Research Scientist Visa Sponsorship Jobs in Illinois
Illinois is a major hub for research scientist roles, with employers spanning the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Abbvie, Fermilab, and Argonne National Laboratory. Chicago anchors most hiring activity, while Evanston and the North Shore corridor host significant biotech and pharmaceutical research. Many of these employers have established visa sponsorship programs for qualified international scientists.
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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.
Job Description
The PDS&T Parenterals/Eye Care group is seeking a motivated Senior Scientist as a CMC drug product project lead, specifically for parenteral drug product process development and commercial site scale up and tech transfer. The candidate will independently design and execute lab studies to develop robust manufacturing processes for clinical phase and commercial products. This person will generate and analyze precise, reliable, and reproducible data in a timely manner, independently or under the direction of a more senior scientific leader. This position will be an integral part of the product development and CMC teams and is highly collaborative across functions such as analytical, process engineering, internal and external manufacturing, quality assurance, CMC regulatory affairs, supply chain and Operations Manufacturing Sites.
Responsibilities:
- Independently design and conduct critical experiments that further project goals. Implement and may innovate new experimental protocols/techniques for parenteral DP characterization studies to enable process scale up.
- Interpret results and draw conclusions from own multistage experiments, note significant deviations, then suggest, design, and pursue relevant experiments.
- Tech transfer activities for parenteral DP from development scale up to clinical/commercial scale.
- Support drug product manufacture at GMP facilities from clinical to PPQ and commercial batches.
- Understand relevant scientific literature and apply theoretical framework to solving problems within scientific discipline in a timely manner.
- Authoring of comprehensive, scientifically sound reports, e.g. development reports or risk assessments that serve as source documents for regulatory submissions. Author portions of regulatory submissions to designated health authorities related to these reports.
- Develop and maintain comprehensive project plans, timelines and development and/or scale up tech transfer strategy; technical projects at all stages of development are included, from phase II clinical through commercial.
- Lead cross-functional PDS&T product teams and represent the CMC team and/or PDS&T in interface with PDS&T leadership, other Operations functions, other AbbVie functions and external partners. Participate in or coordinate Governance efforts such as Product Performance Teams or gate reviews.
- Prepare and review submissions through registration of the product as well as post-approval life-cycle management. Serve as a peer reviewer for submissions and understand how regulatory submissions limit operational changes.
- Establish and foster partnerships with key customers and counterpart functions to facilitate effective collaboration. Identify and promote best practices among PDS&T CMC leads.
- Understand and adhere to corporate standards regarding code of conduct, safety, appropriate handling of materials, controlled drug and radioactive compounds, GxP compliance, and animal care where applicable.
Qualifications
- Bachelors, Masters, or PhD in chemical engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry, pharmaceutics, or related disciplines with typically 14+ years of experience; MS or equivalent education with typically 12+ years of experience; PhD with typically 6+ years of experience.
- Strong laboratory skills and experience focused on manufacturing process development for monoclonal antibodies, antibody constructs/conjugates or other parenteral formulations.
- Scientific problem solving, experimental design, and troubleshooting skills.
- Solid understanding of the various unit operations of aseptic manufacturing such as bulk freeze thaw, compounding/mixing, filtration, filling and lyophilization for liquid and lyophilized products.
- Experience in laboratory documentation systems, including ELN, and demonstrated experience with technical report writing. Technical understanding and experience with small molecule products manufacturing, development, quality and analytics is required.
- Knowledge and experience with FDA and global regulatory requirements for CMC issues is required.
- Ability to influence internal and external experts on CMC regulatory issues, independently.
- Demonstrated excellence in writing, presentation, and overall communication.
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

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.
Job Description
The PDS&T Parenterals/Eye Care group is seeking a motivated Senior Scientist as a CMC drug product project lead, specifically for parenteral drug product process development and commercial site scale up and tech transfer. The candidate will independently design and execute lab studies to develop robust manufacturing processes for clinical phase and commercial products. This person will generate and analyze precise, reliable, and reproducible data in a timely manner, independently or under the direction of a more senior scientific leader. This position will be an integral part of the product development and CMC teams and is highly collaborative across functions such as analytical, process engineering, internal and external manufacturing, quality assurance, CMC regulatory affairs, supply chain and Operations Manufacturing Sites.
Responsibilities:
- Independently design and conduct critical experiments that further project goals. Implement and may innovate new experimental protocols/techniques for parenteral DP characterization studies to enable process scale up.
- Interpret results and draw conclusions from own multistage experiments, note significant deviations, then suggest, design, and pursue relevant experiments.
- Tech transfer activities for parenteral DP from development scale up to clinical/commercial scale.
- Support drug product manufacture at GMP facilities from clinical to PPQ and commercial batches.
- Understand relevant scientific literature and apply theoretical framework to solving problems within scientific discipline in a timely manner.
- Authoring of comprehensive, scientifically sound reports, e.g. development reports or risk assessments that serve as source documents for regulatory submissions. Author portions of regulatory submissions to designated health authorities related to these reports.
- Develop and maintain comprehensive project plans, timelines and development and/or scale up tech transfer strategy; technical projects at all stages of development are included, from phase II clinical through commercial.
- Lead cross-functional PDS&T product teams and represent the CMC team and/or PDS&T in interface with PDS&T leadership, other Operations functions, other AbbVie functions and external partners. Participate in or coordinate Governance efforts such as Product Performance Teams or gate reviews.
- Prepare and review submissions through registration of the product as well as post-approval life-cycle management. Serve as a peer reviewer for submissions and understand how regulatory submissions limit operational changes.
- Establish and foster partnerships with key customers and counterpart functions to facilitate effective collaboration. Identify and promote best practices among PDS&T CMC leads.
- Understand and adhere to corporate standards regarding code of conduct, safety, appropriate handling of materials, controlled drug and radioactive compounds, GxP compliance, and animal care where applicable.
Qualifications
- Bachelors, Masters, or PhD in chemical engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry, pharmaceutics, or related disciplines with typically 14+ years of experience; MS or equivalent education with typically 12+ years of experience; PhD with typically 6+ years of experience.
- Strong laboratory skills and experience focused on manufacturing process development for monoclonal antibodies, antibody constructs/conjugates or other parenteral formulations.
- Scientific problem solving, experimental design, and troubleshooting skills.
- Solid understanding of the various unit operations of aseptic manufacturing such as bulk freeze thaw, compounding/mixing, filtration, filling and lyophilization for liquid and lyophilized products.
- Experience in laboratory documentation systems, including ELN, and demonstrated experience with technical report writing. Technical understanding and experience with small molecule products manufacturing, development, quality and analytics is required.
- Knowledge and experience with FDA and global regulatory requirements for CMC issues is required.
- Ability to influence internal and external experts on CMC regulatory issues, independently.
- Demonstrated excellence in writing, presentation, and overall communication.
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
Research Scientist Job Roles in Illinois
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Search Research Scientist Jobs in IllinoisResearch Scientist Jobs in Illinois: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies sponsor visas for research scientists in Illinois?
AbbVie, Abbott Laboratories, Fermilab, Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University are among the most active sponsors of research scientist roles in Illinois. Large pharmaceutical and biotech employers on the North Shore, including Baxter International and Horizon Therapeutics, also have documented histories of sponsoring H-1B and other work visas for research positions.
Which visa types are most common for research scientist roles in Illinois?
The H-1B is the most common visa for research scientists employed by private-sector employers in Illinois. Researchers at universities and nonprofit research institutions like Argonne and Fermilab may qualify for cap-exempt H-1B petitions, which are not subject to the annual lottery. O-1A visas are an option for scientists with demonstrated extraordinary achievement, such as published research, awards, or citation records.
Which cities in Illinois have the most research scientist sponsorship jobs?
Chicago accounts for the largest share of research scientist sponsorship jobs in Illinois, driven by its major academic medical centers, biotech firms, and university research programs. Evanston is significant due to Northwestern University's research enterprise. Lemont hosts Argonne National Laboratory, and Batavia is home to Fermilab, making the Chicago metro area the clear center of gravity for sponsored research science positions statewide.
How to find research scientist visa sponsorship jobs in Illinois?
Migrate Mate is built specifically for international job seekers and filters research scientist positions in Illinois by visa sponsorship status, so you're not sorting through listings that won't support work authorization. The platform surfaces roles from employers across Chicago, Evanston, and the broader metro area that have confirmed sponsorship activity, making it more efficient than general job searches for identifying opportunities aligned with your visa situation.
Are there state-specific factors that affect research scientist sponsorship in Illinois?
Illinois research scientists sponsored on H-1B visas must be paid at least the prevailing wage for their role and location, as certified through a Labor Condition Application filed with the Department of Labor. The concentration of R1 research universities and national laboratories in Illinois means a meaningful share of positions qualify for cap-exempt H-1B filings, which avoid the annual lottery and allow year-round petition filing.
What is the prevailing wage for sponsored research scientist 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.
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