AbbVie Posted October 20, 2026

Principal Scientist I - Pharmacology

North Chicago, IL Full-time
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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

Key Responsibilities

AbbVie is seeking a highly motivated and experienced scientist to join our Quantitative, Translation & ADME Sciences (QTAS) team in North Chicago. The ideal candidate will have a strong background and expertise in drug metabolizing enzyme function, drug-drug interaction concepts, quantitative bioanalysis, ability to drive cutting-edge science and lead a team of junior scientists. Applicants having experience in an adjacent area, such as drug permeability and transport, receptor pharmacology and pharmacokinetic modeling is desirable. In this exciting role, you will be expected to participate in implementing innovative and quantitative approaches to advance translational ADME using conventional as well as more complex in vitro models. Working in a laboratory and non-laboratory setting, the position will involve the conduct and scientific leadership of in vitro assays as well as applying translational modeling concepts to help drive the global in vitro ADME strategy at AbbVie. The candidate will be expected to implement and/or evaluate new technologies and approaches to support the mechanistic and translational understanding of early and late-stage small molecules to facilitate rapid advancement of drug candidates in our pipeline. In addition, you will have opportunities to contribute to broader areas within DMPK as your experience and expertise warrants.

Core responsibilities include:

Evaluating novel in vitro tools and methods, and apply established methods and concepts to enable and improve prediction of human PK and drug-drug interaction potential

Lead, mentor and coach junior staff in established and novel practices in vitro drug metabolism

Liaise with QTAS, discovery biology/pharmacology/chemistry scientists to generate data and knowledge supporting the build-up of translational, mechanistic models

Communicate internally and externally on topics related to in vitro drug metabolism

Keep up to date with emerging literature and science in modeling and in vitro approaches

Externalize research in the form of full length publications and oral presentations.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

PhD degree Biological/Pharmaceutical Sciences/Chemistry or related field with >10 years of relevant ADME pharma/biotech industry experience; or a Bachelor’s/Master’s degree with > 15 years’ experience with in vitro ADME experiments and DMPK projects, through academic or industry work.

Deep understanding of drug metabolism and ADME principles including enzyme kinetics, IVIVE and DDI risk assessment

Strong and relevant publication record as well as a track record of strategic scientific leadership in the in vitro ADME field

Highly motivated, self-driven and results-oriented person with excellent communication and presentation skills, capable to work both as team player and independent scientific contributor

Passion for generating ideas, learning, solving technical problems and applying new technologies to further scientific goals.

Key Leadership Competencies:

Builds strong relationships with peers and cross functionally with partners outside of team to enable higher performance

Ability to inspire and lead others in areas of your expertise

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 innovation 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 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 467 comparable Principal Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 55 biopharma companies.

467Comparable roles tracked
429Currently active
55Companies hiring similar roles
21Countries represented

Salary context

230 of 467 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 Animal Behaviorist - Primate · Labcorp $70,000/yr – $80,000/yr
Peer group range $75,000 – $322,000 (median $167,150)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 467 comparable roles

United States347
China22
India17
United Kingdom12
Germany10
Switzerland10

+ 15 more countries

Seniority mix

467 of 467 peers have a known seniority level

Senior235
Principal170
Director62

Therapeutic area mix

61 of 467 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Immunology21
Oncology19
Neuroscience14
Cardiovascular / CVRM3
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1
Respiratory1
Gastroenterology1
Dermatology & Aesthetics1

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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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