes and the creation of novel ones.
• Transfer process technical information to internal and external manufacturing sites. Provide technical oversight to external collaboration partners for laboratory and manufacturing activities.
• Author and maintain documentation such as laboratory notebooks and technical reports.
• Design effective and efficient process and equipment flow strategies, ensuring equipment is selected which is suitable and appropriate for its intended use, given the specific needs of the process.
• Stay informed about new technology and best practices. Propose, justify, evaluate, and implement new equipment, processing techniques, and technologies.
• Utilize technology to improve safety, quality, and productivity, both in development and manufacturing.
• Publish and share original research externally through peer-reviewed articles and conferences.

Requirements

• B.S or M.S. in chemical engineering or closely related engineering field.
• Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.

Qualifications

• Strong technical skills in synthetic organic chemistry with experience as a hands-on technical contributor in a laboratory environment.
• Utilization of chemical engineering fundamentals towards crystallization process design: heat and mass transfer, thermodynamics, crystallization and precipitation kinetics, solid–liquid separations, drying, particle size reduction (milling), mixing theory, and experimental design.
• Experience with online and offline analytical techniques and PAT such as image analysis tools, IR, Raman, FBRM, and solid-state characterization techniques such as XRPD, DSC, TGA, particle size analysis, and microscopy.
• Demonstrated problem solving skills.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and ability to collaborate in a team environment.
• Ability to prioritize multiple activities and handle ambiguity.