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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.

Job Overview

The Lilly Gene Therapy group is seeking an independent, self-motivated, and highly skilled scientist with a proven track record in designing, developing, and implementing methods and processes to improve mRNA and circRNA quality and production platform. This role will help build the company’s mRNA and circRNA production and technology exploration platform. The successful candidate will support R&D efforts within the company, focused on pre-clinical mRNA and circRNA production and exploration of therapeutic mRNA and circRNA optimization strategies. A deep technical background in RNA chemistry, mRNA synthesis, and mRNA purification are required. Strong organizational and communication skills, creative problem-solving, and flexibility are essential. 

Job Responsibilities

• Execute process development projects to establish mRNA and circRNA production capabilities at research to pre-clinical scales. 
• Produce RNA samples to support internal and external collaborations. 
• Design and perform routine biochemistry experiments, including in vitro transcription, purification, quality evaluation, etc. 
• Collaborate with CMC and production teams to harmonize pre-clinical and clinical grade production technology and quality metrics. 
• Develop and utilize strategies to synthesize and modify RNA molecules to achieve desired properties. 
• Clearly communicate results and recommendations to collaborators, colleagues, managers, and senior management, leading project decision-making. 
• Contribute to the company’s intellectual property portfolio by generating new ideas, recommending technical strategy, reading broadly in relevant fields, and diligently maintaining organized records. 

Basic Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Chemistry, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, or related scientific discipline with 1+ years of academic or pharmaceutical industry experience in mRNA or circRNA process development. Alternativley, Masters degree in those areas with 12+ years of relevant post-graduate work experience, or Bachelors degrees in those areas with 15+ years of relevant post-graduate work experience.

Additional Skills/Preferences

• In-depth understanding and hands-on experience with RNA chemistry are required. 
• Expertise with production and characterization of mRNA or circRNA molecules using state-of-the-art techniques is required. 
• Expertise with different approaches for RNA modification and their application in mRNA or circRNA therapeutics is required. 
• Experience and understanding of technical challenges with mRNA or circRNA as a therapeutic modality is required. Experience with several mRNA modalities (linear mRNA, saRNA, circRNA, etc.) is an advantage. 
• Strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills are required, as well as the ability to work both independently and in a collaborative work environment. 
• User-level experience with automated liquid handlers is a plus. 
• Familiarity with Design-of-Experiments (DOE) is a plus. 
• Relevant publication record in academic and/or patent literature is a plus. 

Accommodations

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.

Equal Employment Opportunity

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.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

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.

Compensation & Benefits

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

$133,500 - $217,800

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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