AbbVie Posted September 18, 2026

Associate Director, R&D Integrated Communications

North Chicago, IL Full-time
Communications & Public Affairs Associate Director
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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, R&D Integrated Communications leads the development, management and measurement of cross-R&D strategic messaging and storytelling that strengthen AbbVie’s reputation as a science-forward company, enhance culture and support pipeline advancement. This role develops and maintains an aligned R&D narrative, translates complex science and pipeline progress into clear communications and stories for internal and external audiences, and ensures consistent message pull-through across plans, channels and teams. Working across therapeutic areas, R&D sub-functions and Corporate Affairs, this role is instrumental in aligning and integrating communication efforts that advance AbbVie’s scientific reputation among key stakeholders. This role reports to the Director of R&D Executive Communications and Strategic Initiatives.

Responsibilities

Develops and manages AbbVie R&D messaging that clearly articulates R&D strategy, priorities, pipeline progress, milestones, innovation and impact.

Ensures consistent message pull-through across internal and external channels, including abbvie.com, external speaking opportunities, campaigns and corporate materials.

Identifies and develops R&D storytelling opportunities that support the positioning of AbbVie R&D in partnership with subject matter experts, spanning written, video, web, social and other content formats.

Serves as lead producer for AbbVie’s The Persistence Lab podcast, including story mining, speaker management, writing, review and promotion.

Co-creates and manages implementation of a content calendar with key partners, including the R&D Integrated Planning & Activation team, for internal and external audiences.

Collaborates across R&D Communications, Corporate Marketing (web, content, social), affiliates and Corporate Affairs to create and amplify content through a coordinated, omnichannel approach.

Defines KPIs, measures impact of external R&D communications; synthesizes insights to strengthen R&D storytelling and channel strategy.

Oversees tactical program execution to ensure deliverables are completed on time and on budget.

Manages agency partners and related program budgets.

Core Skills:

Expertise in strategic messaging, narrative development, omnichannel content strategy and communications measurement.

Business acumen to frame the “why” and align communications to business priorities.

High professional competency to provide strategic communications counsel to executives and senior level stakeholders.

Strong understanding of communications trends, digital channels, audience insights and impactful storytelling formats.

Ability to define meaningful KPIs and use reach, engagement, comprehension and feedback data to improve communications.

Ability to break down silos to nurture strong cross-functional partnership.

Leadership style that fosters collaboration, creativity and collegiality.

Ability to translate complex concepts for target audiences and channels, with curiosity to continuously build knowledge.

Ability to evaluate and apply emerging AI technologies to improve storytelling, content creation, ideation and communications effectiveness.

Qualifications

Education and Experience

Minimum of 10+ years of integrated communications experience, including at least 5 years in a communications or marketing environment.

Bachelor’s degree with emphasis in communications, marketing, business, public relations, journalism or life sciences field is preferred.

Master’s Degree or other postgraduate work preferred

Strong project management and execution skills, with a record of delivering clear, high-quality communications work, and measurable outcomes.

Experience advising senior executives and a variety of internal/external stakeholders across varied communications scenarios.

A growth mindset, self-motivated, and ability to see bigger picture beyond the immediate task.

Demonstrates initiative, creativity, analytical and leadership capabilities.

Ability to work effectively in a cross-functional team and navigate a matrixed organization.

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
Communications & Public Affairs
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
North Chicago, IL
Employment type
Full-time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Communications & Public Affairs role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 104 comparable Associate Director Communications & Public Affairs roles across 46 biopharma companies.

104Comparable roles tracked
99Currently active
46Companies hiring similar roles
27Countries represented

Salary context

20 of 104 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
Highest disclosed · Associate Director, Digital Communications · Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. $161,100/yr – $220,000/yr
Peer group range $129,100 – $190,550 (median $165,094)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 104 comparable roles

United States43
Japan15
India6
China5
Germany5
Canada4

+ 21 more countries

Seniority mix

104 of 104 peers have a known seniority level

Manager78
Associate Director18
Senior8

Therapeutic area mix

7 of 104 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Rare Disease3
Oncology2
Cardiovascular / CVRM1
Neuroscience1

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
Novo Nordisk Clayton, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development and Commercialization, Inc. Remote, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. US CA San Diego, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
E.R. Squibb & Sons,L.L.C. Princeton, United States 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 Communications & Public Affairs 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, US Local Public Affairs (Clayton, NC, US)
Novo Nordisk · Clayton, United States · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director, Scientific Communications (CNS)
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development and Commercialization, Inc. · Remote, United States · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director - Media Relations & Influence
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director, Global Media Relations
E.R. Squibb & Sons,L.L.C. · Princeton, United States · 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.