Principal Research Scientist I - Process Engineering / Center for Reaction Engineering

AbbVie’s Development Sciences organization invents chemical processes and prepares active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to enable clinical trials, toxicology studies, and drug product development for AbbVie’s pre-clinical and clinical drug pipeline.
Within Development Sciences, the Process Engineering group supports process design and tech transfer for small molecules and antibody drug conjugates (ADC).
Process Engineering also partners with Biologics CMC Development and Aesthetics R&D functions to provide active engineering support to enable robust process scale-up and manufacturing of biologics drug substances and drug products including toxins and cosmetic active ingredients.
We create valuable intellectual property through composition of matter, chemical processes, and novel technologies resulting in cost effective commercial manufacturing processes.
We develop the supply chain for APIs and prepare and defend CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Control) regulatory content.
Process Engineers in AbbVie's R&D environment work in multi-functional teams to develop scalable processes and supply API for safety testing, clinical trials, and formulation development.
Process Engineers support API projects through all phases of development.
Early in development, engineers focus on ensuring that the process can be run safely and identifying and addressing scale-up issues.
Later in the development process, engineers optimize the API process and lead process campaigns.
In the final stage of development, engineers transfer the optimized process to manufacturing sites, develop control strategies, prepare reports to support regulatory filings, and support process validation.
The successful candidate will play a key role in the Process Engineering function, specifically the Center for Reaction Engineering.
The core deliverable of the function is to develop robust commercial processes to manufacture small molecule APIs, ADCs, and Aesthetics products.
As a member of the Center for Reaction Engineering, the selected candidate will have a strong background in chemical reaction engineering and is expected to address challenging problems with chemical reactions using expertise in chemical kinetics, transport phenomena, mathematical modeling, and reactor design.
The candidate is also expected to lead identification and development of novel technologies to enhance efficiency in process development, scale-up, and commercialization.
Such technologies may include deployment of custom automation solutions, fit-for-purpose reactor configurations, and novel modeling approaches.
The candidate must exhibit a collaborative nature in identifying process challenges on a wide range of projects, participate in a cross-functional team of chemists and chemical engineers to deliver specific project needs, and take on a leadership role in developing and implementing solutions.
Key Responsibilities: Perform laboratory experiments and process modeling to support process understanding and optimization.
Develop robust scale up and manufacturing processes for varied assets including, small molecule, ADC, neurotoxin, and aesthetics assets through all phases of development.
Address challenging problems with reactions and understand how they couple with separations, and/or isolations using expertise in reaction kinetics, transport phenomena, and mathematical modeling.
Author and/or review technical documents summarizing process development efforts.
Exhibit a collaborative nature in identifying process challenges on a wide range of projects and communicate findings and recommendations effectively by maintaining strong working relationships with functions within Small Molecule CMC, Biologics CMC, and the broader CMC team.
Ensure compliance with Federal Regulations for key documentation and sample inventory.
Basic Requirements: BS, MS, or PhD in Chemical/Bio Engineering or a related field and 14+ (BS), 12+ (MS), or 6+ (PhD) years of relevant industrial experience.
* Ph.
D.
candidates with pertinent research exposure are also encouraged to apply.
Candidates are expected to have a strong background in chemical reaction engineering and/or catalysis and a proven ability to demonstrate their skills in these fields.
The candidate is required to possess effective oral and written communication skills and be a strong team player.
*Job level will be commensurate with academic experience and work experience.
Preferred: Experience with laboratory experiments and process scale-up.
Familiarity with operation of chemical and biologics process equipment and systems.
Working knowledge of various analytical tools (HPLC, GC, FTIR, NMR, etc.
) and integration of process analytical technologies into equipment set-ups.
Design of scale-down reactor systems.
Experience with various programming languages (MATLAB, Python, etc.
) and kinetic modeling tools.
Understanding of cGMP.
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 transforming innovation to reality.
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.