AbbVie Posted November 6, 2026

Senior Principal Research Scientist

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

As a recognized multidiscipline expert, drives functional performance by designing and implementing studies aimed at new or improved products.

Responsibilities

Develops and achieves discipline strategy in alignment with functional goals and key scientific objectives. Collaborates with experts within function to integrate scientific objectives into activities associated with development of new/improved products or technology.

Advances scientific expertise within function. Proactively demonstrates leadership by advising and sharing knowledge and expert opinions with subordinates, peers, and senior management. Mentors and trains functional colleagues and assesses current and emerging business challenges enabling functional goal achievement.

Ensures quality and effectiveness of key results of major project plans within function through sound design, early risk assessments, and implementation of fallback strategies.

Sources and identifies emerging scientific trends from multiple internal and external sources and assess relevance. Integrates trends into functional short-term objectives. Advances cross-discipline technology and direction.

Applies imagination and innovation by creating, inventing, and implementing new or better approaches, alternatives and breakthrough ideas that are valued by customers within the function.

Presents scientific concepts and results for functional scientific and non-scientific leaders as well as potential and existing partners. Maximizes impact and value of expertise.

Responsible for compliance with applicable Corporate and Divisional Policies and procedures.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent education in Science related field with extensive (typically 18 years) of related work; Master’s Degree or equivalent education Science or PharmD or equivalent education with extensive (typically 16 years) of related work; PhD in Science or related field with typically 10 years of related work experience.

Experience in research and/or development environment.

Proven ability to innovate with a history of new or improved product releases.

Interacts well with diverse groups within function and maintains strong working relationships with internal and external collaborators.

Demonstrated ability to influence others across areas of scientific disciplines.

Technical background in healthcare, laboratory diagnostics, medical devices or pharmaceutical companies.

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 $160,500/yr – $305,000/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
Same function Same seniority Same country
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
60%similar
AbbVie Worcester, MA Principal
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%
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Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Principal Scientist I, Biologics Analytical R&D (External Programs)
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
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Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Principal Scientist - Cardiometabolic Disorders - Obesity
Amgen Inc. · Thousand Oaks, United States · Principal
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.