Senior Principal Research Scientist, Method and Technology Advancements Lead

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.

The Bioinformatics for Immunology, Genetics, and Genomic Sciences group in the Genomics Research Center (GRC) at AbbVie is seeking a highly motivated and experienced AI/ML leader to transform our drug discovery and development through cutting-edge method and technology innovation. AbbVie’s GRC is a center of excellence for bioinformatics, functional genomics, human genetics, and pharmacogenomics. The GRC collaborates across R&D, supporting both discovery research and clinical development, while integrating with process sciences, search and evaluation initiatives, and corporate strategic planning.

This position will be based in Cambridge, Massachusetts (hybrid). The candidate will lead a team of computational biologists and AI/ML experts focused on developing computational innovation to accelerate drug discovery and development across therapeutic and functional areas such as immunology, ophthalmology, aesthetics, specialty medicine, genetic medicine, process development, novel technologies, and human genetics. The successful applicant will identify opportunities and implement innovative solutions that address critical challenges in forward and reverse translation, biomarker discovery, mechanistic characterization, and therapeutic development optimization, while effectively communicating insights to key internal teams and external partners. In addition, the candidate will contribute to presentations at scientific conferences and publications of translational findings in peer reviewed journals, new drug applications and regulatory filings.

Key Responsibilities:

· Lead a diverse team of up to 10 FTEs specializing in computational method and novel technology innovation across AbbVie’s therapeutic and functional areas.

· Design and implement advanced AI/ML algorithms tailored to tackling complex problems across the drug development pipeline, including target discovery, translational research, biomarker development, patient stratification, therapeutic design, manufacturing science, and clinical trial optimization.

· Identify, evaluate, and implement emerging AI/ML methodologies, including state-of-the-art Generative AI, to deliver measurable impact on pipeline productivity and success.

· Act as the AI/ML expert in program teams, providing guidance and suggestions on cross-functional innovation projects.

· Develop and implement analytical approaches and best practices for novel technologies such as spatial transcriptomics, long-read sequencing, and CRISPR with strategic partners.

· Mentor leaders, emerging scientists and build capabilities, fostering an environment of scientific excellence and continuous growth.

· Communicate analytical approaches and results effectively to scientific and technical audiences.

· Provide expertise and technical consultation for external collaborations/partnerships in academia and industry.

Basic Qualifications: 

· PhD. in bioinformatics, statistics, mathematics, computer science, computational biology, genomics, or a related field with 8+ years industry/academic experience.

· Or master’s degree with 15+ years of relevant experience.

· 3+ years of experience managing direct reports.

· 5+ years of hands-on experience in analyzing and integrating multi-omics data (e.g., bulk and single-cell RNA-seq, proteomics, genetics, epigenetics data).

· 3+ years of hands-on experience developing novel methods including AI and ML approaches.

· Highly proficient with statistical and programing languages (R, Python), Unix/Linux and cloud computing environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

· At least 3 years of experience managing teams, including managing managers with direct reports, and setting strategic goals for their teams within a highly matrixed organization.

· Deep understanding of human disease biology across various therapeutic areas such as immunology, aesthetics, and ophthalmology.

· Experience applying advanced computational modeling and AI/ML approaches to optimize therapeutic protein design, enhance production efficiency, and accelerate genetic medicine development.

· Expertise in predictive modeling, quantitative data analysis, and novel method development leveraging multi-modal preclinical, clinical, and real-world data.

· Experience with optimizing and fine-tuning foundation models, and applying LLM, Generative AI, and Agentic AI frameworks to biological questions.

· Experience with multi-omics data integration and with novel technologies such as spatial transcriptomics, Perturb-seq, CRISPR, long-read sequencing, etc.

· Demonstrate strong communication skills that allow you to effectively communicate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences and scientific leadership.

· Collaborative and self-motivated, able to manage multiple objectives and adapt to changing priorities.

· Strong track record of publications and/or patents in this space.

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. ​

• This job is eligible to participate in our long-term incentive programs​

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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. 

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