Jobs › AbbVie

Director, Neuroscience Strategy - Corporate Business Strategy Office

AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Full time · Business Development

Posted Oct 1, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

Apply at AbbVie

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

Walk me through a consulting project where your analysis changed a client's direction.

What they are checking: Whether their consulting work has actually changed a client's direction, which shows analysis that drives decisions rather than just reports.

Tell me about presenting a strategy to executives who pushed back hard.

What they are checking: Whether they stay composed and persuasive when executives challenge their work hard, which strategy roles require regularly.

How do you lead a cross-functional team where no one reports to you?

What they are checking: Whether they can lead teams without authority through clarity and trust, since strategy work depends on many contributors outside their control.

What would you do

Discovery and Commercial disagree on which disease area to prioritize. How do you bring them together?

What they are checking: Whether they can bring functions with different priorities to a shared decision, using evidence and facilitation rather than authority.

How do you manage several complex initiatives at once without losing quality?

What they are checking: Whether they have practical ways to manage several complex initiatives at once while keeping quality high and deadlines met.

How do you know when a strategy recommendation is ready to bring to senior leaders?

What they are checking: Whether they have clear standards for when analysis is solid enough to present, since premature recommendations erode credibility with senior leaders.

About the work

How would you build a long-range therapeutic area strategy for neuroscience?

What they are checking: Whether they can build a structured long-range strategy for a whole therapeutic area, connecting science, market and portfolio choices.

What do you see as the biggest opportunities and risks in neuroscience drug development right now?

What they are checking: Whether they have an informed view of neuroscience's risks and opportunities, since the field has high failure rates and real promise.

How would you evaluate an external opportunity, like a licensing deal, against internal programs?

What they are checking: Whether they can compare external opportunities and internal programs on consistent terms, which is central to sound portfolio strategy.

How do you build a disease area strategy that sits above any single brand?

What they are checking: Whether they can think at the disease area level, above individual brands, which shapes long-term direction for the portfolio.

What data sources and analyses would you use to size a neuroscience market?

What they are checking: Whether they know which data sources and methods give a credible market size, since sizing errors can mislead major investment choices.

Practice this interview out loud.

Offer builds a real interview for this exact role at AbbVie from your resume and this job description, asks the questions one at a time, and tells you what landed. The first one is free.

Practice this out loud

The full job description

As published by AbbVie.

To enable AbbVie’s continued leadership in Neuroscience, the Director, Neuroscience Strategy - Corporate Business Strategy Office (CBSO) manages multiple complex Neuroscience therapeutic or disease areas plus enterprise-level initiatives, engages at the VP/executive level, sets broad strategic direction, and influences the highest levels of organizational leadership. Candidate should bring a strong consulting background and demonstration of leadership within multiple roles preferably within Neuroscience. The Director, Neuroscience Strategy CBSO is responsible for building and leading cross-functional teams that integrate expertise across Discovery, Development, Commercial, Corporate Business & Strategy, and other key functions to drive a variety of initiatives that include creating and executing long range Therapeutic Area (TA) strategies, developing above brand Disease Area Strategies, and integrating internal and external opportunity evaluations. Achieving these goals requires a combination of excellent collaborative skills to enable stakeholder management and alignment, broad strategic thinking, and an ability to drive complex analyses using a wide variety of data and insights to synthesize into actionable strategic outputs. Responsibilities : • Builds and leads cross-functional teams to develop and present to senior leadership Disease Area Strategies for multiple core and emerging franchises, aligned with near-term, mid-term, and long-term strategic objectives for the Neuroscience TA • Drives set of key Neuroscience TA-wide initiatives with full ownership of delivery, process excellence, and organizational alignment. • Collaborate with Search & Evaluation and Business Development teams to integrate external innovation strategies with internal strategy • Serve as a thought partner to Neuroscience leaders on relevant strategic topics • Monitor, understand, and prioritize external trends of relevance to the enterprise, and help determine how AbbVie should prepare and/or respond • Operates with high autonomy, drives strategic innovation and process improvement, guides and / or manages Associate Directors or Directors, and elevates the strategy team brand Education & Experience: • Bachelors or equivalent degree required. Advanced degree (PharmD, PhD, MD, MBA) highly preferred. • Minimum Years of Experience – 8+ with Bachelors, 6+ with Masters, 4+ with PhD/Doctorate • Corporate or TA strategy, R&D, commercial, business development, or related experience in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry, with a track record of expertise in one or more therapeutic areas • Recognized team player with proven facilitative leadership skills in a cross-functional, global team environment • Proven performance in a matrix environment, with the ability to influence and align stakeholders • Ability to operate independently and take ownership of projects to structure and drive complex plans in ambiguous situations • Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to interact effectively both internally and externally to support business strategy • Strong analytical skills, with the ability to evaluate complex issues from multiple perspectives and make balanced risk assessments Essential Skills and Competencies: • Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate ideas clearly and make complex topics easy for others to understand • Good financial acumen, with an understanding of P&L drivers • Self-starter who learns quickly, demonstrates intellectual curiosity, and proactively drives projects to successful completion • Strong planning, coordination, project management, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to resolve conflict diplomatically • Ability to build strong relationships with peers and cross-functional partners outside the immediate team • Strong emotional intelligence, diplomacy, confidentiality, maturity, and organizational savvy • Ability to execute highly effective working team meetings with internal and external partners in an inclusive and transparent manner • Excellent command of MS PowerPoint and MS Excel • Experience working with pre-launch, launch, and/or on-market commercial teams preferred 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

Apply at AbbVie