Scientific Lead - Translational Sciences

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.

The Translational Sciences group is a central node in the Lilly drug discovery organization with the mission to inform clinical biomarker strategy, clinical decision-making, regulatory questions, and reverse-translate insights from the clinic to benefit discovery and next-generation drug development. Pre-clinical efforts aim to solidify understanding of therapeutic mechanism, indication and patient selection, dose and schedule, differentiation, resistance mechanisms, developing rational combination strategies, and mitigating adverse events.

This is a hands-on position for a lab scientist with expertise in epigenetic, ADC and immune-oncology therapeutics, who enjoys working at the bench and applying state-of-the-art technology platforms. The scientist is able to interpret experimental results in the context of the broader therapeutic area and target literature and actively interact with closely collaborating line functions such as bio-computational, biomarker, clinical, pharmacology and other teams. This scientist must have excellent people and communication skills, and exhibit a positive, “can-do” attitude in a dynamic, fast-paced team focused on rigorous and cutting-edge science to deliver innovative cancer drugs and provide forward-thinking approaches to advance our clinical portfolio.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Position:

• Develop and validate molecular and mammalian cellular assays to address mechanistic and functional questions in pre-clinical studies.
• Design and execute key experiments to evaluate compound effects, identify combination partners, and investigate drug resistance.
• Translate preclinical findings to biomarkers and combination strategies to advance programs to clinical development.
• Participate in and present in project meetings to ensure assays meet the program needs and results are appropriately interpreted.
• Collaborate with different functional teams throughout the company to guide work toward project goals, communicate ongoing work and progress, and plan forward-thinking strategies.
• Prepare reports for internal and external purposes including regulatory submissions.
• Proactively investigate new or alternative technologies and evaluate service providers to ensure the work is conducted in a scientifically sound, efficient manner.
• Develop and continually advance one’s knowledge base on the molecular pathways and the therapeutic area being targeted by our clinical and research programs.

Basic Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Immunology, Cancer Biology, or related scientific fields with 0-5 years of hands-on molecular and cell biology experience in a post-doctoral/research/industry setting, or MS with 6+ years of hands-on molecular and cell biology experience in a biotech/pharma setting or BS with 8+ years of hands-on molecular and cell biology experience in a biotech/pharma setting.

Additional Skills/Preferences:

• Strong hands-on experience in developing, optimizing, and troubleshooting molecular and cellular assays to interrogate signaling and gene regulation pathways.
• Proficient in engineering cellular models to modulate gene expression and assess pathway function; experience with primary cell or immune co-culture systems is a plus
• Deep understanding of epigenetic regulation (chromatin remodeling, histone modification, and DNA methylation) and its impact on tumor and immune biology
• Skilled in key analytical and profiling techniques such as qRT-PCR, ELISA, MSD, Western blotting, RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, and flow cytometry.
• Strong background in data analysis, quantitative interpretation, curve fitting, and statistical evaluation using tools such as GraphPad Prism.
• Highly organized with excellent documentation and multi-tasking skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate and interact well with colleagues, vendors, contractors, scientific advisors, and staff at all levels.
• Proven track record of impactful research demonstrated through high-quality publications, presentations, or patents
• Committed to staying current with the latest scientific breakthroughs in the targeted oncology field from target identification through human clinical trials.
• A good and thoughtful listener who values collaboration.
• Enthusiastic, self-motivated, and keen to improve processes and overcome inefficiencies.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office suite and applications.

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

$166,500 - $266,200

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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