Six Figure Work

Director-Engineering Design Lead

Eli Lilly and Company

Company websitelilly.com (Eli Lilly and Company, opens in new tab)

Base salary $156,000  to $228,800

Employer-published annual base salary, USD. Advertised base range in Huntsville, AL

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  • LocationHuntsville, AL
  • WorkplaceWorkplace not stated
  • Status at last checkSource accepting applications when checked
  • Last checked (12 min ago) · observed since

About this job

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 Global Facilities Delivery (GFD) Organization, part of Corporate Engineering, delivers new and renovated capital assets around the world.  Our mission is accomplished through partnerships with design, construction and qualification contractors.

Many of the assets delivered focus on manufacturing of medical innovations and delivering innovative solutions to patients and support an expansion in supply of existing medicines.

Responsibilities for a Director-level DL (Design Lead) include:

  • Overall design delivery for capital project(s) for a multi-node program or network, and manage a team of DLs on node-level design (manufacturing buildings, utilities, or support systems).
  • DL teams will be a mixture of Lilly team members and external partners fully accountable in the project location for project technical success.
  • Directly influences Sr. Management on asset design and/or delivery approaches.
  • Lead the identification of the applicable Engineering Design Standards, Engineering Functional Standards, Engineering Specifications and Regulatory requirements and guidance (both internal and external). 
  • Actively leads delivery team to expand on their knowledge of design processes based on a history of project delivery.
  • Coordinate all design for the Project Manager during all design phases of the project and be responsible in delivering the conceptual design review and basic design review.
  • Direct the development of the design requirements.
  • Command of the design schedule to meet the project needs.
  • Often participate in the selection of the A/E firms.
  • Coordinate with A/E firms to develop earned value progress systems to measure progress by discipline (monitor work versus invoice amounts).
  • Own design decisions and coordinate information flow between the design team and system owners.
  • Responsible for ensuring the design meets approved intent through interactions between the design firm, design specialists, engineering tech center disciplines, and end user/customer.  Clear articulation of want vs need for asset and facility requirements.
  • Responsible for design activities and governance, resolving design-related problems.
  • Examine areas of inefficiency and develop strategies for improvement to direct the design team to meet or improve on the design hours plan.
  • Instruct the development of standard operating procedures, project delivery work instructions, and/or best practices related to design/verification and ensure they remain current with industry best practices.  Influences the network in the adoption of those industry best practices.
  • Review and approve along with the respective Project Manager the key design project personnel (both internal and external resources). 
  • Work with Engineering Tech Center resources and other key project team technical/constructability resources to address and resolve design issues, and issue formal reports accordingly.  Influences key technical decision makers on issues of corporate significance.
  • Ensures replication is achieved during design when applicable, even in new situations.
  • Support the Project Manager for value engineering exercises efforts to maximize project opportunities and deliver significant site impact and directly contribute meaningful ways to reduce cost through design.
  • Participate in KPI reviews/assessments.
  • Participate in the selection of the verification professional services.
  • Accountable for the development of the Project Verification Plan, Traceability Matrix, and risk assessments (not necessarily lead the execution).
  • Coordinate verification for the Project Manager during the verification phase of the project.
  • Accountable for the discrepancy tracking and management in the Verification phase and uses root cause investigation techniques to resolve problems.

Basic Qualifications:

  • BS in Engineering (Chemical or Mechanical strongly preferred)
  • Minimum of 20 years manufacturing and/or engineering in support of pharmaceutical or API networks
  • Ability to work at the site of the project on a weekly basis. This position reports through Indianapolis but is located at site of the supported project.

Additional Preferences:

  • Strong manufacturing and engineering background. 

Additional Information:

  • Travel is required for this role (~20%, 1-2 weeks/month until relocation to project site)

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

$156,000 - $228,800

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

Source: Eli Lilly and Company on Workday · View original posting (opens in new tab)

Pay in context

This role's base floor ($156,000) is above 50% of the 852 Design roles nationwide listed on this site. Their median floor is $155,600; the middle half runs from $132,000 to $183,000.

Only jobs on this site count, and each one publishes a base salary of $100,000 or more, so this compares six-figure jobs with each other, not with the whole market. Computed Nov 7, 2026.

This range next to 6 other live Eli Lilly and Company roles with the nearest advertised base floor
Chart as a table
This range next to 6 other live Eli Lilly and Company roles with the nearest advertised base floor
RolePublished base
Director-Engineering Design Lead (this listing)$156,000 - $228,800
Director Engineering - Synthetic Molecule Design and Development$156K - $275K
Sr. Director - HSE Manufacturing - API -Virginia$156,000 - $228,800
Associate Director - Medical Science Liaison - Dermatology - Denver CO & Salt Lake City UT$156,000 - $250,800
Associate Director, MSL, CMH Cleveland$156,000 - $250,800
Associate Director - Medical Science Liaison, Oncology (GI/Thoracic Focus) – Upper Midwest$156,000 - $250,800
Associate Director - Medical Science Liaison, Oncology (GI/Thoracic/RLT Focus) – Pacific Northwest$156K - $275K

Same $100K to $400K scale as every card. All Eli Lilly and Company roles · How to read the bar

Observed changes

  1. First observed on the employer's board
  2. Began meeting the published-salary criteria
Observed since
Employer-stated posting date
2026-11-03
Where this pay comes from

Location as the employer wrote it: US, Huntsville AL

$156,000 - $228,800

Method
Employer text, read with fixed rules and re-verified
Checked
Rule set
us-base-v2

The pay passage appears in the employer's own job text. Fixed, deterministic rules located it, and the passage below was checked against the stored copy of the posting.

What we verified

  • The pay figures come from the employer's own listing, quoted exactly above.
  • The pay is an annual base salary in US dollars with a minimum of at least $100,000.
  • The role was publicly listed on the employer's job board when last checked.

We do not verify what the employer will actually offer, whether the employer is still recruiting for the role, or anything beyond what the employer published. Full methodology.