Lilly

Post Doctoral Scientist - Large Molecule Discovery

US, San Francisco CA Full time

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.

This Postdoctoral Scientist position offers the opportunity to be part of Lilly Oncology’s exploratory research team working on developing ADC linker-technologies and bioconjugation platforms. The scientist will work in a multi-disciplinary team supporting linker-payload design, bioconjugation, and downstream biochemical assays to enhance ADC biological and pharmacologic properties.

Job Responsibilities:

  • Work within a scientific team, conceptualizing and executing new site-specific bioconjugation and linker technologies for diverse modalities such as ADCs, ARCs, DACs etc.
  • Implement state-of-the-art bioconjugation technologies (cysteine, lysine, site-specific and other) and utilize novel chemistries to generate bioconjugates.
  • Develop purification strategies (up to 200 mg) with affinity, ion-exchange, hydrophobic interaction, size exclusion, and tangential flow filtration.
  • Characterize ADCs using UV-Vis, SEC, HIC, RP, IEX, cIEF, and LC-MS.
  • Maintain thorough documentation of experimental procedures in electronic notebook or database, writing of reports and technical documents.
  • Maintain scientific and technical expertise through familiarity with scientific literature and attending conferences.
  • Engage with multidisciplinary project teams to design, execute, and interpret experiments.
  • Demonstrated record of scientific accomplishments and publications.
  • Present periodic updates and reports to management team.
  • Maintain a safe, pleasant, and efficient working environment.

Basic Requirements:

  • PhD in chemistry, biochemistry, or other related scientific discipline

Additional Preferences:

  • Strong hands-on experience producing and characterizing antibody and protein drug conjugates using HIC, SEC, LC-MS, IEX, and RP-HPLC.
  • Experience with protein purification systems is preferred with hands-on experience and proficiency working with AKTA FPLCs.
  • Must be highly collaborative and able to effectively engage small-molecule research project teams to make rapid progress.
  • Demonstrated ability to work well with other accomplished professionals within and across functions/teams.
  • Ability to multi-task and shift priorities rapidly to meet tight deadlines.
  • Excellent written and verbal communicator.
  • Detail oriented and well organized.
  • Enthusiastic, self-motivated, and keen to improve processes.
  • Self-motivation and continual learner mindset
  • Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to communicate and interact well with colleagues, vendors, and staff at all levels.

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

$58,000 - $123,200

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.

#WeAreLilly