Principal Scientist II, Analytical Platform Sciences and Characterization, tLNP

BioSpace; North Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) plan

Long-term incentive programs

Job summary

AbbVie is seeking a Principal Scientist II/Associate Director in Analytical Platform Sciences & Characterization within the tLNP CMC team. The role leads a multidisciplinary group responsible for advanced characterization, platform science, and mechanistic understanding to advance lipid nanoparticle therapeutics.

You will partner with drug product development, process development, and external collaborators, mentoring scientists, shaping capability roadmaps, and driving analytical innovation

Qualifications

• Masters or PhD in Analytical Chemistry with 14 years (MS) or 8 years (PhD) of industry experience.
• Deep expertise in analytical development and characterization of lipid nanoparticles or related modalities.
• Expertise in advanced characterization disciplines including particle characterization, mass spectrometry, cryo-EM, spectroscopy, or light scattering.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary scientific programs and influencing scientific strategy across cross-functional development teams.
• Strong track record of scientific innovation and translating observations into development decisions.
• Experience mentoring and leading scientists within a research or development organization.
• Experience applying data science, modeling, automation, or AI approaches to analytical challenges.

Responsibilities

• Establish and execute the scientific strategy for Analytical Platform Sciences & Characterization.
• Drive development and application of advanced analytical technologies and characterization approaches.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a multidisciplinary team of scientists.
• Build and maintain relationships with internal stakeholders and external collaborators; influence decisions across programs.

Skills

Analytical chemistry

Analytical development

Characterization

Mass spectrometry

Biophysical characterization

Leadership of multidisciplinary teams

Mentoring

Data science / automation

Education

Masters or Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry

Tools

Cryo-EM

Spectroscopy

Light scattering

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

The Analytical Development group within the Targeted LNP (tLNP) CMC Team at AbbVie is dedicated to advancing state-of-the-art analytical capabilities for mRNA-lipid nanoparticle therapeutics. Our team provides critical support across drug substance (DS) and drug product (DP) manufacturing, drug product formulation, and the development and implementation of robust analytical methodologies to ensure the quality and integrity of tLNP genetic medicines. We leverage advanced biophysical, separations, and mass spectrometry techniques to deeply characterize intact LNP particles. We foster close collaborations with cross-functional colleagues in CMC, drug product formulation, and external partners, and are currently growing a world-class team of scientists who will be instrumental in building and deploying the analytical toolbox necessary to deliver high-quality, innovative tLNP medicines to patients.

Position Description

The Analytical Research & Development group within Targeted Lipid Nanoparticle (tLNP) CMC Team is responsible for building the scientific capabilities that will enable the next generation of genetic medicines. Our team advances innovative analytical approaches that deepen mechanistic understanding of tLNP systems, accelerate development decisions, and create differentiated platform capabilities across AbbVie's expanding nucleic acid therapeutic portfolio.

We are seeking an exceptional scientific leader to serve as Principal Scientist II/Associate Director of Analytical Platform Sciences & Characterization, leading a multidisciplinary team responsible for advanced characterization, platform science, mechanistic understanding, emerging analytical technologies, and analytical innovation. This individual will drive the development and application of next-generation analytical capabilities spanning particle characterization, structure-function understanding, mass spectrometry, advanced biophysical characterization, data analytics, and other enabling technologies critical to the advancement of tLNP therapeutics.

The successful candidate will partner closely with tLNP Drug Product Development, tLNP Process Development, Discovery, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, and cross-functional CMC teams to convert analytical observations into actionable scientific insights. In addition to serving as a recognized scientific expert, the individual will lead and develop scientists, establish strategic capability roadmaps, foster external scientific collaborations, and help shape the future direction of analytical science within AbbVie's tLNP CMC organization.

This position represents a unique opportunity to build and lead a growing scientific organization at the intersection of analytical chemistry, nanomedicine, biologics characterization, and genetic medicine development. Beyond technical excellence, the role requires strong organizational leadership, talent development, strategic thinking, and the ability to influence scientific direction across multiple programs and platforms. The selected candidate will report directly to the Director of tLNP Analytical R&D and will play a key role in developing the scientific capabilities, organizational strength, and leadership pipeline needed to support AbbVie's long-term ambitions in genetic medicines.

Key Responsibilities

Scientific & Technical Leadership

Establish and execute the scientific strategy for the Analytical Platform Sciences & Characterization organization, advancing mechanistic understanding of tLNP systems and enabling improved development decisions.

Drive the development and application of advanced analytical technologies and characterization approaches to support AbbVie's genetic medicines portfolio.

Identify emerging scientific trends, technologies, and opportunities and translate them into differentiated analytical capabilities and platform advantages.

Organizational & People Leadership

Lead, mentor, and develop a multidisciplinary team of scientists while fostering a culture of scientific excellence, innovation, collaboration, and accountability.

Establish organizational priorities, allocate resources, and ensure alignment of scientific activities with departmental and business objectives.

Build leadership capabilities within the organization and actively support talent development initiatives.

Cross-Functional & Strategic Leadership

Serve as a key scientific leader across development teams, influencing formulation, process, analytical, and control-strategy decisions.

Build and maintain productive relationships with internal stakeholders, academic collaborators, technology partners, CROs, and CDMOs.

Contribute to long-term analytical strategy, innovation planning, and capability roadmaps that support the future growth of AbbVie's tLNP platform

Qualifications

• Masters, or Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry typically with a minimum of 14 (MS), or 8 (Ph.D.) years related industry experience.
• Deep expertise in analytical development and characterization of complex therapeutics such as lipid nanoparticles (preferred), oligonucleotides, biologics, gene therapies, or related modalities.
• Expertise in one or more advanced characterization disciplines including particle characterization, mass spectrometry, cryo-electron microscopy, spectroscopy, light scattering techniques, or other biophysical analytical approaches.
• Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary scientific programs and influencing scientific strategy across cross-functional development teams.
• Strong track record of scientific innovation, problem solving, and translating analytical observations into development decisions.
• Experience mentoring, developing, and leading scientists within a research or development organization.
• Experience applying data science, modeling, automation, or artificial intelligence approaches to analytical and development challenges.

Key AbbVie Competencies

• Interacts well with diverse groups within function and maintain strong working relationships with internal and external collaborators to enable higher performance.
• Learns fast, grasps the 'essence' and can change course quickly where indicated.
• 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