Associate Director Chemical Platform Learning Architect

Industry: Pharmaceutical / Biotech

Job Category: HR Management - Other HR

At our company, 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.

Our company is currently constructing an advanced manufacturing facility for production of API molecules located in Houston, TX and Huntsville, AL. These facilities are one of the company's largest investments in manufacturing capacity and is intended to provide APIs for current and future products. This is a unique opportunity to be a part of the Houston or Alabama Plant team for the startup of a greenfield manufacturing site, and the successful candidate will help to build the organization, the facility and the culture to enable a successful startup into GMP manufacturing operations.

Job Position Overview:

The Global Manufacturing and Quality Learning & Development (GMQLD) team is dedicated to delivering learning solutions that empower the company's Manufacturing and Quality organizations to achieve our mission: making medicine with safety first and quality always. The Learning Architect (LA) is a platform-specific learning professional responsible for designing and maintaining training that serve an entire manufacturing platform. Located at platform sites or Indianapolis, the LA addresses 90% platform-level and 10% site-level content needs, designing within COE standards and governance frameworks.

Responsibilities:

The LA is accountable for platform-specific curriculum design, development, and maintenance within the GMQLD operating model. The LA partners with site SMEs, Platform Leads, and the COE to ensure training content is current, compliant, and aligned to manufacturing process needs.

Platform Curriculum Design & Development:

Design and develop platform-specific training content within COE governance frameworks and global standards.

Address 90% platform-level content and 10% site-specific needs, as assigned by the Platform Lead.

Partner with site Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) on curriculum development, ensuring content reflects current manufacturing processes.

Apply process-based curricula principles organize content by manufacturing process with task-level qualification.

Ensure curriculum aligns to the three-layer content model (Global / Platform / Site).

Content Governance & Quality:

Design content within COE standards, governance frameworks, and compliance requirements.

Feed content gaps and site needs up to Platform Lead and COE for resolution.

Pull global content from COE as foundation for platform-specific curriculum.

Support learning equivalency, exception and substitution decisions in alignment with the Quality system.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Partnership:

Partner with Platform Lead (M2/P4) on L&D strategy and business priorities across platform site

Interface with COE for standards, governance, and cross-platform alignment.

Collaborate with LEPs to understand site-specific execution needs and inform curriculum updates.

Represent the platform in cross-functional forums, audits, and governance reviews.

Continuous Improvement:

Support Time to Qualification optimization initiatives by identifying training burden, content redundancy, and qualification bottlenecks.

Contribute to OJT standardization across platform sites.

Use data to identify improvement opportunities in curriculum effectiveness and qualification outcomes.

Basic Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree

5+ years' experience in a regulated environment.

Area or functional specific expertise in Learning & Development, instructional design, and Manufacturing/Quality operations.

Experience with curriculum design, learning management systems, and GMP training requirements.

Strong understanding of GxP and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), regulatory requirements, and compliance training.

Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Our company 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 Skills/ Preferences:

Deep knowledge of platform-specific manufacturing processes (e.g., PFS, Cartridge, DAP/EM, Chemical, Biologics).

Experience with process-based or competency-based curriculum architecture.

Ability to work across multiple sites and time zones.

Strong collaboration skills with cross-functional teams (Quality, Operations, Engineering).

Experience with digital learning tools, DOJT, or OJT standardization.

Familiarity with Workday, SuccessFactors, or equivalent HR/learning systems.

Additional Information:

Position: Houston or Alabama site based.

Travel Percentage (%): 10%

Language Requirements: English proficiency (written & verbal)

Our company 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 our company, Chinese Culture Network (CCN), EnAble, Evolve, the company's Indian Network (LIN), Organization of Latinx at our company (OLA), Pride (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN) and Women s Initiative for Leading at our company (WILL).

Skills and Certifications [note: bold skills and certification are required]
GMP experience
Start-up mentality
Learning & Development Experience

Security Clearance Required: No

Visa Candidate Considered: No

Compensation

Base Salary - USD $127,500 to $187,000

*** Never repost ***

Full-time

Benefits - Full

Relocation Assistance Available - Yes

Commission Compensation - No

Bonus Eligible - No

Overtime Eligible - No

Interview Travel Reimbursed - No

Candidate Details

7+ to 10 years experience

Seniority Level - Mid-Senior

Management Experience Required - Yes

Minimum Education - Bachelor's Degree

Willingness to Travel - Occasionally

Screening Questions
Program Design: If you had to build a role-based qualification program from zero for a GMP manufacturing area, what are the main steps you d follow from job task analysis through qualification sign-off?
Controls & Governance: How do you define and control qualification requirements (e.g., curricula, prerequisites, OJT, assessors, requalification) so it holds up in audits/inspections and stays current with changes (SOP/process/equipment)?
Assessment & Effectiveness: What methods do you use to verify competency (not just completion) and what metrics would you track to prove the qualification program is working (e.g., deviations, right-first-time, time-to-qualify, retraining triggers)?
Resilience & Operating Under Pressure: Can you describe a time you had to keep training and/or qualification on track during a major disruption (e.g., inspection readiness crunch, deviation spike, system outage, staffing gaps)? What did you prioritiz

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate would possess

• Start-Up Mentality: Ability to operate with speed, adaptability, and ownership in environments that are still forming.

• Learning & Development Experience: Deep understanding of how adults learn in complex, regulated environments to drive qualification strategy and execution.

• Pharma / Manufacturing Background: Credible knowledge of regulated manufacturing and quality environments. GMP essential.

• Formal Leadership Experience: Proven ability to lead people, influence stakeholders, and deliver outcomes through others.

Why we're a great company
Lilly is currently constructing an advanced manufacturing facility for production of API molecules located in Houston, TX and Huntsville, AL. These facilities are one of Lilly s largest investments in manufacturing capacity and is intended to provide APIs for current and future products. This is a unique opportunity to be a part of the Houston or Alabama Plant team for the startup of a greenfield manufacturing site, and the successful candidate will help to build the organization, the facility and the culture to enable a successful startup into GMP manufacturing operations.