AbbVie Posted November 4, 2026

Associate Director, Business Development & Acquisitions

North Chicago, IL Full-time
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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

Purpose

The Associate Director will support AbbVie’s Licensing & Acquisitions strategy by identifying and evaluating external business opportunities from a technical, CMC, and operations perspective. This role will lead cross-functional teams through assessment and due diligence, working with the Search and Evaluation function, Legal, and partners across Clinical, Regulatory, Operations, Quality, and Commercial. The individual will translate findings into clear recommendations and proposals for senior management, inform deal structure and risk mitigation, and help move agreed opportunities toward timely execution of legal agreements with external parties.

Responsibilities 

Advise on building asset-specific development plans aligned with clinical and commercial timelines.

Identify technical gaps and risks in the available CMC data.

Work with functional leaders in cross-functional teams to make decisions on business opportunities.

Help lead assessment and due diligence (with the Search and Evaluation function): manage interactions with external parties, oversee the evaluation process and timeline, and prepare timely recommendations and proposals for senior management based on thorough technical and commercial assessments.

Proactively research and evaluate licensing and acquisition targets that fit AbbVie strategy and support sustainable growth, assessing their scientific, commercial, and financial viability.

Contribute to deal structure and risk mitigation in line with AbbVie objectives and functional management.

Keep key internal stakeholders informed of negotiation status, and prepare opportunity assessments and executive summaries (with Legal and other relevant functions).

Network with potential external parties to raise awareness of AbbVie’s key capabilities and Licensing & Acquisition objectives.

Advance projects efficiently and effectively, and recommend dropping weak ideas early.

Present orally and in writing to senior management to seek approval for new opportunities.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree with 10+ years of CMC experience across multiple functions, or a Master’s with 8+ years, or a PhD with 6+ years, sufficient to manage global teams and all CMC activities, including science, technology, quality, regulatory/compliance, budget, and resources.

Strong scientific writing and verbal communication skills.

Working knowledge of regulatory requirements and familiarity with relevant research instrumentation and techniques.

Understanding of pharmaceutical theory and the drug development process.

Interdisciplinary CMC experience and expertise.

Experience with biologics; manufacturing and/or development experience desired.

Negotiation, influencing, and leadership skills. Entrepreneurial thinking and sound business judgment.

Solid grasp of the drug development, regulatory, and commercialization process, with the scientific knowledge to objectively evaluate pharmaceutical business opportunities.

Project management and leadership skills to guide multifunctional teams in evaluating opportunities and producing high-quality analyses, delivering on time and following through on commitments.

Strong communication skills to convey business strategies and capabilities internally and externally, present recommendations clearly and concisely, and foster cross-functional dialogue.

Strong networking skills to engage industry decision makers and stay current on emerging opportunities.

Proven negotiation and influencing skills in deal settings, creatively resolving issues with partner companies to close win-win deals.

Strong financial acumen and analytical skills to interpret financial evaluations and support fact-based decisions.

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

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
Associate Director
Function
BD&L & Strategic Planning
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
North Chicago, IL
Employment type
Full-time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active BD&L & Strategic Planning role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 146 comparable Associate Director BD&L & Strategic Planning roles across 44 biopharma companies.

146Comparable roles tracked
138Currently active
44Companies hiring similar roles
25Countries represented

Salary context

43 of 146 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 $141,500/yr – $268,500/yr
Lowest disclosed · Senior Inside Business Development Manager · AbbVie $27/hr – $48/hr (≈ $56,160–$99,840/yr)
Highest disclosed · Global Tech Sr Strategist · IQVIA $163,100/yr – $453,700/yr
Peer group range $78,000 – $308,400 (median $189,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 146 comparable roles

United States71
China12
India12
Japan6
Germany6
Switzerland5

+ 19 more countries

Seniority mix

146 of 146 peers have a known seniority level

Manager87
Associate Director47
Senior12

Therapeutic area mix

15 of 146 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology8
Dermatology & Aesthetics3
Neuroscience2
Cardiovascular / CVRM1
Ophthalmology1

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
AbbVie Irvine, CA Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie Mettawa, IL Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie Irvine, CA Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie Irvine, CA Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Novo Nordisk Cambridge, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie Irvine, CA Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

Or follow a whole field: get every new BD&L & Strategic Planning job in the United States, and choose locations and companies.

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%
Associate Director, Business Excellence Portfolio Strategy Aesthetics
AbbVie · Irvine, CA · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director, Strategy and Operations (Chief of Staff) Irvine, CA
AbbVie · Irvine, CA · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director, Strategy Associate
Novartis · East Hanover, United States · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director, International ICEX Content Excellence Strategy Lead
AbbVie · Mettawa, IL · Associate Director
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.