Associate Director, Midwest Project Engineering

AbbVie•North Chicago, IL

9h•$141,500 - $268,500

About The Position

The Associate Director, Midwest Project Engineering is a project management leader responsible for leading regional design and construction projects and teams that contribute to the success of AbbVie’s R&D pipeline. The role provides centralized leadership for planning, developing, and executing regional projects and programs that support strategic business objectives, and manages multiple concurrent projects from initiation through completion. The position integrates business and technology needs into project scopes and strategies, manages project performance and value, and ensures projects meet authorized budgets and organizational objectives. It also develops regional procedures and standards aligned with the global organization, supports vendor and contracting decisions, and advises management on advanced projects. The role fosters innovation, collaboration, and knowledge sharing, and provides mentoring across teams and functions. It may supervise engineers or technicians. A bachelor’s degree in project management (preferred), architecture, engineering, construction, or a closely related discipline is desired, or equivalent technical experience with demonstrated competence. The posting indicates a desired 12 or more years of significant engineering and/or operational experience. Postgraduate education may contribute toward the desired experience. A technical background in laboratory life science (preferred), health care, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, biologics, or similar industries is relevant. The role calls for strong project-management knowledge, financial and project-accounting competency, procurement and contracting knowledge, communication and collaboration skills, and the ability to negotiate and reconcile differences. The position offers a base salary range of USD 141,500–268,500 per year. Eligible employees may receive paid time off, medical, dental, and vision insurance, and a 401(k). The role is eligible to participate in long-term incentive programs.

Requirements

A bachelor’s degree in project management (preferred), architecture, engineering, construction, or a closely related discipline is desired, or equivalent technical experience plus demonstrated competence.
A desired 12 or more years of significant engineering and/or operational experience; postgraduate education may contribute toward the desired years of experience.
A career history showing a consistent series of significant contributions and accomplishments.
Recognized excellence in breadth and depth of knowledge in global project management.
Ability to interact effectively with diverse groups and maintain strong working relationships with internal and external collaborators.
Ability to listen to and understand others’ perspectives and communicate one’s own perspective tactfully and respectfully, orally, in writing, and in presentations.
Ability to collaborate with other engineers in a fast-paced, goal-driven environment.
Interpersonal skills to negotiate and reconcile differences while optimizing organizational goals.
Competency with financial systems and fiscal control, including project accounting experience.
Understanding and management of procurement and contracting processes.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Project Management.
Postgraduate education or degree.
Technical background in laboratory life science, health care, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, biologics, or similar industries.
Formal project-management training.

Responsibilities

Lead regional design and construction projects and project teams supporting the AbbVie R&D pipeline.
Provide leadership and centralized management for the planning, development, and execution of regional projects or programs that advance strategic business objectives.
Manage multiple concurrent regional projects and develop project scopes based on business needs and customer strategic requirements, integrating technology and business needs.
Ensure compliance with applicable policies and procedures and the quality and effectiveness of major project results through sound design, early risk assessment, and fallback strategies.
Lead teams in applying project-management tools and techniques to stay within authorized budgets and achieve project and organizational objectives.
Develop project strategies aligned with customer business objectives and contribute to long-term business and organizational strategies.
Manage all phases of project execution, monitor aggregate performance and value indicators, and coordinate and supervise project audits.
Lead regional teams in developing and aligning procedures and standards with the global organization.
Work with corporate purchasing to identify strategic vendor alliances and assist with contract negotiations; evaluate vendor qualifications, reliability, and performance and ensure adherence to plans, policies, and procedures.
Foster innovation and exchange of ideas, drawing on experience across projects and disciplines to develop solutions in the broader business context.
Develop standards that maximize customer return on investment and minimize infrastructure needed to support future projects.
Communicate effectively throughout the organization, build networks with functional leaders, support cross-disciplinary knowledge sharing, represent the organization on advanced projects, and advise management.
Set direction for improving project design and outcomes within corporate strategy.
Lead group or divisional task forces and take a leadership role in professional affiliations.
Mentor across technical and organizational areas, monitor engineer development, participate in staff and project-team evaluations, and identify development needs.
May supervise other engineers or technicians.