AbbVie Posted August 19, 2026

Principal Scientist I, Energy Homeostasis

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: AbbVie is expanding its presence in Obesity Therapeutics and is seeking a Principal Scientist to participate in external innovation and diligence efforts to advance the early obesity pipeline.  This individual will report to a scientific director of obesity and primarily focus on external innovation activities for obesity assets.

Responsibilities:

Support external collaborations and licensing opportunities to diversify the pipeline by serving as the Obesity Discovery lead in Search & Evaluation diligence teams.  Use personal scientific expertise to advise on scientific merit and drive external innovation.

Perform literature/intelligence searches to determine scientific and technical approaches for discovery of novel obesity targets emphasizing energy metabolism and energy expenditure leading to weight loss with potential utility in additional indications (neurological disorders, autoimmune disorders).

Serve as the Obesity Discovery lead in cross functional teams to expand obesity targets into other key therapy areas at AbbVie including but not limited to neuroscience and immunology.

Coordinate in vitro/in vivo PoC studies for preclinical assets, working with contract research organizations and academic labs to complete key preclinical experiments.

Apply experience to analyze preclinical PK, in vitro, in vivo data sets for obesity related assets, and to ensure scientific integrity throughout the process.

Prepare scientific reports and presentations related to pre-clinical obesity assets.

Design MoA experiments, review protocols, and data sets for late-stage clinical assets.

Responsible for completing these tasks with minimal supervision.

Qualifications

Ph.D scientist with post-doctoral training in neuroscience, biology or related biological discipline

6+ years of independent research experience in industrial or academic setting

Content expertise in obesity related scientific areas including CNS regulation of energy balance and peripheral energy metabolism, brain peripheral cross-talk and pharmacological manipulation of energy balance

Proven record of scientific achievements as assessed by peer reviewed publications

Proficient with AI tools, graphing and data analysis tools

Capable of performing platform talks at international conferences

Excellent organizational, oral and written communication skills

Complex problem solving and excellent attention to detail

Ability to manage time independently and effectively to achieve goals

Experience in project management and cross functional/disciplines working is a plus

Key Stakeholders:

Obesity Discovery Research Scientific Directors, Search & Evaluation Obesity Teams

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
Principal
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
North Chicago, IL
Employment type
Full-time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 423 comparable Principal Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 59 biopharma companies.

423Comparable roles tracked
403Currently active
59Companies hiring similar roles
22Countries represented

Salary context

192 of 423 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 $124,500/yr – $236,500/yr
Lowest disclosed · Senior Primate Behavior Specialist · Labcorp $70,000/yr – $80,000/yr
Peer group range $75,000 – $322,000 (median $169,700)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 423 comparable roles

United States314
China22
India19
United Kingdom10
Germany9
Switzerland9

+ 16 more countries

Seniority mix

423 of 423 peers have a known seniority level

Senior210
Principal151
Director62

Therapeutic area mix

50 of 423 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology20
Immunology14
Neuroscience8
Cardiovascular / CVRM5
Vaccines & Infectious Disease2
Dermatology & Aesthetics1

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 Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Principal
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60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie San Francisco, CA Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
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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.

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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.

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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.