ML Engineer Visa Sponsorship Jobs in Illinois
Illinois is a strong market for ML engineer visa sponsorship, with Chicago anchoring demand across fintech, healthcare tech, and enterprise software. Major employers like Motorola Solutions, Discover Financial, and CME Group regularly hire ML talent. The University of Illinois pipeline also feeds a steady stream of sponsored roles throughout the state.
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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
This position brings an opportunity to make innovative contributions that will define how AbbVie leverages AI-enabled drug discovery across our small molecule portfolio. The key responsibilities of this position are to identify, develop, optimize, validate, and deploy innovative machine learning approaches to guide molecular optimization. This role will collaborate closely with project teams comprising medicinal chemists, structural biologists, biochemists, cell biologists, and other computational chemistry / chemoinformatics experts.
Responsibilities:
- Consult with project team to establish quantitative targets for driving optimization
- Identify suitable models to predict small molecule binding affinities for protein targets, and to predict pharmacological properties (PK parameters, etc.)
- Build predictive models for each project endpoint, and carefully benchmarking to evaluate performance and domain of applicability for each model
- Decisively identify the model that should be used for each project team query molecule, using data-driven approaches that take account of model uncertainty and heteroscedasticity
- Clearly communicate to the project team the rationale for model selection and why the selected models are best suited for the task at hand
- Deploy models to ensure accessibility for the project team, facilitating collaborative ideation and optimization
Qualifications
- Senior Scientist I: Degree in relevant field (chemistry / computer science / machine learning / cheminformatics / chemical engineering) with experience developing machine learning models related to chemical and biological data (10+ years of experience for BS, 8+ years for MS, 0+ years for PhD). Leveling will be commensurate to experience.
- Senior Scientist II: Degree in relevant field (chemistry / computer science / machine learning / cheminformatics / chemical engineering) with experience developing machine learning models related to chemical and biological data (12+ years of experience for BS, 10+ years for MS, 4+ years for PhD). Leveling will be commensurate to experience.
- Expertise with developing, implementing and deploying programs and computational solutions employing Machine Learning/Deep learning and Cheminformatics
- Expertise in AI/ML-enabled molecular generation, pose prediction, affinity prediction and/or prediction of pharmacological properties (e.g. PK)
- Strong programming skills in Python and experience with data science stack including numpy, pandas, scikit-learn, and other related scientific libraries
- Ability to implement, debug, and maintain computational tools in common programming languages (Python, etc…) and proficiency with cloud computing capabilities
- Familiarity with modern deep learning architectures including GNN, CNN, RNN, Transformer, GCNN and MPNN, and machine learning paradigms such as generative models, GAN, and active learning
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with demonstrated ability to think critically and creatively, and provide solutions both individually and collaboratively with internal experts
- Excellent ability to communicate clearly and concisely with colleagues and collaborators including an ability to explain complex ideas to non-specialists
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
ML Engineer Job Roles in Illinois
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Search ML Engineer Jobs in IllinoisML Engineer Jobs in Illinois: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies sponsor visas for ML engineers in Illinois?
Several large Illinois employers have consistent track records of sponsoring ML engineers. Motorola Solutions, Discover Financial, CME Group, Allstate, and Uptake Technologies are among the companies that have filed for ML and data science roles. Chicago's dense concentration of fintech and enterprise software firms means sponsoring international ML talent is a normal part of hiring, not an exception.
Which visa types are most common for ML engineer roles in Illinois?
The H-1B visa is the most common visa for ML engineers in Illinois, as the role typically meets USCIS specialty occupation criteria given its degree requirements in computer science, statistics, or a related field. The O-1A is an alternative for candidates with demonstrated distinction in the field. Candidates already holding F-1 OPT or STEM OPT can work immediately while an employer pursues H-1B visa sponsorship.
Which cities in Illinois have the most ML engineer sponsorship jobs?
Chicago accounts for the overwhelming majority of ML engineer sponsorship jobs in Illinois. The city's West Loop and River North neighborhoods host many tech and fintech employers, while the suburbs of Schaumburg and Downers Grove are home to enterprise technology companies. Champaign-Urbana, anchored by the University of Illinois, also sees ML hiring, particularly in research-adjacent and startup roles.
How to find ml engineer visa sponsorship jobs in Illinois?
Migrate Mate filters job listings specifically by visa sponsorship availability, so you can browse ML engineer roles in Illinois without sorting through positions that won't support international candidates. The platform is built for this search, covering employers across Chicago's fintech, healthcare tech, and enterprise software sectors where ML sponsorship is most active.
Are there any Illinois-specific factors ML engineers should know about when seeking sponsorship?
Illinois follows federal prevailing wage requirements for H-1B positions, with Chicago wage levels generally reflecting a high-cost metropolitan area, which means sponsored ML roles tend to be well-compensated relative to national averages. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign produces a significant volume of ML graduates, so Illinois employers are accustomed to hiring from that pipeline and understand the sponsorship process well.
What is the prevailing wage for sponsored ml engineer 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.