Lilly Posted November 6, 2026

Associate Scientist, Metabolic Biologist

Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America FULL_TIME
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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.

Cardiometabolic Research at Eli Lilly and Company advances preclinical research aimed at understanding and treating obesity and related metabolic diseases.

We are seeking a skilled, motivated, and versatile individual who can help to build a highly collaborative, successful drug discovery and development team in the Obesity research group in Boston. The successful candidate will use a strong in vivo pharmacology background and complementary wet laboratory experience to play a critical role in supporting end-to-end discovery efforts and established pipeline projects with an emphasis on anti-obesity therapeutics. The candidate will be responsible for setting up critical capabilities in the laboratory setting and working with other scientists within and across departments to achieve project and department goals.

Responsibilities:

The Research Associate will perform and support in vivo pharmacology studies in rodent models, working under the direction of project scientists. In this role, you will implement study procedures with precision, collect and process biological samples, and document results accurately so that they can be analyzed and shared with the broader research team. The responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Perform rodent handling, blood collection, and dosing by subcutaneous (SC), oral (PO), and intraperitoneal (IP) routes according to study protocols.

Measure and record body weight, body composition, and food intake throughout the course of in vivo studies.

Collect tissues at study termination and complete downstream sample processing for analysis.

Perform molecular and biochemical assessments (qPCR, Western blot, ELISA, etc).

Function independently, work within a team-oriented lab environment, and work within cross-functional project teams.

Analyze data independently, keep accurate records, and report data in written and oral formats. Perform work in full compliance with Lilly Research Policies and complete all required training activities in the timeframe specified.

Basic Requirements:

B.S. and/or M.S. in biology or a related scientific field with 2+ years of laboratory experience including hands-on in vivo rodent research experience

Additional Skills/Preferences:

Demonstrated proficiency in rodent handling and dosing, tissue collection, and downstream sample processing

Previous experience with metabolic disease models

Prior work with jugular vein cannulation and continuous infusion models

Familiarity with pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) concepts

Experience with tissue culture of adipose, liver, or muscle cells

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

$72,000 - $189,200

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
Associate
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Employment type
FULL_TIME

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 156 comparable Associate Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 39 biopharma companies.

156Comparable roles tracked
149Currently active
39Companies hiring similar roles
15Countries represented

Salary context

55 of 156 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 $72,000/yr – $189,200/yr
Lowest disclosed · Lab Associate Flow Cytometry · IQVIA $34,700/yr – $72,300/yr
Highest disclosed · Advisor, Bio Sample Operations - DMPK · Lilly $153,000/yr – $268,400/yr
Peer group range $53,500 – $210,700 (median $90,200)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 156 comparable roles

United States105
France16
Germany9
United Kingdom6
Canada4
Switzerland3

+ 9 more countries

Seniority mix

156 of 156 peers have a known seniority level

Intern/Fellow/Postdoc73
Associate58
Manager25

Therapeutic area mix

24 of 156 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Immunology9
Oncology9
Neuroscience5
Cardiovascular / CVRM1

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
E.R. Squibb & Sons,L.L.C. Cambridge, United States Associate
Same function Same seniority Same country
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60%similar
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60%similar
Lilly Pasadena, California, United States of America Associate
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60%similar
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) Tarrytown, United States Associate
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60%similar
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Same function Same seniority Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

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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%
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Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
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Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
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Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
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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.