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Associate Engineer, Technology II

AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Full time · Other

Posted Sep 28, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about a time you supported a non-technical or semi-technical user through a frustrating issue.

What they are checking: Whether they support researchers patiently and clearly, since the users of this role are scientists rather than engineers.

How do you keep technical documentation useful instead of stale?

What they are checking: Whether they keep documentation current and useful, so other engineers and users can solve problems without asking them every time.

What would you do

A researcher says their pipeline runs on their laptop but fails on the cluster. How do you debug it?

What they are checking: Whether they troubleshoot systematically across environments, checking paths, libraries and resources rather than guessing at random fixes.

A license server for a commercial tool goes down during a busy week. What do you do?

What they are checking: Whether they respond to an outage calmly, restore service quickly and keep users informed while the problem is being fixed.

About the work

Walk me through how you'd install a scientific application like Schrödinger on an HPC cluster so many users can run it.

What they are checking: Whether they can deploy scientific software on a shared cluster so many users can run it reliably and without conflicts.

When would you use a container instead of a module or a source build for scientific software?

What they are checking: Whether they choose between containers, modules and source builds for good reasons, which affects how maintainable the environment is.

How does a job get scheduled and run in Slurm, and what would you check if a user's jobs sit pending?

What they are checking: Whether they understand Slurm scheduling well enough to diagnose stuck jobs, a common and frustrating problem for researchers.

How would you automate software deployment so the next version goes out with less manual work?

What they are checking: Whether they think about automating deployment with CI/CD, so new versions go out reliably without repeated manual steps.

What's different about running scientific workloads on Kubernetes compared with a traditional HPC scheduler?

What they are checking: Whether they understand the trade-offs between Kubernetes and traditional HPC scheduling for scientific work, as research moves toward hybrid setups.

What Linux skills do you use most when supporting software, and give me an example.

What they are checking: Whether they have real, hands-on Linux depth, which is the foundation of supporting scientific software on a cluster.

How do you think about security when installing open-source software in an enterprise research environment?

What they are checking: Whether they consider security when installing open-source software, since research environments still hold sensitive company data.

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The full job description

As published by AbbVie.

AbbVie IR Scientific Computing Solutions is seeking a highly motivated Technology Engineer to implement, configure, maintain, and support software and technology solutions across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid high-performance computing (HPC) environments. This role is responsible for enabling computational research and development by integrating scientific applications with HPC resources, automating software deployment, supporting HPC integration with internal platforms, assisting users, resolving technical issues, and maintaining reliable technical documentation. The successful candidate will have strong problem-solving skills, technical precision, and working knowledge of Linux systems, HPC operations, software environments, containers, and CI/CD practices. This individual will help deliver secure, scalable, reliable, and efficient solutions while partnering with R&D stakeholders and contributing to collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement. Responsibilities: • Install, configure, maintain, and support academic, open-source, and commercial software applications in HPC environments (e.g., Schrödinger, Posit) using commercial installers, source builds, package managers, and container-based methods. • Partner with the HPC operations team to configure and integrate HPC applications with workload schedulers and orchestration platforms (e.g., Slurm and Kubernetes). • Develop and maintain CI/CD pipelines for automating the build and deployment of software images. • Enable reliable integration with HPC environments and access to computational resources from other internally developed applications. • Assist users with access to and effective use of HPC environments, software applications, and computational workflows. • Investigate, troubleshoot, and resolve reported issues, errors, and performance problems affecting HPC users and supported applications. • Create, maintain, and improve administrator- and user-facing HPC documentation, including installation procedures, configuration standards, usage guidance, and troubleshooting information. • Analyze and communicate technical issues, deviations, and recommendations to stakeholders; coordinate with infrastructure, application, and research teams to deliver reliable solutions. • Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computational Science, Information Technology, or related field with 2 years' experience; OR Master’s Degree with no additional experience. • Experience running computational software in on-premises or cloud-based HPC environments. • Familiarity with Linux operating systems and command-line environments. • Experience with HPC schedulers or orchestration platforms, such as Slurm or Kubernetes. • Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot software installation, configuration, integration, and runtime issues. • Experience using software, package, and environment management tools such as conda, mamba, EasyBuild, or Spack. • Experience containerizing applications and environments using technologies such as Docker or Apptainer. • Familiarity with environment modules on HPC systems. • Experience using CI/CD tools to automate workflows (e.g., GitHub Actions) • Demonstrated strong collaboration, communication, documentation, and problem-solving skills. 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 roleat the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on manyfactors 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 short-term incentive programs. ​ Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount isearned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, incentive, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that areallocable 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 absolutediscretion, 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

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