Principal Scientist - Obesity Discovery & External Innovation

AbbVie Inc.; North Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

AbbVie is expanding its Obesity Therapeutics program and seeks a Principal Scientist to lead external innovation efforts and diligence for obesity assets. The role focuses on CNS regulation of energy balance and cross-discipline collaboration across neuroscience and immunology areas.

The candidate will coordinate preclinical studies, analyze dataset integrity, and prepare technical reports while working with CROs and academic labs, reporting to a scientific director.

Qualifications

• PhD in neuroscience or related biological discipline with post-doctoral training.
• 6+ years of independent research in industrial or academic settings.
• Expertise in obesity-related science including CNS energy balance regulation.
• Strong publication record demonstrating scientific achievement.
• Proficiency with AI, data analysis, and graphing tools.
• Experience presenting at international conferences.
• Excellent organizational, oral and written communication skills.
• Strong problem solving and attention to detail.
• Ability to manage time independently to achieve goals.
• Experience in cross-functional project management is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Support external collaborations and licensing opportunities as Obesity Discovery lead.
• Perform literature and intelligence searches to identify discovery approaches.
• Lead obesity discovery efforts across neuroscience and related areas.
• Coordinate in vitro/in vivo PoC studies with CROs and academics.
• Analyze preclinical PK, in vitro and in vivo data for obesity assets.
• Prepare scientific reports and presentations for preclinical assets.
• Design MoA experiments and review protocols and data sets.
• Complete tasks with minimal supervision.

Skills

Scientific communication

Time management

Problem solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Attention to detail

Project management

Independent work

Presentation skills

Education

PhD in neuroscience or related field

Tools

AI tools

Data analysis tools

Graphing software

Job description

AbbVie is expanding its Obesity Therapeutics program and seeks a Principal Scientist to lead external innovation efforts and diligence for obesity assets. The role focuses on CNS regulation of energy balance and cross-discipline collaboration across neuroscience and immunology areas.

The candidate will coordinate preclinical studies, analyze dataset integrity, and prepare technical reports while working with CROs and academic labs, reporting to a scientific director.