Advisor – Operations Optimization – Lilly Medicine Foundry

Organization and Position Overview 

Lilly recently announced a $4.5 billion investment to create the Lilly Medicine Foundry, a new center for advanced manufacturing and drug development. The first-ever facility of its kind, combining research and manufacturing in a single location, the Medicine Foundry will allow Lilly to further develop innovative solutions to optimize manufacturing processes and increase capacity for clinical trial medicines, while also reducing costs and environmental impact. 

In the project delivery phase and startup phase of the project (startup expected 2025 to 2027), Advisor/Sr Advisor – Operations Optimization is responsible for supporting operational readiness activities of the operations areas at the Foundry. This role works with front line resources, leadership, and project partners to ensure site deliverables to support startup are appropriately planned, scheduled, and implemented to enable on-schedule and on-budget project delivery. The scope of operational readiness is expansive, stretching across multiple functional areas of the site, requiring the Advisor/Sr. Advisor – Operations Optimization to build breadth of knowledge and work cross-functionally. 

Once in the production phase, the Advisor/Sr Advisor – Operations Optimization will work cross-functionally with the Foundry Process Engineering, Process Translation and Execution, Quality, Automation, Supply Chain, and Health and Safety groups as well as Product Research and Development (PRD) on projects to improve the speed, flexibility, and reliability of operation process flow plus development and ownership of operational efficiency metrics aligning with the mission of the Foundry. The Advisor/Sr. Advisor – Operations Optimization will drive Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement in the areas of safety, quality and productivity 

Additionally, this role will work with the other operation areas on site to drive consistent best practices across the nodes. The Advisor/Sr Advisor – Small Molecule Operations Optimization will be a member of the Operations Area Lead Team. 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Analyze process introduction data to look for opportunities for speed and execution improvements. Utilize Lean and OpEx principles to influence and drive improvement across the entire PRD org relating to the work at the Foundry 

• Work with site and corporate PSM experts to improve the Process Hazard Review process so that we are focusing on the critical safety items while right sizing the review process.  

• Drive prioritization of cross-functional initiatives to support operations and improve speed, flexibility, and robustness of new process introduction. 

• Use project management tools to lead the implementation of the change and improvement agenda for the assigned area, ensuring cross functional support and integration while driving significant operational optimization. 

• Maintain Safety, Quality, and Operational excellence by supporting lean principles. 

• Support business operations Key Performance Indicators and help drive improvement projects. 

• During site start-up, lead cross-functional project teams to develop/manage operational readiness scope within the site’s integrated schedule. 

• This role will support one of the three operations areas (based on candidate background) at the Lilly Medicine Foundry (Small Molecule, Biologics, or Mixed Modalities) while working with peers in the other areas to share consistent best practices across the site’s operations areas 

Basic Requirements: 

• Minimum of a bachelor's degree in science, engineering, or technical field with 12+ years of experience in pharmaceutical or chemical manufacturing operations involving PSM-regulated or hazardous chemicals, or master’s degree with 10 years of experience, or PhD with 2 years of experience. 

• Minimum of 5+ years of experience providing technical leadership in Operations, Process Translation and Execution, Processing Engineering or Product Research and Development 

Additional Preferences: 

• Experience running projects in pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry, preferably in an API pilot plant environment 

• Bring multidisciplinary experience/understanding from various business units (e.g. Engineering, Automation, Facility, Safety, Quality, Operations, etc.) to support overall operational readiness 

• CAPM or PMP Certification 

• Experience with Oracle Primavera P6 and Smartsheet for project scheduling software 

• Experience working in a GMP environment 

• Ability to work as a team leader to implement multi-disciplined projects. 

• Strong organizational skills 

• Ability to work with a team and influence diverse groups. 

• Ability to drive innovative solutions to plant, divisional, and corporate issues and incorporate ideas from other functional areas. 

Other Information: 

• Initial location at Lilly Technology Center, Indianapolis.   

• Permanent location at the new Lilly Medicines Foundry in Lebanon, Indiana.   

• Travel Percentage: 5% 

• Position requires on-site presence on a M-F schedule, with flexibility to support operations activities in a 24/7 hour manufacturing environment during nights and weekends as needed.