Head of AI/ML
Principal AI & Data Science Lead
AbbVie · Pharmaceutical / Biopharmaceutical · 50000+ employees · 📍 North Chicago, IL
AbbVie is hiring a senior AI/data science leader to own platform strategy, governance, and enterprise-wide delivery of production-grade ML and agentic AI solutions across its global operations.
AI Maturity
scaling
Reports To
Operations Business Insights (OBI) leadership — likely VP or SVP level, not C-suite directly
Why Role Exists
Expansion
Company Stage
public
Source
linkedin
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and govern the enterprise data science platform for secure, scalable, GxP-compliant analytics across global operations
- Oversee full delivery lifecycle — from requirements and solution design through deployment and monitoring of production AI/ML applications
- Champion data governance, stewardship, and regulatory compliance including master data management and model validation
- Drive semantic and agentic engineering capabilities and oversee architects in these domains
- Build advanced analytics capabilities including supervised/unsupervised ML, deep learning, RAG, and human-in-the-loop AI systems
- Develop and manage a diverse team of data scientists and analysts; foster continuous learning culture
- Build strategic partnerships with senior functional leaders, technology stakeholders, and academic collaborators
Requirements
- Proven leadership of data science or AI teams in a large enterprise environment
- Deep expertise in ML/AI platform design, governance, and productionization
- Experience with regulated environments (GxP, data lineage, model validation)
- Hands-on knowledge of modern AI techniques: deep learning, RAG, semantic/agentic systems
- Ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders across functions
Signals
- ⚠ No salary or compensation range disclosed
- ⚠ Title is 'Principal Lead' but scope suggests Director/VP-level accountability — possible title misalignment
- ⚠ Reports into Operations function rather than CTO/CDO, which may limit strategic influence
- ⚠ No equity mentioned — typical for large pharma but limits upside for top AI talent
- ✓ Enterprise-wide mandate spanning multiple critical business functions
- ✓ AbbVie is a top-10 global pharma with significant R&D and operational scale
- ✓ Explicit investment in cutting-edge capabilities: agentic AI, RAG, semantic engineering
- ✓ Existing platform and team to lead — not building from zero
- ✓ Strong cross-functional and external collaboration scope signals organizational buy-in