Senior Director, Analytical Research

About Abb Vie

Abb Vie’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, neuroscience, and our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio.

The Senior Director will lead the Synthetic Molecule (SM) Analytical R&D organization in Lake County, supporting Abb Vie’s early‑stage pipeline that includes small molecules, peptides, ADCs, APCs, LNPs, and future modalities. The role focuses on developing industry‑leading analytical methods, characterization packages, and control strategies to advance manufacturing, purification, formulation, and process development from discovery research through late‑stage clinical development. The Senior Director will advance the fundamental understanding of novel synthetic modalities and their degradation mechanisms during manufacturing, shelf‑life, distribution, and administration, while ensuring timely, budget‑constrained, and regulatory‑compliant analytical deliverables.

• Provide leadership and talent development for > 50 analytical and pharmaceutical scientists across Abb Vie sites in the United States and Germany.
• Define and communicate industry‑leading analytical strategies for complex modalities.
• Develop, validate, and transfer analytical methods aligned with global strategies.
• Establish analytical characterization capabilities to support process development, formulation design, and comparability.
• Drive fundamental understanding of CQAs, degradation mechanisms, and product/excipient interactions.
• Manage departmental budget, analytical laboratories, and equipment.
• Balance resources, resolve issues, and achieve target timing for pipeline projects and key strategic initiatives.
• Drive science excellence and innovation to improve productivity of the organization.
• Collaborate across R&D and Operations to align and influence development strategies that support drug development programs.
• Manage and develop scientific talent across multiple disciplines and projects.
• Ensure scientific excellence and foster professional development of staff.
• Identify, evaluate, and propose internal and external collaborations to drive scientific innovation.
• Maintain compliance with Environmental Health and Safety regulations.
• Resolve difficult and highly complex technical issues in an evolving regulatory climate.

• PhD with at least 15 years of relevant pharma/biotech experience or a master’s degree with at least 20 years of experience.
• Proven experience leading an analytical development organization across diverse scientific disciplines.
• Demonstrated record of success leading strategic initiatives and new technology evaluation/implementation.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Experience motivating and maintaining positive morale of highly skilled technical teams in a compliance‑focused environment.
• Solid understanding of the scientific disciplines needed for therapeutic development, including analytical, drug substance development, drug product development, combination product development, manufacturing, QA, supply chain, and regulatory.
• Strong negotiating, influencing, and leadership skills.
• Entrepreneurial thinking with the ability to drive innovative ideas and make smart business decisions.

• Team size: 50+ scientists.
• Number of programs supported: 20+ pipelines.
• Recent additional responsibilities include peptides and LNPs.
• Compensation:
  The range described below is the potential base pay that the Company believes it will pay at the time of posting. Actual compensation will vary by location and may be modified.
• Benefits include paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance, a 401(k) plan, and eligibility for long‑term incentive programs.

Note:

No amount of pay is considered wages or compensation until it is earned, vested, and determinable. Allocation of bonuses, commissions, incentives, and benefits remains at the Company’s discretion.

Abb Vie 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 – for more information, visit  US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, learn more at