Associate Director - Engineering (Automation)

At Lilly, the work is demanding because patients are waiting. We unite caring with discovery to help make life better for people around the world, knowing that every decision, every detail, and every day matters. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, our over 50,000 employees around the globe take on complex challenges to discover and deliver life-changing medicines, strengthen how health is understood and managed, and support the communities we serve. This is hard, urgent, selfless work—but it’s work worth doing. If you’re driven by purpose and ready to bring your best to work that truly matters for patients, we invite you to join us. 

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 40,000 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 is currently constructing an advanced manufacturing facility for production of API molecules located in Houston, TX. This facility is intended to provide APIs for current and future products, including new modalities. This is a unique opportunity to be a part of the site technical team for the startup of a greenfield manufacturing site, and the successful candidate will help to build the organization, the facility and the culture to enable a successful startup into GMP manufacturing operations.

The Associate Director – Engineering (Automation) is responsible for the supervision of the process control engineers and technicians that support the daily operations of the facility. The Associate Director is also responsible for the productivity and development of the employees with the purpose of ensuring that reliable and compliant control applications and systems are used in the manufacturing of API drug substances. Additionally, the Associate Director partners to influence and implement within the process control organization and across functional disciplines to support the process control technical agenda, business plan priorities, and compliance objectives.

In the project delivery phase and startup phase of the project, leadership roles will be fluid and dynamic as we endeavor to support the project delivery, build a new organization, develop and implement the necessary systems and business processes required to support GMP operations, and build the site culture. This will require significant collaboration, creativity and resilience as the site grows to a full scale GMP manufacturing through start up.

During the design and delivery of the project this role will be integrated into the corporate automation team GPACE (Global Process Automation & Control Engineering) and then transition fully to a site-based process team position.  During delivery, this role will collaborate with A&E firms, system integrators, and corporate and site engineering peers. 

Post-project delivery, this role will support GMP manufacturing operations in the central engineering function supporting one or more process teams.  This role will require significant collaboration, creativity and resilience as the site grows to a full scale GMP manufacturing site through start up. 

Responsibilities:

Pre-Startup and Startup Phase:

• Attract, hire, and onboard top talent to the Process Control Engineering team, establishing the right attitude, curiosity, and learning agility to deliver on the site mission.

• Build the organization with the necessary capability, capacity, and culture to operate this facility to the highest standards of safety, quality, and operational excellence.

• Develop and implement the business systems and processes needed to run the site, leveraging existing Lilly knowledge where necessary, but also incorporating external experience.

• Establish lean practices and a continuous improvement mindset throughout operations and the direct supporting organizations.

• Support the project team to deliver the facility by providing feedback and support on design decisions, commissioning & qualification strategies, and automation-related deliverables.

• Collaborate with the project team to ensure the right decisions are made to meet project deliverables and longer-term strategic goals for the site.