Computational Infrastructure Scientist – Biological Data Systems

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.

We are seeking a Computational Infrastructure Scientist to help build and extend the data systems that power large-scale biological and genetic research — the foundations of modern biology and precision medicine.

This is a scientific engineering position, ideal for a PhD-level scientist who bridges biology, computation, and informatics. The successful candidate will have a deep understanding of the complexity and diversity of biological and genetic data, and a passion for designing robust, reusable infrastructure that makes this data usable, reproducible, and scalable across research and discovery pipelines.

You will work at the intersection of genetics, bioinformatics, data architecture, and software engineering, designing systems that transform how biological and clinical-genomic information is prepared, integrated, and explored. Your work will involve:

• Developing and extending data models and ontologies that harmonize heterogeneous sources of biological, genetic, and clinical information.
• Designing scalable data ingestion, standardization, and transformation pipelines for genomic and functional datasets.
• Collaborating with domain experts in genomic medicine, computational biology, bioinformatics, genetics, and informatics to ensure that infrastructure design supports high-impact scientific use cases.
• Support and develop scientific workflows that impact the drug discovery portfolio
• Building the frameworks that enable semantic interoperability, metadata-rich data exchange, and traceable, reproducible data workflows.
• Contributing to the evolution of open data standards and knowledge representation across the life sciences.
• The ideal candidate combines scientific curiosity with engineering discipline — someone who finds beauty in well-designed systems and efficiency in well-structured data.

Responsibilities

• Strategize and implement scientific data processing workflows that transform complex biological datasets into actionable insights.
• Design and develop innovative algorithms and ETL systems to address emerging challenges in biological and drug discovery data integration.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with domain scientists and engineers to translate biological questions into computational frameworks.
• Contribute to the long-term architecture and evolution of the data platform, ensuring scalability, transparency, and reproducibility.
• Develop cloud-based workflows and APIs that enable efficient access and analysis across diverse biological datasets.
• Document and share design decisions to promote reuse and institutional knowledge.

Basic Qualifications:

• PhD in Computational Biology, Chemistry, Bioinformatics, or a related scientific field.

Additional Skills/Preferences:

• Strong programming experience in Python and strong familiarity with R. 
• Experience working in Linux environments. 
• Knowledge of biological databases, ontologies, and metadata systems.
• Knowledge in PostgreSQL databases
• Proficiency in Linux environments and Git (required).
• Exposure to cloud platforms (e.g., AWS S3, EC2, or equivalent).
• Experience working with workflow execution environments including NextFlow
• Experience developing data-driven decision support applications including data and visual analytical tools 
• Exposure to Docker or containerized environments.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work independently on open-ended technical problems.
• Understanding of web design and API is a plus.

What We Offer

• A unique opportunity to shape the data infrastructure that underpins next-generation biological research.
• Cross-functional exposure with state-of-the-art discovery
• A role combining scientific insight with engineering autonomy.
• Hands-on experience with cloud computing and modern data architecture.
• A collaborative environment focused on rigor, transparency, and impact.
• The chance to become a core steward of a critical research platform and its long-term sustainability.

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions. If you require accommodation to submit a resume for a position at Lilly, please complete the accommodation request form (https://careers.lilly.com/us/en/workplace-accommodation) for further assistance. Please note this is for individuals to request an accommodation as part of the application process and any other correspondence will not receive a response.

Lilly is proud to be an EEO Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender identity, sex, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, ancestry, 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 are open to all employees. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia Network, Black Employees at Lilly, Chinese Culture Network, Japanese International Leadership Network (JILN), Lilly India Network, Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), PRIDE (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN), Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL), enAble (for people with disabilities). Learn more about all of our groups.

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location.  The anticipated wage for this position is

$151,500 - $244,200

Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance). In addition, Lilly offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees, including eligibility to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k); pension; vacation benefits; eligibility for medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits; flexible benefits (e.g., healthcare and/or dependent day care flexible spending accounts); life insurance and death benefits; certain time off and leave of absence benefits; and well-being benefits (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities).Lilly reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion and Lilly’s compensation practices and guidelines will apply regarding the details of any promotion or transfer of Lilly employees.

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