Senior Principal Research Scientist, Computational Drug Discovery HitGen/LeadGen Team Lead

About 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 including immunology, oncology and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Purpose

This position brings an opportunity to make innovative contributions that will define how AbbVie leverages AI-enabled drug discovery across our small molecule portfolio. Reports to Head of Computational Drug Discovery (CDD) and will lead the computational HitGen/LeadGen (HGLG) team. Will implement and enable close collaboration between members of the HGLG team and partners in the Target Enabling Technologies (TET) and Global Medicinal Chemistry (GMEC) teams. Must possess a strong expertise in modern medicinal chemistry, including a deep understanding of modern computational and experimental strategies, and property-based drug design. The ideal candidate will have a strong and established background from having worked on a broad range of diverse early-stage campaigns, and an established external footprint and network. Past experience will have included mentorship of early/mid-career scientists in matrixed and/or direct reporting relationships. 

Responsibilities

• Consult with project team to establish desirable project-relevant hit/lead criteria, and assigning an HGLG member to the project team that can execute these goals for accelerated identification of suitable chemical matter 

• Guide HGLG members in benchmarking experiments to evaluate models’ performance and domain of applicability 

• Clearly communicate to project teams the rationale for selecting specific approaches and how they suit project needs 

• Lead development of a cohesive collection of cutting-edge methods and workflows, to comprehensively address AbbVie’s small molecule portfolio needs (methods for predicting binding affinities of diverse chemotypes, for predict pharmacological properties for diverse chemotypes (PK parameters, etc.), and for rapidly sampling both enumerated and AI-generated chemical spaces 

• Work closely with the TET and GMEC leadership teams to identify and address gaps where computational predictions are needed 

• Advance scientific expertise within the HGLG team and collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams from CDD and Information Research to advance programs and ensure computational capabilities are best implemented across programs 

• Proactively demonstrate leadership by providing expert advice and shared knowledge with direct reports, peers, and senior management 

• Identify and integrate emerging scientific trends from internal and external sources into functional objectives 

• Present program updates and research strategies to functional and non-functional leaders as well as potential and existing partners 

• Maintain awareness of emerging literature and science in the field and author scientific disclosures/publications 

• Maintain scientific presence outside AbbVie with appropriate publication and conference abstract submission highlighting innovative learnings in computational medicinal chemistry 

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent education in science-related field with extensive (typically > 18 years) of related work; Master’s Degree or equivalent education with extensive (typically > 16 years) of related work; PhD in Science or related field with typically 10+ years of related work experience 

• Highly organized and self-directed, experience leading multiple complex simultaneous research programs or initiatives 

• Extensive knowledge and experience in applying data science approaches for drug discovery 

• Extensive knowledge and experience in modern computational approaches for drug discovery 

• Excellent written and verbal communication, as well as critical evaluation and data-driven decision making, particularly including an ability to explain complex ideas to non-specialists 

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with demonstrated ability to think critically and creatively, and provide solutions both individually and collaboratively with internal experts 

• Proven team leadership and management abilities, including experience mentoring, guiding, supervising, and developing scientific personnel with various backgrounds and training levels 

• Highly collaborative, team-oriented, and considerate of the needs of others 

• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate with diverse groups within the organization and external partners 

• Ability to create an inclusive environment where diverse ideas, viewpoints and backgrounds are valued; willingness and ability to lead inclusively and demonstrate a commitment to listen and consider all points of view 

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 thisposting 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 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 anduntil 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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