
At Elanco (NYSE: ELAN) – it all starts with animals!
As a global leader in animal health, we are dedicated to innovation and delivering products and services to prevent and treat disease in farm animals and pets. At Elanco, we are driven by our vision of Food and Companionship Enriching Life and our purpose – all to Go Beyond for Animals, Customers, Society and Our People.
At Elanco, we pride ourselves on fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. We believe that diversity is the driving force behind innovation, creativity, and overall business success. Here, you’ll be part of a company that values and champions new ways of thinking, work with dynamic individuals, and acquire new skills and experiences that will propel your career to new heights.
Making animals’ lives better makes life better – join our team today!
Your Role:
As a Senior Scientist in the Transitional and Early Development team, you will be a strategic and technical leader focused on the critical transition from early research to development. In this role, you will lead early-formulation work toidentifyoptimalformulations for physical stability of lead molecules in support of pre-clinical study material generation.
In this laboratory-based leadership role, you will drive the biophysical characterization and formulation selection process for diverse biopharmaceutical modalities, including monoclonal antibodies and other complex biologics. You willbe responsible forleading a small characterization team that performs the biophysical and functional assays used to evaluate and de-risk lead candidates before they enter full development as well as designing and conducting the formulation selection studies.
Your Responsibilities
Strategic Pre-Formulation: Lead formulation programs for lead molecules, applying deepexpertisein protein chemistry and thermodynamics toidentifyformulations for each lead with superior solubility, stability, and freeze-thaw potential.
Team Leadership: Direct and mentor a small characterization team;establishrobust analytical workflows and acceptance criteria for biophysical and functional assays.
Risk Mitigation:Identifyand mitigate formulation-related risks such as aggregation, precipitation, and viscosity at high concentrations usingfirst-principlesunderstanding of solution behavior.
Technical Innovation: Evaluate and implement novel formulation technologies and high-throughput screening platforms to accelerate the lead selection process.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Serve as the technical formulation lead on concurrent project teams, interfacing with Discovery Research, Process Development, Analytical Development, and Formulation Development.
Data Excellence:Maintainexemplary ELN documentation, author technical reports, and provide data-driven recommendations to enable the successful transition of molecules into the development pipeline.
What You Need to Succeed (Minimum Qualifications)
Education:
PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, ora relatedscientific discipline.
Experience:
3+ years of biopharmaceutical industry experience with a specific focus on protein formulation and characterization.
Proven experience leading formulation projects from concept through execution.
Technical Skills:
Deepexpertisein protein chemistry, physical biochemistry, and colloidal science.
Hands-on mastery of protein characterization techniques (e.g., DLS/Zetasizer, DSC, DSF, SEC, and spectroscopy).
Demonstrated ability to thrive in fast-paced environments with evolving priorities.
Excellent scientific communication skills anda strong foundationin data integrity practices.
What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)
Formulation Platforms: Experience developing advanced or high-concentration formulation platforms for monoclonal antibodies.
Process Insight:Understanding ofhow early formulation choicesimpactfuture unit operations like lyophilization or technology transfer.
Digital Tools: Experience using Design of Experiments (DoE) and statistical analysis (e.g., JMP) tooptimizeformulation behavior.
Leadership Track Record: Experience mentoring junior scientists and building analytical capabilities within a research or development setting.
Don'tmeet every single requirement? Studies have shown underrecognized groups are less likely to applytojobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Elanco we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive work environment. If you think you might be a good fit for a role butdon'tnecessarily meet every requirement, we encourage you to apply. You may be the right candidate for this role or other roles!
Elanco Benefits and Perks:
We offer a comprehensive benefits package focusing on financial, physical, and mental well-being while encouraging our employees to pursue our purpose! Some highlights include:
Multiple relocation packages
Two weeklong shutdowns (mid-summer and year-end) in the US (in addition to PTO)
8-week parental leave
9 Employee Resource Groups
Annual bonus offering
Flexible work arrangements
Up to 6% 401K matching
Elanco is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and 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
Elanco may use automated tools, including AI, to support parts of our recruitment process, such as reviewing applications against job‑related criteria and/or transferrable skills. These tools help ensure a consistent, structured evaluation, but they do not make hiring decisions. All decisions involve a human reviewer. For more information on how we handle personal data, please see our Elanco Workforce Privacy Notice.

At Elanco, we are united by a genuine love and care for animals. Our purpose - making life better for animals, makes life better - fuels us to break boundaries and inspires us to push further, transforming animal care, going beyond to improve outcomes for animals, customers, and society to create a better, more sustainable world. We are veterinarians, pet owners, farmer’s kids and animal lovers. Our team doesn’t just work in the animal health industry - we live it.
By putting customers’ needs at the center of everything we do, our comprehensive portfolios of trusted brands and focused pipeline are transforming the future of animal care. From developing the first treatment for one of the deadliest diseases in puppies to removing needles from diabetes care to pioneering new sustainable market spaces for farmers, we're raising the bar and making a difference - for animals, for our customers and their business.