Synthetic Chemist – Peptide Therapeutics (Indianapolis, IN)

Location: Indianapolis
Posted on: June 23, 2025

Job Description:

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. Organization Overview: The Peptide Therapeutics group at Lilly is seeking to recruit a full-time Associate Synthetic Chemist. The successful applicant will be an enthusiastic and highly motivated team player who will make significant contributions to preclinical drug discovery and development efforts. This is an exciting opportunity to join a multidisciplinary team of researchers working to develop the next generation of peptide-related biotherapeutics across a range of therapeutic areas. Creative, enthusiastic, and highly motivated synthetic chemists with limited peptide chemistry experience and deeper expertise in the areas of small molecules, oligonucleotides, or protein conjugation are welcome to apply. Responsibilities: The successful candidate will: Utilize state-of-the-art synthesis techniques to drive compound generation. Synthesize target molecules, perform purification and QC analysis, propose alternative synthetic strategies, and overcome synthetic challenges. Analyze and interpret structure-activity relationships to make design recommendations to drive projects forward. Collaborate with fellow chemists and scientists from other disciplines and drug modalities in a team environment that is focused on achieving success. Search relevant chemical and scientific literature with limited supervision. Accurately document experimental procedures and communicate results via verbal presentations and written reports. Basic Requirements: B.S. in Chemistry or a related field with at least 2 years of industry experience OR M.S. in Chemistry or a related field with experience. Additional Skills/Preferences: A comprehensive understanding of synthetic peptide chemistry and/or organic chemistry is critical. Experience with peptide synthesis instrumentation, purification, and analysis by HPLC and mass spectrometry is desirable but not necessary. Skilled synthetic organic chemists with a desire to transition to the area of peptide therapeutics are encouraged to apply. Experience with synthesis, characterization, and optimization of macrocyclic peptides is preferable. Experience in the bioconjugation of fluorescent labels, carbohydrates, oligonucleotides, small molecules and/or proteins to synthetic peptides or other modalities is valuable. Experience in structure-based drug design using computational methods is beneficial. The successful candidate will have superb communication and organizational and interpersonal skills and will excel working as part of diverse cross-functional teams. Essential traits include a desire to present their work and understand its impact on drug discovery efforts, and an eagerness to take on diverse scientific and technical challenges as they arise. 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 $63,000 - $162,800 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. WeAreLilly

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