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This position has closed. AbbVie removed this listing from their careers page on Oct 2, 2026. The interview prep below is still useful, and there are similar open roles at the bottom of this page.

Principal Engineer, Salesforce

AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Full time · Information Technology

Posted Aug 21, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 1, 2026

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 data model decision on Salesforce that you would do differently now.

What they are checking: Learned judgment on the decision hardest to reverse later.

Tell me about translating an enterprise architecture principle into something a delivery team could actually follow.

What they are checking: The translation role this posting puts between architecture and engineering.

This reports to the Director of Architecture and Engineering for the Salesforce platform, in North Chicago, inside Commercial Business Technology Solutions. What do you want to know about the size of the engineering organization and how much of this role is hands-on?

What they are checking: Clarifying a principal role's real balance of architecture and code.

What would you do

The purpose of the platform is helping patients start therapy faster and stay on it. How does that change a technical decision you would otherwise make on cost alone?

What they are checking: Whether the patient outcome actually shapes their engineering judgment.

The posting names agent-based software engineering and artificial intelligence capabilities. How would you run a proof of concept on one of those without committing the platform to it?

What they are checking: Evaluating emerging capability responsibly, which this posting asks for.

How do you work with a platform architect and a product owner when the three of you want different things?

What they are checking: The specific partnership structure this posting describes.

About the work

This owns the architecture of a patient relationship management platform on Salesforce. Walk me through how you would approach a multi-year modernization of a platform that cannot go down.

What they are checking: Modernization planning on a live platform, which this posting frames as the core mandate.

How do you set engineering standards across a platform when several teams build on it?

What they are checking: The consistency in design and delivery this posting names.

How do you decide whether to build on the platform, extend it with custom code, or integrate an outside system?

What they are checking: The build, extend or integrate call that defines platform architecture.

Patient data is involved here. What does that change about your integration strategy?

What they are checking: Privacy and regulatory awareness built into the architecture rather than added.

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.

AbbVie US Commercial Business Technology Solutions (BTS) is seeking a Principal Engineer, Salesforce to join the Patient Services & Consumer Marketing Technology Services and Architecture team. This role provides strategic and technical leadership for the planning, architecture, design, integration, implementation, and operations of Patient Services solutions on AbbVie’s OnePRM (Patient Relationship Management) platform. This position is accountable for advancing the modernization of Patient Services capabilities that help patients start therapy faster, remain adherent to treatment, and receive more personalized, data- and AI-enabled experiences. The role owns the long-term technology roadmap for solutions supporting more than 2,200 end users and 2,000+ patients on daily basis cross Immunology, Oncology, Neuroscience, and Specialty therapeutic areas. This position is also responsible for leading the ongoing release of features, enhancements, and continuous improvement activities that enable product launches, care model launches, and capability launches, while simultaneously driving the multi-year transformation and migration of Patient Services solutions. The role ensures operational stability, continuous improvement, and business continuity while modernization efforts progress in parallel. This position stays current on emerging technologies, agile delivery practices, Agentic software engineering, and Salesforce ecosystem innovations to recommend and implement capabilities that improve efficiency, user productivity, and patient outcomes. This role will define the system architecture, delivery priorities, and execution approach to ensure scalable, secure, compliant, and resilient solutions. This role serves as the technical cornerstone of the AbbVie Patient Services OnePRM Architecture & Engineering organization. This role translates enterprise and platform architecture into executable engineering strategy, defining how solutions are built, governed, secured, scaled, and evolved. It leads the release planning, engineering execution, and continuous improvement to deliver business value with high quality, compliance, and operational excellence. The role will conceive, design, engineer, and implement CRM solutions that solve complex business challenges and deliver measurable outcomes. It will also lead the innovation efforts, evaluate new technologies and architectural patterns, and establish engineering standards and delivery practices adopted by internal teams and strategic vendor partners. As the lead architecture and engineering champion for OnePRM, this position ensures engineering excellence across the platform and drives consistency in design, delivery, operations, and governance. The role is accountable for managing up to three engineering PODs, internal and/or vendor resources, with ownership of delivery execution, technical quality, operational support, vendor management, and approximately $2MM in budget stewardship. Reporting to the Director of Architecture & Engineering for the Salesforce CRM Platform, this role partners with the Salesforce Platform Architect, BTS Product Owner, BTS Brand Enablement Lead, Business Product Manager, User Experience Architect, and Solution Architects to deliver best-in-class Patient Services solutions. Responsibilities: • Own the system architecture and engineering standards within OnePRM platform, and ensure alignment with Salesforce Platform architecture principles, Solutions architecture standards, Salesforce best practices, security requirements, validated systems expectations, and SLC governance. • Serve as the principal architecture & engineering leader for OnePRM, shaping solution direction, technical architecture & design, data modeling, integration strategy, engineering decisions, and platform evolution to support business growth and long-term sustainability. • Drive the OnePRM technical strategy and multi-year roadmap for systems, including modernization, migration, consolidation, and future-state platform design in support of enterprise business priorities. • Evaluate emerging Salesforce capabilities, AI-enabled solutions, and engineering tools; lead proofs of concept; and translate successful pilots into scalable, production-ready capabilities that improve business value and operating efficiency. • Lead multiple engineering PODs and blended teams across architecture, development, QA automation, DevOps, and vendor partners, ensuring accountability to delivery commitments, quality standards, and engineering outcomes. • Define and govern scalable data models, scalable workflow automation, secure integration patterns, and resilient enterprise interfaces across Salesforce and connected platforms to support reliable business operations and future growth. • Partner with program, product, and business leaders to execute complex release plans, manage dependencies, mitigate technical risks, and ensure seamless coordination across concurrent workstreams. • Drive CI/CD/CT modernization and shift-left quality practices, including automation, code analysis, testing rigor, and compliance controls to improve release velocity and reduce production defects. • Establish and govern design review, code review, release readiness, and pre-deployment approval processes to ensure consistent execution, technical quality, and compliance across internal and external delivery teams. • Govern technical debt, refactoring, and remediation as strategic investments that strengthen maintainability, reduce risk, and improve long-term platform scalability. • Maintain strong standards for data quality, documentation, privacy, security, and compliance in accordance with AbbVie policies, validated system requirements, and enterprise governance expectations. • Coach and develop application architects, tech leads, and senior engineers; strengthen technical depth across the team; and build succession capability for critical architecture and engineering roles. • Partner with senior business leaders, product owners, architects, and external partners to translate strategic needs into sustainable solutions and prioritize investments that maximize enterprise value. • Oversee team capacity, vendor performance, and budget utilization to optimize delivery efficiency, maintain accountability, and ensure responsible stewardship of engineering investments. Required: • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent education with 8 years of experience, Master’s degree or equivalent education with 7 years of experience, or PhD with 3 years of experience in application strategy, requirements, architecture, design, engineering, and related technology disciplines • Experience in planning, architecture, design, development, integration, and operations of CRM solutions on the Salesforce platform, using service cloud, experience cloud, health cloud / life sciences cloud; pharmaceutical or life sciences industry experience preferred. • Deep hands-on experience with Salesforce CRM technical capabilities, including workflow automation, responsive UI, data architecture, relational data modeling, data migration, data quality management, API engineering, integration design, and platform configuration. • In-depth knowledge of the systems development life cycle, enterprise application development practices, and technology alternatives for complex business systems. • Demonstrated experience leading large enterprise projects with responsibility for business requirements analysis, solution architecture, technical design, and end-to-end solution delivery. Demonstrated ability to lead technically complex initiatives, influence stakeholders, and provide guidance to engineering teams, architects, and vendor partners. • Strong understanding of enterprise architecture principles, Salesforce Well-Architected concepts, and the design of scalable, sustainable, and supportable enterprise solutions. • Hands-on experience with Salesforce development and configuration tools, including Apex, Triggers, Lightning Web Components (LWC), Flows, and integration features. • Strong background in integration architecture and engineering, including REST and SOAP APIs, middleware-based integrations, direct system-to-system interfaces, and enterprise integration patterns. • Demonstrated ability to apply object-oriented design principles and design patterns to enterprise solutions. • Experience with DevOps, CI/CD/CT practices, and Salesforce ecosystem delivery tooling to support automated, repeatable, and high-quality releases. • Experience with Salesforce Data 360 and Agentforce preferred. Experience with Agentic software engineering using Agentforce Vibes is preferred. • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical concepts clearly to senior BTS leaders, business stakeholders, and cross-functional partners. Preferred: • Salesforce Administrator, Platform App Builder, Platform Developer I, and Application Architect and/or System Architect certification, or active pursuit of those architect-level credentials. • Additional Salesforce Consultant certifications, such as Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, or other relevant cloud certifications. • Salesforce certifications in Data Architecture and Management and Integration Architecture. 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 thisposting 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 anduntil 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