Advisor / Sr. Advisor - Mammalian Display

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.

Lilly Small Molecule Discovery is an organization purpose-built to create molecules that make life better for people. We focus on using cutting edge science to unlock new approaches that can treat people suffering from diseases with poor treatment options. We continually challenge ourselves to deliver molecules that can provide breakthrough efficacy with the highest possible safety margins. We are dedicated to optimizing our mindset, technology, and processes for faster, more nimble execution. Our success is built on a culture that empowers innovative problem solving through open collaboration and individual accountability. 

Discovery Technology and Platforms is a newly established function within this organization. Its mission is to accelerate molecule discovery by building highly optimized foundational platforms, streamlining lab operations through advanced technologies and data connectivity, and intentionally investing in novel technologies and capabilities. 

Position Summary: 

Lilly Small Molecule Discovery is seeking a pioneering Mammalian Display Scientist to build and optimize a mammalian cell surface display platform aimed at uncovering allosteric networks and cryptic binding pockets in challenging protein targets. This is a hands-on, lab-based position with no direct reports. 

This role offers an exciting opportunity to establish a cutting-edge discovery engine to support next-generation small molecule drug development. The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in mammalian display technologies, protein engineering, and a passion for platform innovation at the interface of biology and chemistry. 

Responsibilities: 

• Develop and optimize mammalian surface display systems (e.g., in HEK or CHO cells) to interrogate conformational landscapes of protein targets. 

• Design and execute strategies to reveal hidden allosteric sites and cryptic pockets amenable to small molecule modulation. 

• Engineer and express protein variants optimized for display and conformational sensitivity. 

• Apply high-throughput selection and screening approaches (e.g., FACS, cell-based assays) to identify conformationally biased binders. 

• Integrate structural biology, biophysical methods, and functional assays to validate newly discovered allosteric networks. 

• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams across Lilly, including structural biology, computational chemistry, and small molecule discovery groups. 

• Drive platform innovation through agile, hypothesis-driven research and rapid iteration. 

Basic Requirements: 

• Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Protein Engineering, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, or a related field. 

• Minimum of 3 years' experience (industry or academic) developing or applying mammalian display systems, in an academic or industrial setting, supported by publications and/or patents 

• Expert in saturation mutagenesis library generation. 

• Experience with high-throughput screening methods, particularly FACS-based selections.