Scientific Director – Medicinal Chemistry - Oral Macrocyclic Peptides (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. This is a technical leadership position in the Peptide Therapeutics Team within Biotechnology Discovery Research in Indianapolis. The ideal candidate will have the responsibility to identify, optimize, evaluate, and advance to clinical development oral macrocyclic peptides. This individual will be a significant contributor and will lead the Medicinal Chemistry Team as part of a highly integrated and collaborative team effort in this novel peptide modality. Ideal candidate is expected to have demonstrated success in similar roles with proven track record of leading both scientific rationale, planning and execution leading to success in making medicines. The individual will independently lead projects, supervise scientists, contribute significantly to prioritization of the team objectives, propose strategies and future directions to meet broader portfolio objectives in the oral macrocyclic peptide space, optimally manage resources, and effectively communicate progress to management and governance committees. Also, will interact cross-functionally within Biotechnology Discovery Research, and across including in groups of Discovery Chemistry Research and Technology (DCRT), Therapeutic Area Teams, Drug Disposition, Product Development and Regulatory Affairs. KEY OBJECTIVES/DELIVERABLES: Lead Medicinal Chemistry Group in efforts in oral macrocycle peptides. Initiate and lead new oral macrocycle peptides research projects, formulate strategy and execute on the strategy organizing team efforts for deep technical development and to accelerate from target to hit identification and lead optimization towards candidate declaration. Implement rational SAR strategies to improve pharmaceutical properties of peptide leads in the oral macrocyclic space. This requires a broad repertoire of skills and knowledge of peptide properties including peptide synthesis and conformational analysis, molecular modeling, computational methods, analytical and physicochemical characterization. Therapeutic Area Focus: candidate is expected to exhibit strong problem-solving abilities and be familiar with understanding and resolving issues that lie at the interface of peptide engineering, pharmaceutical developability and formulation, and biology. Prior experience with moving a therapeutic opportunity to proof of principle confirmation in humans is seen as an advantage. Leadership: In advancing the optimization of lead therapeutic molecules in the oral macrocyclic peptide space, will be required to lead/co-lead multidisciplinary teams. Accordingly, strong communication and presentation skills in sharing research findings and team plans, and effective teamwork will be required. Inspire people to collaborate in inventing great medicines by removing barriers, committing to high quality scientific hypotheses, and accelerating where possible. Always keep safety as a top priority, striving toward a proactive safety culture. Be an advocate for diversity and inclusion in our recruiting, retaining and developing scientists, with a commitment to coaching and development of scientists. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: PhD or postdoctoral degree in chemistry or synthetic chemistry or peptide chemistry or related field with successful drug discovery and development experience. >5 years of experience in a biotechnology/pharmaceutical company ADDITIONAL PREFERENCES: Deep knowledge as well as mastery of the latest developments in oral macrocyclic peptides. Understand the challenges and can initiate and lead new oral macrocycles projects, can formulate strategy and execute on the strategy organizing team efforts for deep technical development and to accelerate from target to hit identification and lead optimization towards candidate declaration. Significant knowledge in oral macrocyclic peptides, based on library-based screening technologies including at least one of OBOC, solution-phase, AS/MS, mRNA display or related peptide library screening technologies. Must have demonstrated leadership in development of new medicines, ideally have worked on peptide efforts in both library-based screening technologies and design of strategies for hit identification and lead optimization. Familiarity with state of the art in computational and structural efforts for hit identification and lead optimization in macrocyclic peptides. Must have deep scientific expertise and demonstrated ability to lead a team of scientists from within therapeutic/functional areas with a proven track record of delivering candidate molecules into clinical testing. Must be an excellent team player, strong attention to detail, strong problem-solving skills, a high level of learning agility, with the ability to lead within a globally matrixed organization and across functions. Must have developed molecules from conceptual stage all the way to putting them into the clinic and demonstrated track record of success in drug development. Great understanding of computational and AI/machine learning techniques used for the development and engineering of oral macrocyclic peptide medicines. Open, transparent and able to communicate equally well with employees, team members and cross-functional and/or senior leadership. 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 $139,500 - $246,400 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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