Lilly Posted July 22, 2026

Principal - QA API External Manufacturing Peptides

Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America FULL_TIME
Quality Principal

Lilly is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

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.

Join the energetic and growing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient - External Manufacturing Organization (API-EM) that delivers a diverse portfolio of medicines essential to our patients around the world. This on-site role may be based at either the Indianapolis, IN or Durham, NC sites.

Job Summary:

This role provides essential Quality Assurance oversight for API External Manufacturing operations, ensuring compliance with cGMP and regulatory requirements for all products manufactured by third-party partners.

Job Responsibilities:

Lead and manage quality aspects of external API manufacturing sites, including but not limited to batch record review, disposition, deviation management, and change control.

Conduct and/or participate in quality audits of external manufacturing sites to assess compliance with cGMP, regulatory expectations, and Eli Lilly's quality standards.

Review and approve quality-related documents, such as manufacturing master batch records, validation protocols and reports, stability data, and analytical methods.

Collaborate cross-functionally with internal teams (e.g., Supply Chain, Regulatory Affairs, Technical Services) and external manufacturing partners to resolve quality issues and drive continuous improvement.

Provide expert QA guidance and support during new product introductions and technology transfers to external manufacturers.

Develop, implement, and maintain quality agreements with external manufacturing organizations.

Investigate and troubleshoot complex quality incidents, deviations, and out-of-specification results, determining root causes and implementing effective corrective and preventive actions (CAPAs).

Represent Eli Lilly's quality interests during regulatory inspections at external manufacturing sites.

Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior QA associates.

Basic Requirements:

Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Pharmacy, Chemical Engineering or related scientific discipline.

Minimum 5 years experience in Quality Assurance within the pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical industry, with a strong focus on API manufacturing and external supply.

Experience in cGMP regulations (FDA, EMA, HPRA, etc.) and global pharmacopeial requirements.

Experience in auditing external manufacturing sites.

Experience in quality management systems (e.g., Veeva).

Willingness to travel domestically and internationally to external manufacturing sites as required.

Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Lilly will not provide support for or sponsor work authorization or visas for this role, including but not limited to F-1 CPT, F-1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, J-1, H-1B, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, or L-1.

Additional Preferences:

Strong understanding of API manufacturing processes, analytical techniques, and quality control principles.

Demonstrated ability to make sound quality decisions and effectively communicate complex technical and quality information to diverse audiences.

Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and critical thinking skills.

Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

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

$65,250 - $169,400

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

Job details

Seniority
Principal
Function
Quality
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America
Employment type
FULL_TIME

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Quality role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 134 comparable Principal Quality roles across 35 biopharma companies.

134Comparable roles tracked
121Currently active
35Companies hiring similar roles
22Countries represented

Salary context

29 of 134 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject $65,250/yr – $169,400/yr
Peer group range $98,050 – $265,000 (median $142,155)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 134 comparable roles

United States71
India15
Ireland11
Singapore11
United Kingdom3
China's Mainland3

+ 16 more countries

Seniority mix

134 of 134 peers have a known seniority level

Senior97
Director24
Principal13

Therapeutic area mix

0 of 134 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

No peers with a known therapeutic area yet.

Similar opportunities

The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

60%similar
Lilly Lebanon, Indiana, United States of America Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Lilly Lebanon, Indiana, United States of America Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Novartis Cambridge (USA), United States Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) Renss, United States Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) Renss, United States Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Amgen Inc. Remote, United States Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

60%
Principal Scientist GMP Environmental Monitoring Lilly Medicine Foundry
Lilly · Lebanon, Indiana, United States of America · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Principal QA Validation Specialist, Fill Finish
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) · Renss, United States · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Principal Bioprocess Automation Engineer - cGMP (Berkeley, California, US)
Bayer · Berkeley, United States · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Sr. Principal Associate - QC Analytical Equipment Support
Lilly · Richmond, Virginia, United States of America · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.