Advisor - Biologist - Pandemic Preparedness

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, 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. 

Position Summary

Lilly’s Biotechnology Discovery Research (BioTDR) organization has a track record for delivering novel

biotherapeutic medicines to advance into clinical research in key areas of unmet medical need across a variety of therapeutic areas.  We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Molecular and Cellular Biologist to join our research team.  This role is part of a dedicated pandemic preparedness team within BioTDR, working in close partnership with Lilly's Infectious Disease organization and external partners to create and develop capabilities to enable future pandemic preparedness.  The successful candidate will build and own the functional assay infrastructure that enables rapid antibody screening and characterization — including pseudovirus neutralization platforms and cell-based entry assays, with initial focus on Filoviruses such Ebola. The position is located at the Lilly BioTechnology Center in San Diego, CA.

Key Responsibilities will be the design and implementation of capabilities to enable antibody discovery targeting infectious agents, including the creation of reagents, cell lines, and viral/pseudoviral stocks to be used for functional assessment of antibodies, and will include the following activities:

• Designing and establishing pseudovirus neutralization assays that are appropriately reflective of viral entry mechanisms of targeted pathogens, including the development of high-throughput, quantitative approaches for antiviral screening
• Antiviral antibody characterization including Fc-effector function screening, cell-to-cell spread assays (where appropriate), and antibody escape mapping. 
• Collaborating with external collaborators and CROs to design high containment in vitro and in vivo studies
• Embrace and celebrate diversity by using a relevant and unique background and set of experiences to provide new ideas to deliver innovative solutions drugging novel targets.

Basic Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Virology, molecular biology, cellular biology, or related field, plus a minimum of 2 years post-graduate experience (post-doctoral or industry), in virology and antiviral discovery
• Experience in preforming and optimizing live-viral and psuedotyped virus neutralization assays (in BSL2 or higher containment settings), including constructing, expanding, and titrating virus stocks. 

Additional Skills and Preferences

• Strong core proficiency in all aspects of molecular and cellular biology, including molecular cloning, recombinant protein expression and recombinant cell line generation.Working knowledge of filovirus biology, especially Ebola GP-mediated entry - enabling rapid contribution to the initial Ebola focus of the pandemic preparedness program
• Familiarity with cell biological approaches to characterize other mechanistic determinants of viral infectivity beyond cell entry such as Fc-effector function 
• Experience in the functional characterization and escape mapping of modalities that target infectious agents
• Strong communication (oral and written), organizational, and leadership skills are expected as evidenced by a robust publication record
• Prior experience in the discovery and characterization of antibodies, discovered either via traditional approaches, or from patient-derived sources
• Demonstrated experience preforming in vitro and/or in vivo studies in high-containment settings (BSL-2+/BSL-3/BSL-4).  Ability to work productively and collaboratively in an interdisciplinary team environment, particularly with BioTDR’s broader antibody discovery scientists, and including prior experience in technology transfer to other partner organizations
• Ability to prioritize multiple activities and thrive in a setting that requires quick movement between scientific challenges and comfort with ambiguity.

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 (AMECA), Black Employees at Lilly (BE@Lilly), Chinese Culture Network (CCN), EnAble, Evolve, Lilly Indian Network (LIN), Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), Pride (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN) and Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL).

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

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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