Senior Scientist II / Principal Research Scientist I - Analytical R&D

AbbVie Inc.; North Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

AbbVie Analytical Research & Development (Analytical R&D) seeks a Principal Research Scientist I to provide scientific and technical leadership for analytical data science, AI/ML, and data automation within pharmaceutical development. You will collaborate with analytical scientists to frame questions, build models, and deliver scalable data products that accelerate decision-making.

The role requires deep data-science expertise, strong domain awareness in pharma, and the ability to mentor teams

Qualifications

• Strong background in data science, AI/ML, and analytics for pharma R&D.
• Experience with Python or R and data visualization.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and communicate effectively with scientists and stakeholders.
• Experience delivering production-quality analytical applications and dashboards.
• Knowledge of data governance, software development practices, and reproducible workflows.

Responsibilities

• Provide scientific and technical leadership for analytical data science, AI/ML, advanced analytics, visualization, and data automation initiatives supporting pharmaceutical development.
• Lead end-to-end delivery of data products and analytical solutions, including problem framing, data acquisition, model development, validation, and deployment.
• Mentor and develop data scientists and scientific colleagues; drive cross-project collaboration.
• Establish reusable standards, coordinate global initiatives, and foster cross-functional execution across Analytical R&D and IT.
• Ensure compliance with safety, quality, regulatory, data-integrity, and privacy requirements.

Skills

Python

AI/ML

Data visualization

Leadership

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor’s/Master’s/PhD in Data Science or related

Tools

Streamlit

Shiny

SQL

Git

Cloud platforms

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

AbbVie Analytical Research & Development (Analytical R&D) is a global analytical scientific organization responsible for all CMC analytical activities related to the development of AbbVie's pharmaceutical products. Our scope includes AbbVie's diverse pipeline of innovative small molecule medicines and spans from the selection of Discovery candidate molecules through Early-Stage Clinical Development. We are building a world-class team of scientists and leaders who will drive the advancement of industry-leading analytical capabilities and make meaningful contributions to advance AbbVie's pipeline of innovative medicines. Careers in AbbVie Analytical R&D provide unique opportunities to work with global and cross-functional teams to drive exceptional science and innovative product development strategies. We are looking for diverse candidates with strong scientific and leadership experience to join the AbbVie Analytical R&D team and can offer exciting and rewarding career opportunities for these candidates.

Position Description

For the Principal Research Scientist I position, we are seeking a highly motivated and experienced data scientist to provide scientific and technical leadership for analytical data science, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), advanced analytics, and data automation within Analytical R&D. The successful candidate will partner closely with analytical scientists to frame high-value scientific questions, engineer and integrate complex analytical data, and develop fit-for-purpose models, visualizations, and digital solutions that accelerate data-driven decisions across pharmaceutical development.

The candidate will perform and direct data science and application-development activities, mentor and develop scientists, and provide leadership across multiple projects and initiatives. They will conceive, execute, and communicate multidisciplinary strategies; translate between analytical scientists, statisticians, data engineers, software and IT partners; and convert innovative concepts into sustainable, adopted solutions with measurable scientific and business impact.

This role requires a strong combination of data science depth, pharmaceutical or scientific domain awareness, product-oriented solution development, and collaborative leadership. The scientist will help shape the Analytical R&D data science strategy, establish reusable standards and best practices, coordinate initiatives across a global network, and foster productive partnerships with internal data science, statistics, information technology, and R&D organizations.

Responsibilities

• Provide scientific and technical leadership for analytical data science, AI/ML, advanced analytics, visualization, and data automation initiatives supporting pharmaceutical development.


• Consult with analytical scientists and project teams to define the scientific or business question, assess data readiness, select appropriate analytical approaches, and translate results into clear recommendations and decisions.


• Lead the end-to-end delivery of data products and analytical solutions, including problem framing, data acquisition and integration, exploratory analysis, feature engineering, model development and validation, visualization, deployment, documentation, user adoption, and lifecycle support.


• Develop and apply statistical, machine-learning, chemometric, and/or generative-AI methods to complex analytical data while ensuring approaches are scientifically sound, interpretable, reproducible, and fit for intended use.


• Engineer, curate, and analyze structured and unstructured data from laboratory instruments, scientific systems, documents, and development workflows; improve data quality, traceability, accessibility, and reuse.


• Design and deliver intuitive applications, dashboards, reports, and automated workflows that reduce manual effort, improve consistency, and enable scientists to obtain timely insights from their data.


• Mentor, guide, and develop data scientists and scientific colleagues; provide technical coaching, peer review, and hands-on support, and create learning opportunities that strengthen data literacy and analytical capability across the organization.


• Lead or coordinate a portfolio of data science initiatives, establish priorities and delivery plans, manage risks and dependencies, and communicate progress, value, and recommendations to project teams and senior stakeholders.


• Establish and promote standards for analytical data assessment, model validation, software development, documentation, version control, testing, data governance, and sustainable solution support.


• Build and foster a global network with Analytical R&D, Development Sciences, statistics, enterprise data science, IT, and external partners; connect teams to the appropriate expertise and facilitate effective cross-functional execution.


• Identify high-value opportunities, generate new scientific proposals, evaluate emerging AI/ML and digital technologies, and champion responsible innovation that advances scientific understanding, development speed, quality, and operational efficiency.


• Communicate complex methods and findings clearly to technical and nontechnical audiences through decision-focused presentations, reports, visualizations, and scientific publications where appropriate.


• Ensure solutions and activities comply with applicable safety, quality, regulatory, data-integrity, privacy, security, and AbbVie requirements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Engineering, Chemometrics, Computational Science, Analytical Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or a closely related discipline, typically with a minimum of 14 years (BS), 12 years (MS), or 6 years (Ph.D.) of relevant industry experience.


• Demonstrated experience applying data science, AI/ML, statistics, or advanced analytics to scientific, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, or other complex R&D problems.


• Advanced proficiency in Python and/or R and strong working knowledge of relevant data-science libraries, statistical modeling, machine learning, data visualization, and reproducible analytical workflows.


• Experience integrating, cleaning, transforming, and analyzing complex and heterogeneous data; working knowledge of SQL, relational data concepts, APIs, and modern data-management practices.


• Demonstrated ability to build and deliver production-quality analytical applications, dashboards, automated workflows, or reusable data products. Experience with tools such as Streamlit, Shiny, cloud platforms, workflow automation, or equivalent technologies is desirable.


• Strong understanding of model development and evaluation, experimental design, uncertainty, validation, interpretability, and the limitations and appropriate use of AI/ML methods.


• Demonstrated leadership through mentoring, technical direction, project or portfolio leadership, influence across functions, and delivery of complex initiatives. Prior direct people-management experience is beneficial but not required.


• Proven ability to partner with domain scientists, quickly learn scientific workflows, translate ambiguous needs into tractable analytical problems, and balance technical rigor with practical, fit-for-purpose delivery.


• Experience with software-development practices such as Git/version control, modular coding, testing, documentation, code review, deployment, and lifecycle management.


• Excellent analytical problem-solving, project-management, written and oral communication, and stakeholder-management skills, including the ability to explain complex concepts to diverse audiences.


• Self-motivated, collaborative, and adaptable, with demonstrated scientific curiosity, creativity, sound judgment, and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced R&D environment.


• Knowledge of pharmaceutical development, CMC, analytical laboratory workflows, regulated environments, data integrity, or scientific data standards is strongly preferred.


• Experience with computational chemistry and molecular modeling approaches to investigate molecular properties, structure-property relationships, or other scientific questions relevant to pharmaceutical development is desirable.

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 employer 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.

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