Lilly Posted November 5, 2026

Principal/Sr. Scientist – Cardiovascular, Heart Failure & Atrial Fibrillation

Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America FULL_TIME
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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.

The Cardiometabolic Research (CMR) organization at Lilly focuses on new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of cardiometabolic diseases with particular focus on cardio-renal disease. Starting from an idea, we work with partners across Lilly to discover and develop novel biologic, small molecule, nucleic acid-based, and gene-editing therapeutics.

Our focus is the patient: by understanding the biology and pathophysiology underlying disease states, we aim to address the root cause of disease and develop breakthrough therapies. We have one of the strongest pipelines in the industry and a track record of delivering impactful medicines that improve people’s lives.

We are currently seeking a hands-on Research Associate with expertise in developing, optimizing, and running cell-based assays. You will work with a group of scientists to turn assay concepts into robust, reproducible methods and generate high-quality data that advance our cardiometabolic research portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

Develop, optimize, and run cell-based assays (e.g., viability, signaling, electrophysiology, and other functional readouts) using various cell types.

Perform molecular and protein assays, including PCR/qPCR, Western blot, ELISA, and flow cytometry.

Analyze and interpret assay data, troubleshoot technical issues, and report results clearly to the team and internal stakeholders.

Working under the guidance of the team lead, contribute to the design, development, optimization, and qualification of novel assays and methods.

Maintain accurate and thorough documentation of experimental results in compliance with electronic lab notebook guidelines.

Collaborate with local, cross-site, and cross-functional teams to advance the cardiometabolic research portfolio.

Basic Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in cell biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, or a related life science

3 + years in academia, biotech or industry

This role is designed for candidates with a BS or MS degree and relevant industry/research experience. PhD-level candidates are not being considered for this position

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

5+ years of industry, academic, or postgraduate experience.

Hands-on experience developing cell-based assays, not only running established protocols.

Masters degree in cell biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, or a related life science

Proficiency in mammalian cell culture and in PCR/qPCR, Western blot, and ELISA.

Works independently on defined projects and collaboratively within a team, with guidance from the team lead on assay strategy and design.

Detail-oriented, with sound troubleshooting instincts.

Experience with primary cells, iPSC-derived cells, or co-culture systems.

Flow cytometry experience, plate-reader or high-content imaging experience.

Hands-on experience with electrophysiology analysis (e.g., patch clamp, multi-electrode array) is a significant plus.

Familiarity with using AI tools (e.g., for literature search, data analysis, or documentation) to work more efficiently.

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
Principal
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Cardiovascular / CVRM
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 425 comparable Principal Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 58 biopharma companies.

425Comparable roles tracked
404Currently active
58Companies hiring similar roles
22Countries represented

Salary context

195 of 425 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 · Senior Primate Behavior Specialist · Labcorp $70,000/yr – $80,000/yr
Peer group range $75,000 – $322,000 (median $169,300)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 425 comparable roles

United States321
China22
India17
United Kingdom8
Switzerland8
Germany6

+ 16 more countries

Seniority mix

425 of 425 peers have a known seniority level

Senior216
Principal148
Director61

Therapeutic area mix

51 of 425 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology20
Immunology16
Neuroscience9
Cardiovascular / CVRM4
Vaccines & Infectious Disease2

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.

100%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Principal
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
100%similar
Amgen Inc. Thousand Oaks, United States Principal
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
90%similar
Amgen Inc. Thousand Oaks, United States Senior
Same function Same therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Same country
90%similar
GlaxoSmithKline LLC Waltham, United States Director
Same function Same therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Same country
60%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

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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.

100%
Advisor / Senior Advisor, Cardiovascular NAMs – Investigative Toxicology
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
90%
Director, Cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, Clinical Pharmacology Modeling and Simulation
GlaxoSmithKline LLC · Waltham, United States · Director
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
60%
Principal Scientist I, Biologics Analytical R&D (External Programs)
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Principal Research Scientist I, In Vivo Antibody Discovery
AbbVie · Worcester, MA · 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.