AbbVie Posted August 27, 2026

Principal Strategic Medical Writer

Chicago, IL Full-time
Medical Affairs Principal
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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

The Principal Medical Writer is responsible for leading and writing clinical and regulatory documents for drug and/or device development in support of company objectives.

Responsibilities:

Independently prepares most clinical and regulatory documents needed for the development of AbbVIe drugs and/or devices.

Coordinates the review, approval, and quality control of other functions involved in the production of clinical and regulatory documents. Arranges and conducts review meetings with the team. Works closely with the team(s) on document authoring and content strategies.

Communicates deliverables needed, writing process, and timelines to team members.

Holds team members accountable to agreed-upon project dates.

Contributes to project management strategies and develops ability to lead team members, driving submission objectives.

Recommends, leads and/or participates in implementation/execution of tactical process improvements.

Develops expert knowledge of US and international regulations, requirements, and guidance associated with preparation of regulatory documentation.

Identifies and proposes solutions to resolve issues and questions arising during the writing process, including resolution or escalation as appropriate.

Learns and applies therapeutic area and product knowledge to scientific projects and business improvement projects.

Works independently with R&D Quality Assurance to address inquiries and draft responses, maintaining an inspection-ready approach.

Qualifications

A minimum of 5+ years of bio-pharmaceutical industry experience in a global pharma, biotech, life science, or healthcare authority delivering medicines/therapies to a broad market across various therapeutic areas.

Bachelor's Degree or higher required; scientific discipline preferred.

Outstanding written and oral communication skills, with a comprehensive knowledge of medical and scientific terminology across multiple therapeutic areas.

Proficient in assimilating and analyzing complex data.

Extensive experience writing and editing clinical and regulatory documents following guidelines and regulations, such as ICH guidelines, GCP, and other regulatory requirements. Familiarity with industry standards like CONSORT and PRISMA guidelines. EU and US device writing experience is a plus.

Advanced understanding of drug development, clinical research, study designs, biostatistics, pharmacology, regulatory requirements, and medical terminology across functional teams and multiple contributors

Excellent writing skills. Effectively communicates complex scientific and medical information to various stakeholders.

Ability to oversee multiple projects simultaneously and collaborate with cross-functional teams. Strong organizational, time management, and problem-solving skills.

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 thisposting 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 anduntil 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
Medical Affairs
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Chicago, IL
Employment type
Full-time

How this role compares

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

We currently track 378 comparable Principal Medical Affairs roles across 71 biopharma companies.

378Comparable roles tracked
370Currently active
71Companies hiring similar roles
31Countries represented

Salary context

164 of 378 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 $109,500/yr – $208,500/yr
Lowest disclosed · Senior Strategic Medical Writer - Remote · AbbVie $96,500/yr – $183,500/yr
Highest disclosed · Sr Medical Director (Heme Oncology) (Boston, US) · Servier $298/hr – $350/hr (≈ $619,840–$728,000/yr)
Peer group range $140,000 – $673,920 (median $232,750)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 378 comparable roles

United States244
United Kingdom20
India16
Germany11
Taiwan10
Japan10

+ 25 more countries

Seniority mix

378 of 378 peers have a known seniority level

Director210
Senior163
Principal5

Therapeutic area mix

157 of 378 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology64
Neuroscience16
Immunology15
Rare Disease15
Dermatology & Aesthetics12
Vaccines & Infectious Disease11
Cardiovascular / CVRM10
Respiratory8
Gastroenterology5
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
ViiV Healthcare UK Limited Durham Blackwell Street, United States Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck KGaA Billerica, Massachusetts, United States Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
CSL Behring L.L.C. King of Prussia, United States Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
50%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Director
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
AbbVie Director
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country

Open in 3 locations

Mettawa, United StatesFlorham Park, United StatesSan Francisco, United States
50%similar
AbbVie Boston, MA Senior
Same function Adjacent 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.

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%
Principal Medical Writer
ViiV Healthcare UK Limited · Durham Blackwell Street, United States · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
50%
Associate Medical Director (Physician Development Program - Hematology)
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Director
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
50%
Scientific Director / Senior Medical Director, Multiple Myeloma (International Medical Affairs)
AbbVie · San Francisco, CA · Director
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
50%
Scientific Director / Senior Medical Director, Medical Affairs - Global Oncology Pipeline (Prostate Cancer)
AbbVie · Mettawa, IL · Director
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent 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.