Senior Director, Search & Evaluation, Neuroscience

Company Description

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.

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Job Description

The Search and Evaluation (S&E) group is part of the Corporate Business & Strategy Office and actively supports global Business Development (BD) goals by sourcing and assessing external partnering opportunities that are aligned with AbbVie’s R&D and BD Strategies. The S&E team interacts with biotech and biopharma companies, academic institutions, venture firms, and other stakeholders from the life sciences industry ecosystem, for exploration of potential opportunities to collaborate, in-license, out-license, invest into- or acquire assets. The group is responsible for leading the global search efforts for assets of high strategic value across the entire spectrum, from early-stage Discovery alliances to the evaluation of programs that are in late-stage development or marketed. S&E is responsible for conducting all scientific/technical due diligence to ensure an in-depth understanding of the science behind each of these opportunities.

Neurosciences represents one of AbbVie’s strategic therapeutic area pillars and is a major revenue driver for the company. The Senior Director, Head of Neurosciences Search & Evaluation will lead the Neurosciences S&E team that is responsible for coordinating due diligence and presenting assessments of individual partnering opportunities as well as related Neurosciences and BD strategy initiatives to therapeutic area leadership and senior governance committees. This is a very attractive opportunity for an experienced biotech or pharmaceutical industry professional who enjoys a high-energy, entrepreneurial environment, and a highly visible role that offers a chance to make significant contributions towards AbbVie’s BD goals, and to further strengthen AbbVie’s role as a leading pharmaceutical drug developer of innovative medicines for neurodegenerative diseases, movement disorders, migraine, psychiatry, and other emerging areas within Neurosciences.

Key Responsibilities

As the leader of the Neurosciences S&E team, the successful candidate will be responsible for managing direct reports across multiple sites, fostering talent, and driving the overall strategies and tactics for identifying, assessing, and partnering assets for continued growth of AbbVie’s Neurosciences business. The Senior Director will maintain strong working relationships with the Neurosciences therapeutic area leadership team, as well as with Transactions Legal, Business Development & Acquisitions, and AbbVie Ventures. They will independently lead scientific/technical assessments, mentor direct reports, prioritize multiple opportunities, coordinate workflow, and ensure effective communication and decision-making within the organization. The role also requires representing AbbVie at external partnering and scientific conferences, leveraging a network of connections in the biopharma innovation ecosystem, and producing high-quality scientific assessments, due diligence reports, and presentations with recommendations to TA leadership, senior governance committees, and AbbVie’s Executive Management team.

Qualifications

Basic:

• PhD, MD, MD/PhD in a Life Sciences Field, preferably Neurosciences or Neuroscience-related. Advanced business degree or relevant professional experience (e.g., strategic management consulting) is a plus.
• 8 years of relevant industry experience required, of which a minimum of 4 years is in S&E, BD, venture capital, technology transfer, or other partnering-focused professional experience.
• Prior people management experience.
• Practical relevant experience in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry in at least one major area of drug development, such as Discovery, Preclinical Development, Clinical Development, Process Development, CMC, or Regulatory Affairs. Must possess a solid foundation of generally accepted BD practices, including term sheet and deal structures, valuation methods, forecasting, negotiation, and project management for BD.
• Demonstrated project management/leadership skills to lead/manage cross-functional teams in evaluating target opportunities, producing high quality assessments of scientific and therapeutic hypotheses, and preclinical and clinical data.
• Ability to drive projects to deliver timely results and follow through on internal and external commitments.
• Strong communication skills to effectively convey business strategies and capabilities internally and externally, present individual and team recommendations clearly and concisely, and foster cross‑functional consensus building.
• Proven people leadership and interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated negotiation and influencing skills with diverse groups of stakeholders in deal settings to creatively solve problems.
• Strong existing network and networking skills to reach out to a broad range of industry decision makers to keep abreast of emerging opportunities.
• Strong business acumen and ability to drive well‑informed, fact‑based decision making.

Key AbbVie Competencies

• Builds strong relationships with peers cross‑functionally and with partners outside of the team to enable higher performance.
• Learns fast, grasps the “essence” and can change the 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 innovation to reality.

Role Location

The preferred base location can be in the North Chicago, IL (AbbVie corporate HQ) or Cambridge, MA (AbbVie Discovery R&D and External Innovation Center) offices, requiring a minimum of three (3) days onsite. The role is not intended to be home‑based/remote, outside of situations that require temporary adjustments.

Additional Information

• The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Company believes in good faith will pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location, and 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 until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, in accordance 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 applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation can find information here:

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