Head of AI/ML
VP / Principal AI & Data Science Lead
AbbVie · Pharmaceuticals / Life Sciences · 50000+ employees · 📍 Florham Park, NJ
AbbVie is hiring a senior AI/Data Science platform leader to own enterprise-wide ML/AI governance, agentic engineering, and production delivery across global pharma operations at scale.
AI Maturity
scaling
Why Role Exists
Expansion
Company Stage
public
Source
linkedin
Key Responsibilities
- Lead platform strategy, governance, and compliant delivery of data science solutions across global operations (Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Quality, R&D)
- Oversee full delivery lifecycle: requirements, modeling, productionization, and monitoring of ML/AI applications
- Champion data governance, GxP compliance, master data management, data lineage, and model validation standards
- Drive agentic and semantic engineering capabilities, overseeing architects building advanced AI systems
- Develop advanced analytics capabilities including supervised/unsupervised ML, deep learning, RAG, and human-in-the-loop AI
- Build strategic partnerships with senior leaders, technology stakeholders, and external academic collaborators
Requirements
- Proven leadership of enterprise data science or AI platform teams in a regulated industry
- Deep expertise in ML/AI lifecycle management including productionization and monitoring
- Experience with GxP compliance and regulated data governance frameworks
- Hands-on knowledge of agentic AI, RAG, semantic layering, and modern AI/ML platform services
- Track record of stakeholder engagement at senior leadership level
Signals
- ⚠ No salary posted
- ⚠ Title ('Principal Lead') undersells likely scope — may affect candidate caliber attracted
- ⚠ Role posted again within weeks of prior posting (May 2026), suggesting difficulty closing the search
- ✓ AbbVie is a top-10 global pharma company with substantial AI investment mandate
- ✓ Clear and specific scope: platform, governance, and delivery across global operations
- ✓ Active agentic and semantic engineering agenda signals genuine advanced AI commitment
- ✓ Enterprise-wide remit spanning Supply Chain, Quality, Manufacturing, Procurement, and S&T
- ✓ Reports into Operations Business Insights — structured organizational home for AI
Company History
This is at minimum the second posting of this same role within a short window (prior posting dated 2026-05-30), suggesting the search has not yet closed — possibly due to the title-scope mismatch (Principal vs. what is effectively a VP-level mandate), compensation constraints, or difficulty finding candidates with both pharma regulatory depth and advanced agentic AI fluency.