AbbVie Posted April 30, 2026

Senior Scientist I, Analytical & Purification Sciences

North Chicago, IL Full-time
Manufacturing & CMC Senior

AbbVie is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

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 and Purification Sciences (APS) group has an exciting opportunity for a Senior Scientist to join the Technology and Therapeutic Platforms organization within Discovery Research at AbbVie. The APS group provides enabling technologies to support Discovery Medicinal Chemistry initiatives. The scientist will execute compound purification using preparative HPLC and/or SFC and devise innovative solutions to complex analytical and separation problems through the implementation of sophisticated instrumentation. The candidate will act as a lead scientist in his/her area of expertise on one or more projects and critically evaluate relevant scientific advances and integrate this knowledge into research programs.

Key Responsibilities

Maintain a high level of productivity in the laboratory setting.

Collaborate with medicinal chemistry teams through developing methods and providing technical guidance to solve analytical and purification problems.

Innovate within the Analytical and Purification Sciences group to develop efficient workflows for sample prioritization and client communication.

Execute compound purification on milligram to gram scale using preparative HPLC and/or SFC, to support small molecule drug discovery projects.

Maintain analytical and preparative HPLC and SFC instrumentation and independently troubleshoot instrument problems.

Proactively mentor colleagues in technical development and in establishing positive and productive working relationships.

May supervise one or more direct reports.

Keep abreast of current literature and industry trends to assess new approaches in high-throughput purification and analytical technologies. Propose and implement new initiatives/directions for the team.

Maintain a highly productive purification workflow, establish strategies that effectively optimize available equipment and personnel, and promote efficiency and enable new paradigms in Medicinal Chemistry.

Demonstrate a high degree of responsibility in maintaining scientific standards and safe laboratory practices.

Keep accurate and current records of research and/or project related activities according to AbbVie policies.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

PhD or MS in Organic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, or related fields with 0+years (PhD); 8+ years (MS); or 10+ years (BS) of postdoctoral and/or pharmaceutical industry experience.

Hands-on experience with analytical and preparative scale HPLC and/or SFC.

Ability to operate and troubleshoot a variety of analytical and preparative instrumentation hardware and software.

Knowledge of synthetic organic chemistry and the ability to communicate effectively with medicinal chemistry teams.

Demonstrated record of achievement in chiral/achiral purification on milligram to gram scale for a variety of programs using multiple approaches and technologies.

Proven effective written and verbal communication skills and ability to interact with scientists and engineers.

Preferred

Experience in analytical and purification techniques for peptides.

Experience of working in a fast-paced purification group and communicating effectively with Medicinal Chemistry teams.

Experience in reversed-phase separations using HPLC.

Experience in chiral separations using HPLC and SFC.

Experience with instrument development, automation, programming, and data analytics.

Key Leadership Competencies

Builds strong relationships with peers and cross functionally with partners outside of team 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 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 short-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

Job details

Seniority
Senior
Function
Manufacturing & CMC
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
North Chicago, IL
Employment type
Full-time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Manufacturing & CMC role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 373 comparable Senior Manufacturing & CMC roles across 53 biopharma companies.

373Comparable roles tracked
344Currently active
53Companies hiring similar roles
20Countries represented

Salary context

174 of 373 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject $96,500/yr – $183,500/yr
Lowest disclosed · Senior Scientist II – CMC Developmental Sciences · AbbVie $0/hr – $0/hr (≈ $0–$0/yr)
Peer group range $0 – $222,900 (median $142,388)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 373 comparable roles

United States267
India37
Ireland10
Singapore10
Netherlands7
Switzerland6

+ 14 more countries

Seniority mix

373 of 373 peers have a known seniority level

Senior250
Principal79
Associate Director44

Therapeutic area mix

0 of 373 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

No peers with a known therapeutic area yet.

Similar opportunities

The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

60%similar
Lilly San Diego, California, United States of America Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck Rahway, New Jersey, United States of America Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Seagen Inc Washington – Bothell, United States Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Pfizer Groton, United States Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

60%
Sr. Scientist - Lab Automation Scientist
Lilly · San Diego, California, United States of America · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Senior Scientist, Process Development
Pfizer · Groton, United States · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Senior Scientist, siRNA Analytical Development
AbbVie · Worcester, MA · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Senior Scientist I, Production and Characterization
AbbVie · Worcester, MA · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.