Postdoctoral Fellow, Biopharmaceutics Full-time

AbbVie Postdoctoral Program

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.

AbbVie needs outstanding individuals willing to challenge themselves to find the best solutions for our patients. The AbbVie Postdoctoral Program is one way we are doing just that. AbbVie Postdoctoral Fellows serve as technical experts who investigate, develop, and optimize new methods and techniques to address critical project or functional area needs. Participants will improve existing or develop new laboratory methods and processes, read and adapt literature to accomplish assignments, and should have mastery of a range of experimental techniques and data analysis specific to their area of expertise.

The Postdoctoral Program supports investigational and experimental research where publication is an important component. Participants will be mentored by renowned industry scientists and collaborators at AbbVie and focus on delivering cutting-edge advancements in Discovery, Development Sciences, and Aesthetics which includes fields such as chemistry, biology, pharmaceutical science, and computational information sciences. This enriching training program offers a balance of supervised investigation and work experience in a learning environment that will expose the participant to activities across the drug development process.

We are seeking scientists from U.S.-based academic institutions who can be matched to projects within their area of scientific expertise for this unique 2-3-year assignment. Applicants who are awarded a postdoctoral position will have the opportunity to build a solid career foundation in the pharmaceutical industry while contributing to advancing human health through AbbVie's industry-leading biopharmaceutical pipeline.

The Drug Product Design and Development (DPDD) function within the Development Sciences organization is accountable for a broad range of deliverables across various stages of developing clinical and commercial formulations for novel drug molecules. During the drug product development process, DPDD scientists rely on state of the art in vitro and computational tools supported by expertise in biopharmaceutics, drug delivery, and physical pharmacy to achieve target product quality and performance. Biopharmaceutics scientists work collaboratively with other functions such as pharmaceutics, ADME, formulation and clinical teams within Development Sciences organization to support and guide the design of drug products. In this role, the postdoctoral fellow will be part of a dynamic, engaging, and multidisciplinary environment that includes pharmaceutical scientists, engineers, and chemists.

The postdoctoral fellow will have the opportunity to bridge existing gaps in the use of in vitro screening tools to enable rapid candidate selection or drug product development using knowledge of GI physiology, drug molecular attributes, and drug product excipients. The candidate will participate in the Biopharmaceutics cross-functional team to design, develop and implement novel high throughput screening platforms. Most existing tools for in vitro screening are either low throughput or are of limited ability to predict in vivo performance. The postdoc will apply their skills and expertise to develop tools to bridge this gap and solve our most cutting-edge drug delivery challenges.

Responsibilities

• Generate new research strategies to effectively address the needs of the postdoc project
• Collaborate with functional and technical experts to facilitate scientific achievement
• Maintain a high level of productivity in the laboratory setting
• Effectively write and communicate research materials
• Resolve research hurdles by effectively utilizing available information and technical expertise
• Proactively seek out new information in the literature and incorporate this into individual project(s) as well as the overall program
• Publish research in peer-reviewed journals and present work at scientific conferences aligned with business objectives
• Demonstrate a high degree of responsibility in maintaining scientific standards, and safe laboratory practices

Basic Qualifications

• PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemical Engineering, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Biomedical Engineering, or related (summer and fall graduates are also welcome to apply)
• Record of scientific initiative and creativity in research or development activities
• Capable of independently designing and executing experiments, interpreting data, and identifying appropriate follow-up strategies
• Excellent project management skills. Ability to multitask and work within timelines
• Ability to resolve key project hurdles and assumptions by effectively utilizing available information and technical expertise
• Demonstrated scientific writing skills and strong verbal communication skills
• Global mindset to thrive in a diverse culture and environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of biopharmaceutical principles and application to drug or formulation screening
• Experience handling and preparing excised biological tissues
• Familiar with in vitro ADME screening tools
• Experience in cell staining techniques to characterize tissues
• Ability to conduct analysis of samples using HPLC including data processing
• Experience with computer aided design and fabrication of custom parts

Key Leadership Competencies:

• Builds strong relationships with peers and cross functionally with partners outside of team to enable higher performance
• Learns fast, grasps the “essence” and can change course quickly where indicated
• Raises the bar and is never satisfied with the status quo
• Creates a learning environment; open to suggestions and experimentation for improvement
• Embraces the ideas of others, nurtures innovation, and manages to reality

Candidates progressing to the final round of the interview process will be asked to provide three letters of recommendation (including one from the Thesis Advisor) and a letter of intent to pursue the postdoctoral position.

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.

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.