Post-Doctoral Scientist– Molecular Pharmacology

About the role

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. The Molecular Pharmacology group in Lilly Small Molecule Discovery (LSMD) and Cardiometabolic research unit (CMR) is seeking an ambitious post-doctoral scientist with strong research and communication skills to contribute to highly visible research projects.

Responsibilities

• Develop and validate assays to identify small molecule uncouplers.
• Characterize in vitro mitochondrial uncoupling activity across cell types, tissues, and disease-relevant systems.
• Work with and be mentored by experts in bioenergetics, molecular pharmacology, and metabolic disease biology.
• Design and execute small molecule screens to identify novel mitochondrial uncouplers, and characterize their mechanism of action, potency, selectivity, and safety margin using cutting edge industry technology and resources.
• Identify areas of key need across clinical development and champion creative solutions to address those needs.
• Maintain external awareness and learning to benefit the organization.
• Present findings at conferences and publish in high quality peer-reviewed journals.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Pharmacology, or a related field
• 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, including but not limited to F-1 CPT, F-1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, J-1, H-1B, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, or L-1.

Additional Skills/Preferences

• Demonstrated hands-on experience with molecular biology techniques, including CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing (e.g., guide RNA design, generation of knockout/knock-in cell lines, validation of edits)
• Experience with plate-based assay technologies such as TR-FRET, BRET, AlphaLISA, or similar high-throughput biochemical/cellular assay platforms preferred
• Familiarity with cellular target engagement assays (e.g., CETSA,