AbbVie Posted September 24, 2026

Scientist l / II, Lab Manager

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

The Targeted Lipid Nanoparticle (tLNP) Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) Team (TCT) is part of Biologics CMC Development Sciences within Research & Development. The team supports the development of next-generation mRNA and targeted lipid nanoparticle therapeutics through process development, formulation development, analytical characterization, and manufacturing support.

The Lab Manager will serve as the operational lead for the tLNP laboratories, ensuring a safe, efficient, and well-organized lab environment that enables scientific productivity and program execution. This role will partner closely with scientists, engineers, facilities and EHS to support lab operations, equipment management, inventory control, safety, and site coordination activities.

Key Responsibilities

Lead daily lab operations, maintaining scientific readiness, safety, and organization; drive continuous improvement through 5S, visual management, and operational best practices.

Serve as the primary contact for facility, infrastructure, and operational issues; partner with scientific, operational, Facilities, EHS, and support teams to resolve issues and enable execution.

Manage purchasing, inventory, supplies, shared resources, sample tracking, and freezer storage for material availability and organization; coordinate compliant domestic and international shipments of laboratory materials, biological samples, and research supplies.

Coordinate equipment lifecycle, including installation, qualification, calibration, preventive maintenance and repairs.

Partner with EHS on safety compliance, inspections, training, incident follow-up, and corrective actions; support employee onboarding, lab access, required training, and daily site coordination.

Analyze lab performance, equipment reliability, utilization, and inventory trends to mitigate operational risks and recommend resource or investment priorities to leadership.

Develop and execute a long-term lab operations strategy and roadmap aligned with TCT priorities, growth, and evolving capability needs.

Resolve complex operational issues, make decisions with limited direction, and communicate recommendations to leadership.

Demonstrated ability to influence and lead across scientific, engineering, facilities, safety, and vendor organizations without direct authority.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Chemical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or a related scientific discipline. Scientist I: Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent education with typically 5 years of experience, or Master’s Degree or equivalent education with typically two years of experience.

Scientist II: BS or equivalent education with typically 7 or more years of experience or MS or equivalent education with typically 5 or more years of experience.

Leveling will be commensurate to experience.

Ideally, 5+ years of experience supporting lab operations, lab management, scientific research, manufacturing support, or related technical functions.

Experience managing lab equipment, inventory systems, purchasing processes, and operational workflows.

Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.

Strong communication and interpersonal skills with demonstrated ability to work across diverse technical teams.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience supporting pharmaceutical, biotechnology, biologics, nucleic acid, or lipid nanoparticle development programs.

Knowledge of lab safety practices and EHS requirements.

Experience with lab asset management, calibration, maintenance, and equipment lifecycle management.

Working knowledge of laboratory IT systems and infrastructure, including software applications, data management tools, and associated scientific instrumentation.

Familiarity with Lean, 5S, visual management, or continuous improvement methodologies.

Experience coordinating shipments of biological, pharmaceutical, or research materials.

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 short-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
Manager
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 118 comparable Manager Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 39 biopharma companies.

118Comparable roles tracked
103Currently active
39Companies hiring similar roles
16Countries represented

Salary context

55 of 118 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 $84,500/yr – $162,000/yr
Lowest disclosed · Lab Associate Flow Cytometry · IQVIA $34,700/yr – $72,300/yr
Peer group range $53,500 – $231,700 (median $140,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 118 comparable roles

United States88
United Kingdom8
Belgium3
China2
Australia2
Israel2

+ 10 more countries

Seniority mix

118 of 118 peers have a known seniority level

Associate61
Associate Director37
Manager20

Therapeutic area mix

16 of 118 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Immunology9
Oncology3
Neuroscience2
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1
Cardiovascular / CVRM1

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
ModernaTX, Inc. Cambridge, United States Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (US) 5005, United States Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AstraZeneca Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Boehringer Ingelheim Fort Worth, Texas, United States Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Pfizer Groton, United States Manager
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 Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research 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%
Sr. Manager, Biomarker Operations
ModernaTX, Inc. · Cambridge, United States · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Senior Scientist I/II - Outsourcing Manager, Analytical R&D
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Finance Manager, R&D Discovery Research
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Manager, Lab Planning & Execution
Celgene - Summit (Corp) · Princeton, United States · Manager
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.