Principal Research Scientist I, In Vivo Antibody Discovery

About the role

The Biotherapeutics and Genetics Medicine department within Discovery Research is seeking a highly motivated Principal Scientist to join the in vivo antibody discovery team at AbbVie Bioresearch Center (ABC). The ABC site in Worcester, MA, offers a unique setting where Biotherapeutics discovery, development and manufacturing coexist in one location.

The team partners with multidisciplinary groups across AbbVie focused on developing therapies for Immunology, Neuroscience, and Oncology. We utilize innovative approaches for antibody discovery including custom immunization strategies, advanced multiplex screening assays, and best-in-class automation platforms to enable successful antibody discovery against challenging targets.

As a member of the in vivo antibody discovery group, you will be responsible for leading innovative immunization-based antibody discovery. You will provide technical and strategic leadership across multiple immune discovery platforms, driving the identification of high-quality therapeutic antibody candidates for challenging targets and advanced antibody modalities. The successful candidate will combine deep expertise in antibody discovery technologies with strong program leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and external partner management.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead antibody discovery programs from hit identification, screening, lead selection, and candidate nomination.
• Design and execute novel antigen engineering strategies and immunization approaches, to maximize immune response quality and diversity.
• Provide technical leadership across multiple antibody discovery platforms, including B cell-based discovery, immune repertoire screens and hybridoma
• Lead identification of antibody and VHH modalities for diverse therapeutic programs and multispecifics.
• Evaluate and implement emerging antibody discovery technologies, including AI-enabled workflows, machine learning, computational biology, and laboratory automation, to expand platform capabilities and accelerate discovery.
• Direct hybrid discovery campaigns that integrate internal capabilities with external partners while proactively identifying and mitigating scientific/ operational risks.
• Mentor scientists and provide technical guidance across antibody discovery programs.
• Contribute to the scientific reputation of the organization through publications, patents, presentations, and external collaborations.

Qualifications & Requirements

• BS, MS, or PhD in immunology, biochemistry, molecular biology, bioinformatics or a related scientific field with typically 6+ (PhD), 12+ (MS), or 14+ (BS) years of industry experience.
• Deep hands-on expertise in antibody discovery platforms, such as single B cell cloning, immune repertoire screening and hybridoma.
• Extensive experience designing antigens and novel immunization strategies for challenging therapeutic targets.
• Strong expertise in hit identification, screening cascade design, lead triage, and lead selection.
• Experience with VHH discovery platforms using camelids and transgenics.
• Working knowledge of antibody engineering principles, developability assessment, and sequence liability evaluation.
• Adept at identifying and working with novel solutions-such as AI-based antigen design, and laboratory automation.
• Demonstrated ability to critically evaluate and implement new antibody discovery technologies and methodologies.
• Team player with proven flexibility to deal with changing timelines and shifting work priorities.

Desired

• Experience with rabbit antibody discovery workflows.
• Knowledge of bioinformatics pipelines and concepts used to analyze NGS data.
• Familiarity with computational antibody discovery, AI/ML-enabled design, and laboratory automation technologies.
• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary discovery teams across biology, protein sciences, engineering, computational sciences, and project management.
• Strong organizational and project leadership skills with demonstrated success delivering complex discovery programs.

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 and 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.