Director of Research and Development Visa Sponsorship Jobs in Illinois
Director of research and development visa sponsorship jobs in Illinois are concentrated in Chicago's life sciences corridor, Peoria's heavy industry base, and the North Shore's pharmaceutical clusters. Major employers including Abbott, Baxter International, Caterpillar, and Illinois Tool Works regularly sponsor international candidates for senior R&D leadership roles requiring advanced technical degrees.
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Company Description
About AbbVie
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. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Job Description
Business Development is a critical pillar of AbbVie’s future growth, and Global Business Development Forecasting helps determine which external opportunities can create the greatest long-term value. The team brings commercial insight, analytical rigor, and strategic clarity to high-stakes BD decisions by translating science, market dynamics, competitive context, and uncertainty into actionable forecasts.
The Associate Director plays a high-impact and highly visible role in this process, leading forecasts and commercial perspectives that shape executive understanding of opportunity value, risk, and strategic fit. Working across R&D, Commercial, Pipeline Commercial Strategy, CBSO, BD Finance, and other partners, this role sits at the intersection of scientific innovation and commercial strategy and directly supports decisions that influence AbbVie’s future portfolio.
Success requires strong forecasting and commercial analytics expertise, rigorous assumption development, clear executive communication, and the ability to influence across a matrixed organization. Candidates should be curious, collaborative, comfortable with ambiguity, and able to create structure in fast-moving situations. For the right candidate, the role offers meaningful growth through exposure to senior leaders, enterprise-wide relationships, and deeper understanding of both R&D and Commercial strategy.
This role reports to the Director, Global Business Development Forecasting.
Responsibilities
- Lead commercial forecasting, market assessments, scenario analyses, and commercial P&Ls for BD opportunities, balancing analytical rigor with timely decision support in a fast-paced environment.
- Develop patient-based forecast models, pressure-test assumptions, and apply primary research, secondary data, epidemiology, competitive intelligence, market access input, and expert perspectives to build a well-supported commercial view.
- Partner broadly across BD, PCS, finance, market access, epidemiology, marketing analytics, and senior leadership to align assumptions, clarify risks and opportunities, and ensure commercial perspectives are reflected in deal valuation and governance discussions.
- Translate complex analyses into clear recommendations, executive-ready narratives, and decision options for senior leaders and governance forums, facilitating productive discussion around uncertainty, trade-offs, and strategic implications.
- Advance BD forecasting capabilities by sharing best practices, improving tools and processes, and helping create faster, more consistent, and audit-ready ways of working.
Qualifications
- Education and experience: 7+ years of relevant forecasting, market analytics, finance, or life sciences consulting experience in pharmaceutical, biotech, or related industries; MBA or other advanced degree preferred. Bachelor’s degree in finance/accounting or business required.
- Forecasting and analytics skills: Experience building forecast models in Excel and forecasting platforms such as IQVIA Forecast Horizon; ability to develop and/or utilize patient-flow modeling approaches, craft robust assumptions, and prepare evidence-based forecast inputs from epidemiology, secondary data, market research, treatment dynamics, competitive profiles, and expert input. Familiar with key data sources used to substantiate forecast recommendations and demonstrated ability to clearly document forecast assumption logic and rationale. Familiarity with using and crafting Target Product Profiles (TPPs), establishing and aligning analytical business rules and market definitions, and leveraging claims data analytics is also highly desirable.
- Business and therapeutic area knowledge: Experience supporting strategic decision making in specialized therapeutic areas such as Neuroscience, Immunology, Oncology, or other complex markets is preferred; ability to apply data, assumptions, and market context effectively is critical.
- Communication and influence: Strong executive communication skills, including the ability to tailor messages by audience, translate complex quantitative analyses into recommendations and decision options, and influence stakeholders across functions and cultures without direct authority.
- Project leadership: Strong project management skills in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment, with the ability to prioritize multiple workstreams, communicate trade-offs, escalate risks appropriately, and deliver high-quality work under time pressure.
Additional Information
Applicable only to applicants applying to a position in any location with pay disclosure requirements under state or local law:
- The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Company believes in good faith it will pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location, and we 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 long-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 unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent 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 only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html
US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more:
https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html
Director of Research and Development Job Roles in Illinois
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Search Director of Research and Development Jobs in IllinoisDirector of Research and Development Jobs in Illinois: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies sponsor visas for director of research and development roles in Illinois?
Abbott Laboratories, Baxter International, Caterpillar, Illinois Tool Works, Motorola Solutions, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, and Kraft Heinz are among the Illinois employers with documented H-1B visa and green card sponsorship history for senior R&D leadership positions. Chicago-area biotechnology firms and agricultural technology companies in the central Illinois corridor also maintain active sponsorship programs for director-level research roles.
What visa types realistically apply to director of research and development jobs in Illinois?
The H-1B is the most common path, covering specialty occupations that require a directly related bachelor's degree or higher. The O-1A applies to candidates with extraordinary ability demonstrated through publications, patents, or industry awards. For permanent residence, EB-2 covers advanced degree holders and those pursuing a National Interest Waiver, while EB-3 covers skilled workers. Chilean and Singaporean nationals may also qualify through H-1B1 visa.
How to find director of research and development visa sponsorship jobs in Illinois?
Migrate Mate lists Illinois employers with verified visa sponsorship history for director of research and development roles, letting you search by location and role type without sifting through postings from companies that don't sponsor. Focus your search on Chicago, North Shore suburbs like Abbott's Lake County headquarters, and Peoria for manufacturing R&D. Filtering to verified sponsors saves significant time at the director level, where open roles are less frequently advertised.
Which cities in Illinois have the most director of research and development sponsorship jobs?
Chicago and its northern suburbs, including Deerfield, Lake Forest, and North Chicago, account for the highest concentration due to Abbott, Baxter, and Takeda's regional presence. Peoria supports R&D director roles in heavy equipment and manufacturing through Caterpillar. The greater Chicagoland area also hosts a growing medtech cluster near the Illinois Medical District, adding additional opportunities in device and diagnostics R&D leadership.
Are there state-specific factors that affect visa sponsorship for R&D director roles in Illinois?
Illinois benefits from strong university pipelines through Northwestern University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Chicago, which feed research talent into corporate R&D programs and support employer familiarity with international hiring. The state's concentration of Fortune 500 companies means many Illinois employers have established immigration legal teams equipped to handle H-1B petitions and PERM labor certifications for director-level hires without long internal approval delays.
What is the prevailing wage for sponsored director of research and development jobs in Illinois?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.