Senior Scientist, Antibody Repertoire Sequencing & Discovery

About the Company

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.

About the Role

The Biotherapeutics and Genetics Medicine department within Discovery Research is seeking a highly motivated Senior Scientist to join the Molecular Core team at AbbVie Bioresearch Center (ABC) in Worcester, MA. The ABC site offers a unique setting where biotherapeutics discovery, development, and manufacturing coexist in one location. The Molecular Core partners with multidisciplinary groups across AbbVie focused on developing therapies for immunology, neurology, and oncology diseases.

We utilize innovative approaches for antibody discovery, including in vivo technologies, custom immunization strategies, advanced multiplex screening assays, and best-in-class automation platforms. As a member of the in vivo antibody discovery group, you will optimize and expand antibody repertoire sequencing capabilities, as well as develop innovative methods to maintain AbbVie’s industry-leading standards. The successful candidate will generate original technical ideas and research strategies for antibody repertoire sequencing (RepSeq) and analysis.

Responsibilities

• Act as scientific and technical expert in antibody repertoire sequencing (RepSeq/AIRR-Seq/BCR-Seq) for therapeutic antibody discovery and hit expansion using bulk sequencing, 10X, and other commercial and proprietary platforms.
• Collaborate with computational scientists to optimize repertoire analysis and open new avenues for antibody discovery through repertoire-guided machine learning and generative design.
• Generate, document, and archive repertoire data with appropriate context and metadata to support broader team access and future utilization.
• Analyze and interpret results, placing data in proper scientific context through review of relevant literature, and present findings at team meetings.
• Regularly present data, communicate effectively, and coordinate work within a highly matrixed project team environment.
• Demonstrate scientific excellence through dedication to multiple projects in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary environment.
• Exhibit a can-do attitude and strong interpersonal and communication skills when working across multiple functional teams.

Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in immunology, molecular biology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, or a related field with typically 0-4+ (PhD), 8-10+ (MS), or 10-12+ (BS) years of relevant experience.
• Extensive scientific expertise in immunoglobulin genetics and antibody biology, including antibody diversity generation (germline genes/V(D)J recombination/somatic hypermutation), affinity maturation, and B cell biology.
• Extensive technical expertise in the isolation and molecular biology of antibody variable region genes for Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) and the capture of RepSeq/AIRR-Seq/BCR-Seq data for both single-chain and paired heavy- and light-chain recovery.
• Understanding of NGS technologies and platforms (Illumina NextSeq, MiSeq, and PacBio).
• Proficiency in molecular biology techniques (e.g., PCR, primer design, molecular cloning, Gibson Assembly, plasmid design).
• Ability to improve and streamline existing processes.
• Strong attention to quality and detail in organizational, documentation, and communication skills.
• Proven flexibility to deal with changing timelines and shifting work priorities.
• Competency with software programs, including antibody analysis (PipeBio), DNA analysis (Geneious, Sequencher), and MS Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word).
• Fluency in computational science and familiarity with the application of predictive AI/ML tools and protein language models (PLMs) for antibody discovery.

Desirable Experience

• Experience in non-human and non-murine immunogenetics.
• Prior experience with bioinformatics and computational analysis of large DNA and protein data sets.
• Experience with repertoire sequencing from in vitro antibody discovery libraries.
• Experience with mammalian cell culture, aseptic technique, and transient transfection.
• Experience in immunoassays using techniques like ELISA and flow cytometry.

Pay

The compensation range described is the range of possible base pay that AbbVie believes in good faith it will pay for this role at the time of posting, based on the job grade. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors, including geographic location, and may vary.

Benefits

• Comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick).
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan.
• Eligibility to participate in short-term and long-term incentive programs.