Principal Research Scientist II - Cell Culture Development

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 Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

The Cell Culture Development organization within Operations leads the process development and tech transfer of cell culture processes for clinical manufacturing and commercialization of therapeutic proteins in the AbbVie pipeline. In addition, we provide subject matter expertise and experimental support for the manufacture of commercial biologics.

A successful candidate would be one of the senior leaders in the Cell Culture Development group and would be responsible for guiding a team of scientists and engineers in the definition and resolution of complex challenges presented by AbbVie’s robust, diverse biologics pipeline. The candidate would be expected to work together with cell culture scientists at AbbVie Bioresearch Center and other AbbVie sites to define and implement strategies for pre-clinical, early and late stage cell culture development and to identify and prioritize scientific and technological opportunities for investment that will result in robust, high-yielding processes.

Responsibilities:

• Leads a group of 3+ scientists and engineers with BS/MS and PhDs.
• Leads cell culture process development for monoclonal antibodies, bi-specifics, ADCs, fusion proteins and other molecular formats for early and late stage clinical assets.
• Leads PPQ enabling cell culture process characterization activities.
• Leads/participates in cross-functional CMC teams and reviews relevant sections of regulatory submissions (e.g. IND, BLA, MAA, etc…).
• Advances technical expertise within the cell culture development field. Tracks emerging trends and technologies within the field through internal and external sources, assesses their relevance to AbbVie and facilitates their internal adoption by effectively communicating their value to the business. Pro-actively advises and shares knowledge with the team, peers and senior management.
• Mentors and enhances staff performance to create a climate of excellence to achieve business and scientific objectives.
• Develops, communicates and implements a vision for development of strategic capabilities. Identifies and drives technical innovations that will contribute to future business developments and improvements.
• Builds strong relationships with other process and analytical development teams, Manfacturing Sciences and Technology, R&D, Manufacturing, Quality and Regulatory groups to develop and align strategy to develop AbbVie’s cell culture platform to improve efficiency, productivity, robustness and product quality.
• Takes on a proactive leadership role in the scientific community by showcasing pertinent research at conferences or publishing in scientific journals.
• Outstanding communication abilities for authoring technical reports and regulatory filings, and delivering concise and impactful technical updates to senior leaders.

• BS, MS or PhD in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering or related field with 16+(BS), 14+(MS) or 8+ (PhD) years of academic and/or industry related experience. Exceptional candidates with less experience will be considered.
• Outstanding record of accomplishment in the Biotech and/or BioPharmaceutical field.
• Proven ability to innovate with a history of capability development and implementation into workflows
• Has demonstrated the ability to lead scientists and engineers through urgent situations by developing actionable goals and robust implementation plans.
• Ability to work effectively in a highly collaborative and changing environment is required.
• Must have a results oriented work ethic and a positive, can-do attitude.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills are expected.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated proficiency in bench scale bioreactor, shake flask, and other culture systems for the optimization of cell culture processes.
• Experience with automation and miniaturization of cell culture systems to enable high throughput experimentation.
• Advanced understanding of data processing and analysis.

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. ​

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 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.