Senior, Expert
Computational Modeling Engineer – Process Modeling
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.
Computational Modeling Engineer – Process Modeling
About Lilly
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.
Manufacturing & Quality Technical Hub, Hyderabad
Lilly's Hyderabad hub is a first-of-its-kind technical center built to lead the manufacturing and quality science agenda for Lilly's global supply network, and the work done here reaches patients in more than 110 countries.
This hub oversees contract manufacturing of starting materials and intermediates for API manufacturing in India, managing the full scientific agenda for manufacturing and quality. We're building a cutting-edge scientific organization and looking for top talent in process engineering, chemistry, analytical and data sciences to be part of it.
The science you develop here doesn't stay here. It moves through Lilly's global supply network and reaches patients across more than 110 countries who are counting on it.
About the Role: Digital Manufacturing Engineering
Digital Manufacturing Engineering (DME) is part of the Corporate Engineering Tech Center (ETC). The ETC is a technical resource for training, standards, project implementation, and the center of engineering excellence for the corporation, providing deeply technical resources to solve the most intractable technical problems in manufacturing. DME provides Digital Engineering Platform ownership, OT data integration solutions, engineering data standardization/ownership, and digital manufacturing solutions for Lilly Manufacturing. Our team focuses on connecting our facilities (securely) and leveraging the data from those facilities to deliver digital manufacturing solutions to improve manufacturing productivity, data integrity / compliance, quality, and operational excellence. Digital Manufacturing Technologies include digital twins, computational modeling, edge/IoT, and analytics solutions. Digital Engineering Platforms include CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System), GECMS (Global Engineering Content Management System) and many other digital platforms leveraged by engineers across Lilly Manufacturing.
Position Description and Responsibilities
The Computational Modeling Engineer – Process Modeling will provide deep modeling expertise and develop computational models that drive decisions to design new manufacturing processes and improve existing ones across Lilly's global manufacturing network. This role focuses on the physics of continuous and batch process operations, applying modeling techniques across physical properties, unit operations (mixing, heat transfer, mass transfer, reaction, separation, filtration), scale-up, and numerical/multiphysics simulation. A core focus of the role is the development of Digital Twin computational models — including first-principles process models and CFD-based representations — that provide online modeling capabilities to manufacturing facilities, in alignment with the Engineering Digital Strategy for Manufacturing and Quality within Lilly. This is a global role, supporting functional initiatives and all Lilly Manufacturing sites globally.
This role is a technical engineering role at the R4–R6 level on the Tech Ladder, requiring a minimum MS degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field. The position requires deep technical expertise in process modeling and simulation, strong fundamentals in transport phenomena, thermodynamics, reaction engineering, and the first-principles concepts from which process models are formulated, and the ability to complement model-based solutions with laboratory investigation and empirical validation when appropriate. The engineer will partner with the data leads within the DME team to ensure necessary process and equipment data is available to support their models, and will work closely with manufacturing site process and plant engineers, corporate function engineers, and development engineers/scientists to deliver rigorous technical solutions.
The primary focus of the role is to develop and deploy process simulation and optimization models that increase manufacturing capacity, resilience, compliance, and inspection readiness, and that support operational excellence goals for safety, quality, and supply. The engineer will also serve as an internal advocate for first-principles and model-based methods, fostering the use of process modeling tools by colleagues outside DME through instruction, consultation, and the development of internal collaborations.
Key Objectives/Deliverables
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Develop and deploy steady-state and dynamic process simulation models to drive decisions that help design new and/or improve existing manufacturing processes.
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Develop multiphysics and CFD-based models of unit operations (e.g., mixing, heat/mass transfer, reaction, crystallization, filtration, drying) to inform process design, scale-up, and troubleshooting.
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Develop Digital Twin computational models of process equipment and unit operations to provide online modeling capabilities to Lilly manufacturing facilities.
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Deliver sound interpretation of modeling results by maintaining in-depth knowledge of the underlying physics, first-principles concepts (transport phenomena, thermodynamics, reaction engineering), and numerical methods from which process models are formulated and solved.
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Complement model-based solutions with laboratory investigation and empirical validation when appropriate.
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Prepare internal technical reports to document work and to contribute to the product or process body of knowledge, and when appropriate, publish and/or present work externally.
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Maintain and grow the functional value of process modeling within Lilly by developing appropriate internal collaborations and sharing key learnings broadly at appropriate internal forums so colleagues can identify projects that may benefit from model-based analysis.
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Foster the use of process modeling tools by colleagues outside DME by providing instruction, consultation, and continuously advocating the use of first-principles techniques and model-based methods.
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Identify and implement modeling advances that bring value to Lilly by maintaining awareness of new developments in the external process modeling and CFD landscape.
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Develop collaborations with appropriate external partners to help manage workload and to gain additional expertise.
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Partner with data leads within DME to provide data requirements that support process models and Digital Twin solutions.
Basic Qualifications
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MS/M.Tech or PhD degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
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PhD with 4 years or Masters with 4-8 years of related work experience.
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Experience developing process models in one or more of the following: steady-state simulation, dynamic simulation, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), or nonlinear programming.
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Demonstrated working knowledge of transport phenomena, thermodynamics, and the numerical methods from which process and multiphysics models are formulated and solved.
Additional Skills/Preferences
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Strong technical writing and presentation skills.
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Capability to solve complex issues with minimal supervision.
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Experience with chemical process modeling, scale-up, and unit operation simulation.
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Experience developing process and multiphysics models leveraging commercial software tools such as ANSYS-Fluent®, M-Star®, COMSOL®, aspenONE®, or AFT Fathom®.
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Experience with statistical analysis and data/model fitting leveraging commercial software tools such as JMP® or similar.
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Experience developing digital twins of manufacturing processes and unit operations.
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Experience working with validated systems and in a GMP/pharmaceutical industry environment.
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Ability to work well across different cultures and global manufacturing sites.
Education Requirements
Minimum MS degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering/science field. PhD preferred for higher-band positioning within the R4–R6 range.
At Lilly, caring is not only what we do for patients. It is how we work. We believe the people who dedicate themselves to making medicines better deserve an environment that makes their lives better too, one where they are supported, respected, and given the space to do their best work. This is not just a policy. It is who we are.
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 does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.
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