Senior Counsel: Operations and Pharmacy Legal

AbbVie Inc.; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) matching

Medical/dental/vision insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

AbbVie in Chicago seeks a Senior Counsel to empower business innovation through strategic legal guidance. This role partners with cross-functional teams to navigate regulatory complexity, assess risk, and influence business outcomes.

The onsite Pharmacy focus includes advising on pharmacy regulatory compliance, controlled substances, licensure matters, and commercial contracts requests, with leadership development for long-term career growth.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school. Active license to practice law in job location.
• Minimum of 5+ years of relevant experience practicing in-house at a pharmaceutical company, practicing as a member of a nationally recognized law firm in a life sciences or healthcare practice, or practicing as an attorney for a government agency, or any combination of the above.
• Experience advising on pharmacy-related legal matters.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a key legal advisor to cross-functional business teams, providing proactive counsel on commercial, regulatory, or operational issues.
• Review and advise on contracts to ensure legal compliance and alignment with company objectives.
• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage a wide range of commercial contracts.
• Advise the onsite specialty pharmacy team on federal and state pharmacy laws, including DEA and state Board of Pharmacy regulations governing controlled substance procurement, storage, dispensing, and recordkeeping.
• Support specialty pharmacy licensure and permit applications, renewals, and compliance audits across applicable jurisdictions, coordinating with Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance as needed.
• Partner with the pharmacy team to develop and maintain standard operating procedures, policies, and training materials that reflect current legal and regulatory requirements.
• Translate complex legal/regulatory issues into practical business advice.

Skills

Legal advisement

Regulatory compliance

Contract review

Pharmacy law

Education

Juris Doctor (J.D.)

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

Empower business innovation through strategic legal guidance. As a Senior Counsel at AbbVie, you will partner closely with cross-functional teams to shape decisions that bring great possibilities to patients ethically and effectively. This role builds on foundational experience, enabling you to navigate regulatory complexity, assess risk, and influence business outcomes, all while developing leadership capabilities for long-term career growth. The role will support various Operations stakeholders, including AbbVie’s onsite Pharmacy and advise on pharmacy regulatory compliance, controlled substance management, pharmacy licensure matters, as well as commercial contracts requests.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as a key legal advisor to cross-functional business teams, providing proactive counsel on commercial, regulatory, or operational issues Interpret and apply U.S. laws and global regulations relevant to the pharmaceutical or healthcare environment Review and advise on contracts, business activities, and strategic initiatives to ensure legal compliance and alignment with company objectives. Support the development and implementation of legal policies, compliance programs, and training effort.
• Collaborate with internal and external partners to manage risk, resolve disputes, and influence outcomes Provide clear, timely guidance on evolving legal questions in a business-first manner
• Translate complex legal/regulatory issues intopractical business advice.
• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage a wide range of commercial contracts.
• Advise the onsite specialty pharmacy team on federal and state pharmacy laws, including DEA and state Board of Pharmacy regulations governing controlled substance procurement, storage, dispensing, and recordkeeping.
• Support specialty pharmacy licensure and permit applications, renewals, and compliance audits across applicable jurisdictions, coordinating with Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance as needed.
• Partner with the pharmacy team to develop and maintain standard operating procedures, policies, and training materials that reflect current legal and regulatory requirements.

Qualifications

Required:

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school. Active license to practice law in job location.
• Minimum of 5+ years of relevant experience practicing in-house at a pharmaceutical company, practicing as a member of a nationally recognized law firm in a life sciences or healthcare practice, or practicing as an attorney for a government agency, or any combination of the above.
• Experience advising on pharmacy-related legal matters.

Preferred:

• Exposure to biopharma, healthcare, or life sciences compliance topics
• Demonstrate ability to advise business clients and assess legal risk in real time
• Experience handling complex matters with a degree of autonomy and cross-functional collaboration
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate legal complexity into business clarity

Additional Information

• The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Companybelieves ingood faith it will pay for this role at the timeof this posting based on the job grade for this position.Individualcompensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location, andwemayultimatelypaymore or less than the posted range. This range may bemodifiedin thefuture.

• We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick),medical/dental/visioninsurance and 401(k) to eligibleemployees.

• This job is eligible toparticipatein our long-term incentiveprograms.

Note: No amount of payis considered to bewages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, anddeterminable.The amount and availability of any bonus,commission, incentive, benefits, or any other form ofcompensation and benefitsthat are allocable to a particular employeeremainsin the Company's sole andabsolutediscretion unless and until paid andmay bemodifiedat the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent withapplicable 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