Pharmaceutical R&D Jobs in Illinois (NOW HIRING)

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.

Job Description:

The Quantitative Insights Lab (QuIL) within the Quantitative Medicine and Genomics organization at AbbVie is seeking a Scientific Director who will lead clinical and real world evidence (RWE) strategy, execution, and innovation within AbbVie’s Quantitative Insights Lab (QuIL). This role is both a hands-on scientific contributor and a team leader, driving integration of complex human data—including multi-omics—with clinical, EHR and biobank health datasets. This position is critical for generating integrated evidence that directly informs the R&D pipeline decisions, ensuring scientific and clinical impact across AbbVie’s therapeutic areas. The incumbent will design and implement robust studies, foster data-driven decision-making through advanced analytics and AI, and advance translational research in a highly matrixed and agile environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as scientific and technical lead for clinical and real-world evidence initiatives, contributing subject matter expertise to organizational strategy, project design, and execution.
• Lead and enable agile, cross-functional teams for integrated data projects to inform pipeline and strategic decisions, acting as either/both an individual scientific contributor and project leader
• Oversee the curation, design and analysis of patient cohorts that leverage clinical, multi-omic, EHR, biobank phenotypic and real-world data to generate actionable insights for drug discovery, biomarker identification, and patient stratification.
• Collaborate closely across functions—including other RWD teams—to harmonize data workflows and methodologies and align evidence generation with pipeline needs.
• Communicate findings and strategy effectively to internal leadership, external collaborators, and cross-functional partners.
• Stay abreast of latest methodologies and best practices for real world data, EHR analytics, multi-omic data integration, and related AI-driven approaches.
• Play a key role as a member of the QuIL leadership team, helping to shape QuIL’s strategic direction and supporting broader organizational initiatives.

Required Qualifications:

• M.D. degree is required; board certification and clinical expertise strongly preferred.
• At least 4 years of hands-on experience in real world evidence (RWE), electronic health record (EHR) analytics, ideally within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or academic research environment.
• Demonstrated track record in designing and leading interdisciplinary clinical data science initiatives, including both hands-on scientific contribution and project management.
• Advanced knowledge of data integration strategies and analytical methodologies for combining clinical, genomic, and real world data sources.
• Excellent communication skills, with experience presenting scientific findings to internal and external stakeholders.
• Familiarity in key analytics tools/languages (e.g., R, Python, SQL) is preferred but not necessary.
• Familiarity with regulatory guidance and considerations for RWE and integrated evidence generation.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Previous industry experience in pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies working with large-scale biobank and/or EHR datasets.
• Strong track record of relevant scientific publications and presentations.
• Demonstrated experience in aligning data science strategies with R&D pipeline objectives and measurable business outcomes

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 thetime 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 anybonus, commission, incentive, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's soleand 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. 

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