Scientist l, Drug Substance Analytical R&D - 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 – immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and eye care – and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Tik Tok.

AbbVie Analytical Research & Development (Analytical R&D) is a global analytical scientific organization responsible for all CMC analytical activities related to the development of AbbVie's pharmaceutical products.  Our scope includes AbbVie's diverse pipeline of innovative small molecule medicines and spans from the selection of Discovery candidate molecules to Late Stage Clinical.  We are building a world-class team of scientists and leaders who will drive the advancement of industry-leading analytical capabilities and make meaningful contributions to advance AbbVie's pipeline of innovative medicines.  Careers in AbbVie Analytical R&D provide unique opportunities to work with global and cross-functional teams to drive exceptional science and innovative product development strategies.  We are looking for diverse candidates with strong scientific experience to join the AbbVie Analytical R&D team and can offer exciting and rewarding career opportunities for these candidates. 

Position Overview

For the Scientist I position, we are seeking a highly motivated candidate who can independently develop and optimize new methods and techniques to generate reliable and reproducible data in a timely manner, demonstrate broad and versatile technical expertise. He/she should possess understanding of core discipline and support early phase development of New Chemical Entities (NCEs) drug substance in both preclinical and clinical stages and collaborate within the global Analytical R&D organization and with R&D cross-functional partners such as Pre-Clinical Safety (PCS), Process Chemistry, Process Engineering, Drug Product Development (DPD), and Quality Assurance (QA) and CMC-Regulatory.  

This position will focus primarily on drug substance (active pharmaceutical ingredient) programs in a dynamic environment from pre-clinical through first-in-human clinical stages. The individual will create phase-appropriate analytical methods to facilitate process development, assess stability, control manufacturing impurities, and enable release testing of pre-clinical and clinical drug substances. They will work closely with mentors in analytical R&D and synthetic organic chemists in Process Chemistry to establish appropriate proposed regulatory starting materials, design efficient control strategies, support reaction troubleshooting, and identify manufacturing impurities or degradants. Candidates should be comfortable discussing organic chemistry topics relevant to analytical chemistry, such as stereoisomers, common functional groups, and pKa values. Experience with chromatographic analysis (such as HPLC or GC) is preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

• Independently design and conduct critical experiments that further project goals.
• Document experimental activities and results in a compliant fashion using an electronic data acquisition and management systems.
• Implement and may innovate new experimental protocols/techniques.
• Interpret results and draw conclusions from own multistage experiments, note significant deviations, then suggest, design, and pursue relevant experiments.
• Troubleshoot experiments and instrumentation.
• Collaborate closely with partner organizations, especially Process Chemistry, Process Engineering, Technical Operations, and Quality Assurance.
• Represent Analytical Research and Development in cross-functional meetings focused on drug substance deliverables.
• Understand relevant scientific literature and apply theoretical framework to solving problems within scientific discipline in a timely manner.
• Demonstrate skill in multiple techniques and appropriately modify protocols, as required, to suit the changing needs of research or development sciences.
• Understand the goal and maintain a high proficiency in his/her projects as well as the overall program.
• Demonstrate technical proficiency in his/her field, preferentially in the analytical areas of quantitative and instrumental analysis.
• Perform routine and complex tasks competently and independently and generate reliable and consistent results.
• Raises the bar and is never satisfied with the status quo.
• Impact projects predominantly through lab and/or pilot plant-based activities.
• Understand and adhere to corporate standards regarding code of conduct, safety, appropriate handling of materials, controlled drug and radioactive compounds, and GxP compliance, where applicable.

• Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, or equivalent education, with typically 5 or more years’ experience.
• Master’s Degree or equivalent education, with typically 2 or more years’ experience.
• Theoretical and practical knowledge in chromatography and / or spectroscopy is highly preferred to carry out job function.
• Competency in discussing organic chemistry topics relevant to analytical testing and control strategy. Hands-on synthetic chemistry experience preferred.
• Practical knowledge of organic structure, functional groups, chemistry, and modern spectroscopic techniques as applied to small-molecule analytical analysis.
• Builds strong relationships with peers and cross functionally with partners outside of team to enable higher performance.
• High-quality written and oral communication skills and ability to interact effectively with interdisciplinary scientists and engineers.
• Learns fast, grasps the "essence" and can change course quickly where indicated.
• Creates a learning environment, open to suggestions and experimentation for improvement.
• Embraces the ideas of others, nurtures innovation, and manages innovation to reality.

Applicable only to applicants applying to a position in any location with pay disclosure requirements under state or local law: ​

• ​This is an on-site position located in AbbVie's North Chicago offices. 
• 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, serving our community and embracing diversity and inclusion.  It is AbbVie’s policy to employ qualified persons of the greatest ability without discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy), physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, status as a protected veteran, or any other legally protected group status.

US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html 

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