Principal Scientist I, Energy Homeostasis
Posted Aug 19, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Sep 22, 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
Tell me about analyzing preclinical pharmacokinetic and in vivo data that did not support the hypothesis. What did you conclude?
What they are checking: Scientific honesty on data that kills a program.
Describe presenting a scientific recommendation to a cross-functional team who wanted a different answer.
What they are checking: Holding a scientific view against a business preference.
This is a Principal Scientist I at North Chicago as AbbVie expands into obesity therapeutics, leading discovery in search and evaluation. What do you want to know about how established this effort is and how decisions on external assets get made?
What they are checking: Checking the maturity of a newly expanding area.
What would you do
How do you design a proof-of-concept study with a contract research organization so the result is actually decisive?
What they are checking: Study design where a weak result wastes months.
Obesity mechanisms overlap with other therapeutic areas. How would you evaluate whether a target is worth pursuing beyond obesity?
What they are checking: The cross-area expansion this posting explicitly asks for.
What would make you recommend walking away from a licensing opportunity that looked good on paper?
What they are checking: Discipline about the deal, which is the point of diligence.
How do you work with an academic laboratory whose incentives are publication rather than program decisions?
What they are checking: Managing academic collaborations toward a decision.
About the work
This leads obesity discovery in search and evaluation. Walk me through how you assess an external asset's scientific merit.
What they are checking: Diligence method in the external innovation role this posting names.
The obesity field has moved fast. What target or mechanism do you think is underexplored, and why?
What they are checking: An actual scientific point of view in energy homeostasis.
How do you keep a literature and intelligence search from becoming a summary of what everyone already knows?
What they are checking: Search that produces insight rather than coverage.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by AbbVie.