AbbVie Posted October 6, 2026

Senior Scientist II, Biotransformation and Disposition

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 Biotransformation and Disposition team within AbbVie’s Quantitative Translational and ADME Sciences organization is seeking a driven Senior Scientist II to support AbbVie’s drug discovery and development programs through the design, execution, interpretation, and communication of in vitro and in vivo biotransformation and ADME studies. The successful candidate will apply expertise in drug metabolism, metabolite profiling, mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography, and structure elucidation to answer key scientific questions, guide project strategy, and advance compounds across the pipeline. This role requires strong scientific judgment, hands-on laboratory capabilities, cross-functional collaboration, and the ability to translate complex analytical data into clear conclusions for project teams, management, and regulatory submissions. Duties will be focused on laboratory work, and the applicant will collaborate across various disciplines within AbbVie. Additional expertise in peptide chemistry, structural elucidation, and mass spectrometry is preferred.

Key responsibilities and desired skills include:

Design, conduct, interpret, and report in vitro and in vivo biotransformation studies to identify metabolites, metabolic pathways, and clearance mechanisms.

Perform metabolite profiling and structural elucidation using LC-MS/MS, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and complementary analytical techniques.

Develop, optimize, maintain, and troubleshoot chromatographic and mass spectrometric methods, including assays involving radiolabeled compounds where applicable.

Integrate metabolite data with broader DMPK, ADME, pharmacokinetic, toxicology, chemistry, and clinical findings to support compound selection and development decisions.

Represent Biotransformation and Disposition on cross-functional project teams and communicate scientific findings through presentations, technical reports, publications, and regulatory documents.

Evaluate and implement emerging technologies, study designs, automation approaches, and analytical methods to improve data quality, sensitivity, throughput, and scientific impact.

Collaborate effectively with internal and external partners while maintaining rigorous documentation, data integrity, regulatory compliance, and laboratory safety standards.

Contribute to a collaborative learning environment by mentoring colleagues, sharing technical expertise, encouraging innovation, and supporting continuous improvement.

Additional preferred skills:

Design and interpret peptide biotransformation experiments to identify enzymatic cleavage sites, metabolic pathways, and structural modifications across relevant in vitro and in vivo systems.

Apply expertise in peptide mass spectrometry, including LC-MS/MS and high-resolution MS, to characterize intact peptides, metabolites, and degradation products in biotransformation studies.

Specific hands-on expertise in handling high-end high-resolution Thermo and Sciex mass spectrometers and software are desired.

Qualifications

Ph.D. in Chemistry, Life Sciences or a related field with 4+ years; alternatively, a Master’s degree with 8+ years or a Bachelor’s degree with 10+ years of relevant academic or industry research experience in small-molecule drug development.

Demonstrated expertise in mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography, structure elucidation, core DMPK processes, including analytical method development, metabolite profiling, and biotransformation.

Strong written (peer reviewed publications), verbal, presentation, interpersonal, and collaborative skills, with the proven ability to work independently and effectively across multidisciplinary teams.

Proven leadership capabilities, including mentoring others, fostering a learning environment, driving innovation, building strong cross-functional relationships, and continuously raising scientific and performance standards.

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
Senior
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 389 comparable Senior Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 57 biopharma companies.

389Comparable roles tracked
368Currently active
57Companies hiring similar roles
21Countries represented

Salary context

175 of 389 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 Primate Behavior Specialist · Labcorp $70,000/yr – $80,000/yr
Highest disclosed · Toxicology Senior Research Fellow · Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (US) $232,000/yr – $348,000/yr
Peer group range $75,000 – $290,000 (median $159,125)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 389 comparable roles

United States291
China15
India15
United Kingdom11
Germany10
Switzerland9

+ 15 more countries

Seniority mix

389 of 389 peers have a known seniority level

Senior209
Principal152
Associate Director28

Therapeutic area mix

38 of 389 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology16
Immunology9
Neuroscience8
Cardiovascular / CVRM4
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1

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
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Groton, United States Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Groton, United States Senior
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60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Senior
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60%similar
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Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Senior
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60%similar
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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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Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
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Senior Associate Scientist, RNA Therapeutics
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) · Tarrytown, United States · Senior
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Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) · Cambridge, United States · Senior
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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.