Building an automation team for a new pharma manufacturing site
Eli Lilly is a global leading pharmaceutical company. We partnered with them to support the launch of the Lilly Medicine Foundry in Indianapolis – leading the search for top automation talent and building a new technical team to support the site's advanced manufacturing capabilities.
The partnership remains active, with the team on track to support the full 30-hire build-out over the course of the project timeline.
5
hires completed, including key automation roles
1
head of automation placed
2
additional candidates progressing
Challenge
Eli Lilly launched the Lilly Medicine Foundry, a brand-new site requiring approximately 30 automation-focused hires in a niche technical skillset. All roles were based in Indianapolis, creating a significant relocation-driven hiring challenge.
Although we had a long-standing relationship originating through LOXO Oncology (where we completed around 40 placements), the merged internal systems at Lilly made historic data difficult to track, and the Foundry project required a fresh, high-volume build-out across multiple seniority levels.
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Approach
We continued partnering with the same talent team that moved from LOXO to Lilly and implemented a structured hiring plan for the Foundry.
Our approach included:
- Focusing on automation talent across senior, mid-level, and junior roles as Lilly hired both top-down and bottom-up
- Driving strong relocation outreach into Indianapolis to attract niche candidates
- Prioritizing high-quality shortlists—including situations where we were confident enough to submit a single candidate when appropriate
- Maintaining continuous communication with Lilly as hiring needs evolved through different levels of the organization
We supported Lilly with a dedicated team focused exclusively on the Foundry build-out:
- Led the search and placement for the Head of Automation
- Filled early senior roles while simultaneously building the junior pipeline
- Continued scaling the function as new openings emerged—including a forthcoming hire who will have 10 direct openings beneath him
The project formally began in March and is structured as an ongoing partnership expected to span roughly one year to complete all 30 planned hires.
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Results
To date, the engagement has delivered strong early outcomes:
- 5 successful hires completed, including key automation roles
- Head of Automation placed
- High efficiency demonstrated—for example, one hire was our only candidate on the panel and secured the offer
- Active pipeline continuing, with one offer out and two additional candidates progressing
