Director, Automation & Digital Transformation, Biologics Drug Substance Development
About The Position
The Director, Automation & Digital Transformation will lead the Automation and Digital Transformation organization within Biologics Drug Substance Development and serve as the strategic leader for AbbVie's Lab-in-a-Loop vision. This role is responsible for defining and executing the long-term automation, data, AI, digital, and modeling strategy to accelerate process development, enhance scientific decision-making, and transform the way biologics processes are developed. The leader will establish and drive an integrated digital ecosystem that connects laboratory automation, data infrastructure, advanced analytics, process modeling, machine learning, knowledge management, and AI-enabled workflows across Drug Substance Development. Working across Process Development, Analytical Development, Manufacturing Sciences, Quality, BTS, and enterprise digital organizations, this individual will drive adoption of scalable digital capabilities that increase development speed, improve process understanding, enhance productivity, and enable data-driven decision making. This role will lead a multidisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, automation specialists, and digital experts while influencing senior leaders across R&D, Operations, and Information Technology to establish industry-leading capabilities that position AbbVie at the forefront of digital biologics development.
Requirements
- M.S or PhD in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Biotechnology, Data Science, Computer Science, Life Sciences, or related scientific discipline.
- 15+ years of pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or advanced technology industry experience, including significant experience in biologics process development, manufacturing sciences, digital transformation, or related functions.
- Demonstrated leadership experience managing multidisciplinary scientific and technical organizations.
- Proven success leading large-scale digital transformation, automation, data science, or technology-enabled business initiatives.
Nice To Haves
- Deep understanding of biologics drug substance development, manufacturing processes, analytical workflows, and CMC development.
- Experience implementing laboratory automation, robotics, automated experimentation, and digital laboratory solutions.
- Strong knowledge of AI/ML methodologies, advanced analytics, cloud computing, and model-based development approaches.
- Experience developing and deploying enterprise data platforms and digital ecosystems.
- Demonstrated success leading organizational change and driving adoption of new technologies.
- Knowledge of process modeling, digital twins, advanced process control, and model-informed development approaches.
- Experience managing complex portfolios, budgets, and strategic investments.
Responsibilities
- Develop and execute a comprehensive automation, data, AI, and digital transformation roadmap for Biologics Drug Substance Development.
- Define and advance the organizational vision for Lab-in-a-Loop, integrating experimental automation, predictive modeling, digital twins, and AI-enabled decision support.
- Establish a future-state digital architecture that enables seamless connectivity of scientific workflows, instrumentation, laboratory systems, manufacturing systems, and knowledge repositories.
- Ensure alignment of automation and digital initiatives with biologics development priorities and enterprise digital strategies.
- Benchmark emerging technologies, industry best practices, and competitive capabilities to maintain AbbVie's leadership position in digital biologics development.
- Lead and develop a high-performing Automation & Digital Transformation team consisting of automation engineers, digital scientists, data scientists, software developers, and technology specialists.
- Establish talent and capability strategies to build critical future skills in AI, advanced analytics, process modeling, laboratory automation, and data engineering.
- Foster a culture of innovation, continuous improvement, collaboration, and data-driven decision making.
- Mentor leaders and technical experts while ensuring sustainable organizational growth and succession planning.
- Drive implementation of closed-loop experimental platforms integrating automation, high-throughput experimentation, mechanistic modeling, machine learning, and process optimization.
- Champion adoption of digital twins, predictive analytics, advanced process control concepts, and AI-enabled scientific workflows.
- Identify and prioritize high-value use cases that accelerate development timelines and improve process robustness.
- Partner with scientific teams to translate emerging technologies into scalable business capabilities.
- Serve as the primary business leader representing Biologics Drug Substance Development in partnerships with BTS, Information Research, Data & Digital Science, Manufacturing, Quality, Operations, and external technology partners.
- Influence senior leadership investment decisions and develop business cases supporting strategic digital and automation initiatives.
- Drive governance processes for digital investments, technology prioritization, data standards, and capability deployment.
- Represent AbbVie externally through industry consortia, conferences, collaborations, and strategic partnerships.
- Lead development of integrated data platforms supporting end-to-end data capture, contextualization, visualization, analytics, and knowledge management.
- Establish data governance, standards, and business processes that ensure high-quality, reusable scientific data.
- Enable scalable deployment of AI and machine learning technologies across biologics development workflows.
- Partner with enterprise teams to ensure secure, compliant, and sustainable digital solutions.
- Establish prioritization frameworks and governance processes to maximize value delivery from automation and digital investments.
- Define and track key performance indicators demonstrating business impact, adoption, operational efficiency, and scientific productivity improvements.
- Manage technology roadmaps, budgets, resource allocation, and multi-year investment strategies.
- Deliver measurable improvements in development speed, process understanding, productivity, decision quality, and organizational effectiveness.
Benefits
- paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick)
- medical/dental/vision insurance
- 401(k)
- long-term incentive programs
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
