Process Engineer – Packaging

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 globe, knowing that every decision, every detail, and every day matters. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, our over 50,000 employees around the world 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.

Lilly is a Fortune 500 company in operation for 150 years, creating high-quality medicines for our patients. The new facility on the Kenosha County campus will be one of Lilly’s most technically advanced manufacturing sites, featuring high-speed manufacturing, robotics, advanced data collection and analytics that will result in safety improvements, increased productivity, and variability reduction for Packaging lines. This is an exciting opportunity to help build a state-of-the-art facility and Quality System from the ground up.

Responsibilities

• Support and manage Packaging as a critical part of Lilly’s supply chain within the LKC Site Engineering organization.
• Provide subject-matter expertise in process control, improvements, project management, and technical leadership to the process team.
• Develop expertise in production processes, commissioning, qualification, validation requirements, equipment-specific code, and/or control system technologies.
• Integrate, qualify, and start up complex Packaging systems while serving as the technical bridge between OEM equipment, manufacturing control systems, MES, warehouse systems, and site operations.

Key Objectives and Deliverables

• Partner with Corporate Automation, Global Packaging & Robotics, Automation Integrators, and Global Facilities Delivery to design, install, and qualify the new LKC Packaging lines.
• Take overall responsibility for the safe design and safe operation of the equipment within the area.
• Lead or participate in qualification activities (including commissioning activities of new equipment or areas).
• Assist in the integration of these lines into the site data collection and SCADA layer.
• Lead activities through the full project lifecycle including design review, FAT, installation, SAT, qualification, and startup support.
• Assist with integration between Packaging equipment and enterprise manufacturing systems including MES, warehouse management systems, scheduling systems, and site automation platforms.
• Review OEM electrical, controls, and safety designs to ensure compliance with Lilly standards and applicable industry standards (e.g., machine safety, electrical safety, and control panel requirements).
• Assist automation verification and qualification activities, including IOQ testing, system integration testing, and startup troubleshooting.
• Support implementation and lifecycle management of Lilly manufacturing platforms such as Global Packaging Platform (GPP), GRIP, GPM, Global Scheduler, and MES integrations.
• Support manufacturing system interfaces including PLCs, HMI/SCADA systems, databases, servers, virtual environments, networks, and middleware platforms.
• Partner with Quality, Operations, Engineering, IT, OEMs, and global platform teams to resolve complex automation and integration challenges during project execution and commercial operations.
• Assist manufacturing system startup readiness activities including PSSR execution, safety verification, automation cutovers, and qualification support.
• Communicate effectively with cross-functional team members in roles such as quality, logistics, and crafts personnel.
• Obtain technical expertise of equipment and processes in area of responsibility; clear understanding of equipment flow charts, process flow documents, critical process parameters, and equipment controls.
• Establish control charts and monitor/trend operating parameters to verify and optimize equipment performance.
• Lead troubleshooting efforts to resolve more difficult equipment and operational problems.
• Utilize formal problem-solving techniques, such as root cause analysis and causal factor charting, to resolve equipment deviations.
• Provide oversight and assist maintenance personnel and engineering techs that support the equipment.
• Evaluate all activities for impact on qualified state of equipment and utilize appropriate tools/processes as necessary (change control, hold, etc.).
• Responsible for system/component classification and maintenance strategy for equipment.
• Implement corrections, corrective actions, and countermeasures arising from CAPAs.
• Participate in Periodic Reviews for equipment.
• Act as user representative for capital projects or local projects.
• Understand equipment reliability issues and performance KPIs.
• Identify and drive improvement opportunities (procedural changes, upgrades, projects, etc.) associated with equipment within the area.
• Plan and coordinate equipment planned downtime windows for equipment improvements and preventative maintenance.
• Compare equipment performance data with other manufacturing sites within the network to determine areas of opportunity.
• Establish and monitor/trend control systems as a tool for verifying and optimizing equipment performance.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives by identifying root causes, implementing robust automation solutions, and improving reliability, quality, and operational performance.
• Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership across multiple manufacturing areas and project teams.
• Serve as owner/SME of equipment, Packaging processes, and maintenance programs associated with Lilly Global Quality Standards (GQS) and Engineering Best Practices/Functional Standards (EBP/EFS).
• Technically lead and delegate activities to a cross-functional technical team supporting the Packaging lines on medium-large scale projects.
• Ensure proficiency and capability to understand OSHA/regulatory (CFR) requirements and ensure compliance.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field.
• 7+ years of experience as a process engineer in a highly automated environment.

Preferred Attributes

• Technical leadership.
• Strong automation background.
• Strong learning mindset with curiosity, adaptability, and technical aptitude to rapidly acquire new skills and technologies.
• Proven experience delivering engineering projects in both greenfield and brownfield environments, including facility startup, commissioning, expansion, and retrofit initiatives.
• Ability to lead first-time processes and navigate a cross-functional team through ambiguity.
• Pharmaceutical cGMP experience and compliance.
• OSHA and CFR knowledge.
• Project management skills.
• Adequate interpersonal and communications skills to work effectively in a team-based environment.
• Strong knowledge of Studio 5000 and FactoryTalk View SE.
• Understanding of automated vision systems and robotics.
• Ability to apply statistical thinking concepts to the analysis of manufacturing problems.
• Experience utilizing root cause analysis techniques for the systematic solving of problems.

Schedule

8-hour days, Monday through Friday. Rotational on-call support will be required.

Travel

Domestic and international travel may be required during the startup phase (25–50%). Domestic and international travel may be required after Operation Readiness (5–10%).