Principal Research Scientist I, Biologics Drug Product Development

BioSpace; North Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

AbbVie in North Chicago, IL, is seeking a Principal Research Scientist I to lead biologics drug product development within the Bio DPD organization. You will guide formulation, process development, and scale-up activities across early- and late-stage programs, coordinating with discovery, analytical, and manufacturing teams.

The role requires strong leadership, regulatory familiarity, and hands-on experience with sterile parenteral & biologics formulation, with collaboration across multiple

Qualifications

• Experience in biologics drug product development.
• Ability to solve critical scientific problems.
• Experience with sterile manufacturing operations.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Act as the DP Team Lead in cross-functional teams.
• Lead formulation and process development studies.
• Oversee drug product scale-up and tech transfer.
• Communicate development plans and risks to stakeholders.
• Supervise a team of 2-3 scientists.

Skills

Biologics formulation

Drug product development

Scale-up & tech transfer

Cross-functional leadership

Regulatory filings

cGMP understanding

Education

PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences

MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences

BS in related field

Job description

Company Description

About AbbVie

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people\'s lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Job Description

Biologics Drug Product Development (Bio DPD), a part of Development Sciences within AbbVie’s R&D, is a global organization that is responsible for drug product formulation and process development, and definition of the product presentation for biologics (proteins, conjugates, peptides, neurotoxins etc.) and genetic medicine (AAV, LNPs, Cell Therapy).

AbbVie is seeking a highly motivated candidate for the position of Principal Research Scientist I, located in North Chicago, IL. We are seeking an accomplished scientist with a proven track record in biologics drug product development. This position will be an integral part of the product development and CMC teams and will have strong collaborations with several stakeholders, including discovery research, analytical research and development, bioprocess development, combination products development, product development science and technology, pilot plants and third-party manufacturers.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the DP Team Lead and represent the Bio DPD function in the cross-functional Product Presentation and Device Strategy Team (PPDST) and the CMC Team for one or more pipeline programs spanning early- and late-stage development.
• Serve as a technical expert in ultra-high concentration co-formulation and product development.
• Lead the design and execution of biologics drug product formulation and process development, characterization and robustness studies.
• Lead drug product process scale-up and technology transfer activities to internal and external manufacturing sites.
• Effective and timely communication of development plans, risks, and mitigation plans to stakeholders and line management.
• Initiate and/or support scientific initiatives to drive innovation, continuously enhance capabilities and platforms, and improve business processes.
• Supervise a team of 2-3 scientists that may include other DP team leads.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• BS, MS, or PhD in Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related disciplines with 14+ (Bachelors), 12+ (Masters), or 6+ (PhD) years of relevant industry experience.
• Proven ability to solve critical scientific problems.
• Experience with biologics (proteins, conjugates, peptides and/or neurotoxins), parenteral synthetic molecules and/or genetic medicine (AAV, LNPs, cell therapy) drug product formulation development.
• Experience with sterile manufacturing unit operations (freeze-thaw, compounding, mixing, filtration and filling, lyophilization), characterization, scale-down models, simulation, scale-up, technology transfer, and batch record authoring.
• Experience leading drug product development workstream as the functional lead within cross-functional teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with development and commercialization of ultra-high concentration liquid formulations for fixed dose combination products.
• Hands-on experience with authoring regulatory filings for biologics and sterile parenteral products.
• Understanding of relevant cGMP and regulatory guidance for biologics and sterile parenteral products.
• Experience in managing third-party manufacturers of sterile parenteral products.
• Experience with quality risk management and control strategies for biologics and sterile parenteral products.

Key Competencies

• Deep scientific knowledge and significant hands-on experience with ultra-high co-formulation development and characterization.
• Effectively communicates to influence without authority, drives technical excellence, and inspires continuous improvement.
• Builds strong relationships with peers and cross-functional partners to enable higher performance.
• Connects ideas from disparate fields, integrates data and information quickly, and takes risks to achieve the highest performance.
• Raises the bar and is never satisfied with the status quo.
• Creates a learning environment, open to suggestions and experimentation for improvement.
• Embraces the ideas of others, nurtures innovation and manages innovation to reality.

Additional Information

Applicable only to applicants applying to a position in any location with pay disclosure requirements under state or local law:

The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Company believes in good faith it will pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location, and we may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick), medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees.

This job is eligible to participate in our long-term incentive programs.

Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, incentive, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company\'s sole and absolute discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent with applicable law.

AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community. Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled.

US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html

US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more:

https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html