AbbVie Posted August 5, 2026

Senior Scientist, Toxicology II

North Chicago, IL Full-time
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research Senior

AbbVie is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

Company Description

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.

Job Description

Conceive and implement novel experimental approaches to answer scientific questions. Investigate, identify, develop, and optimize new methods and techniques. Contribute to project science in area of expertise. Develop productive collaborations and communications with other groups across science disciplines.

Responsibilities

Study direction of in vivo toxicology studies.

Routinely demonstrate scientific initiative and creativity in research or development activities.

Highly autonomous and productive in performing laboratory research or method development, requiring only minimal direction from or interaction with supervisor.

Formulate conclusions and design follow-on experiments based on multidisciplinary data.

May initiate new areas of investigation that are scientifically meaningful, reliable, and can be incorporated directly into a research or development program.

A primary author of publications, presentations, regulatory documents and/or primary inventor of patents.

Demonstrates high proficiency across a wide range of relevant technologies.

Maintain a high level of productivity in the lab and/or pilot plant.

Understand and adhere to corporate standards regarding code of conduct, safety, appropriate handling of materials, controlled drug and radioactive compounds, GxP compliance, and animal care where applicable.

Direct mentorship of others

Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent education and typically 12 years of experience, Master’s Degree or equivalent education and typically 10 years of experience, PhD and 3+ years of experience.

Possess thorough theoretical and practical understanding of own scientific discipline.

Additional Information

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. ​

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.

US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit  https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html

US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more:

https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html

Job details

Seniority
Senior
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
North Chicago, IL
Employment type
Full-time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 188 comparable Senior Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 30 biopharma companies.

188Comparable roles tracked
170Currently active
30Companies hiring similar roles
12Countries represented

Salary context

61 of 188 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject $109,500/yr – $208,500/yr
Highest disclosed · Senior Principal Scientist, Pharmacokinetics · Merck $194,100/yr – $305,600/yr
Peer group range $105,700 – $249,850 (median $165,300)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 188 comparable roles

United States153
India8
Germany5
United Kingdom5
Canada4
China's Mainland3

+ 6 more countries

Seniority mix

188 of 188 peers have a known seniority level

Senior110
Principal57
Associate Director21

Therapeutic area mix

29 of 188 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology16
Cardiovascular / CVRM7
Immunology4
Neuroscience1
Respiratory1

Similar opportunities

The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

60%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck West Point, Pennsylvania, United States of America Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck West Point, Pennsylvania, United States of America Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck South San Francisco, California, United States of America Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

60%
Scientist/Sr Scientist, Discovery Strategy and Operations
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Senior Scientist, Computational Safety & Exploratory Pharmacology
Merck · West Point, Pennsylvania, United States of America · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Sr. Scientist, Primary Pharmacology
Pfizer · Groton, United States · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Senior Scientist I- Preclinical Safety Data System Owner
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.