Director, Engineering, Utilities & Electrical

AbbVie•North Chicago, IL

6d•$182,000 - $346,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Utilities & Electrical owns strategic discipline leadership, people leadership, technical governance and project enablement for electrical power systems, clean utilities, black utilities, energy infrastructure, reliability, maintainability, electrical safety and operational readiness within AbbVie Global Engineering. The role provides senior technical and organizational leadership for AbbVie’s global manufacturing network and strategic capital investments through standards ownership, front-end engineering support, technical decision-making, project risk management and disciplined execution across priority investment programs, manufacturing sites and technology platforms. The Director leads and develops a global team of electrical and utilities technical experts, establishes clear priorities and accountabilities, and ensures the organization has the capability and capacity required to support brownfield expansions, modernization programs, debottlenecking, infrastructure upgrades, lifecycle asset replacement and greenfield manufacturing investments. The role serves as the senior Global Engineering authority for electrical and utilities strategy, ensuring systems are safe, compliant, resilient, energy efficient, maintainable and capable of supporting current and future manufacturing requirements. The Director partners with Strategic Investments, project delivery teams, operations, quality, EHS, validation/CQV, site engineering, sustainability, digital/automation and external engineering partners to deliver technically robust, scalable and business-aligned engineering solutions.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related engineering discipline required; master’s degree or relevant professional qualification preferred.
Typically 15 or more years of progressive experience in electrical engineering, utilities engineering, manufacturing engineering, capital projects or technical operations, including significant leadership responsibility.
Extensive experience in pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, API, peptide, biologics, sterile or similarly regulated manufacturing environments.
Demonstrated experience leading electrical and utilities engineering scope for major brownfield and greenfield capital investments.
Proven experience leading and developing technical professionals, establishing priorities, managing performance and building organizational capability.
Demonstrated ability to direct multiple projects, sites, workstreams and external engineering partners in a global matrix organization.
Strong technical knowledge of industrial electrical power distribution, emergency power, electrical safety, reliability, power-system studies, clean utilities and black utilities.
Working knowledge of GMP, EHS, validation/CQV, commissioning, operational readiness and regulated asset lifecycle requirements.
Strong commercial and financial acumen, with the ability to assess technical alternatives, lifecycle value, capital cost, operating cost and business risk.
Demonstrated ability to make risk-based decisions, influence senior stakeholders and provide concise executive recommendations.
Experience governing EPCM firms, design partners, equipment vendors, utilities specialists and construction or commissioning organizations.
Strong communication, negotiation, stakeholder management, talent development and structured problem-solving skills.
Ability to travel globally to manufacturing sites, engineering partners, suppliers and strategic project locations as required.
Medium- and low-voltage power distribution
Substations, transformers, switchgear and motor-control systems
Emergency power, standby generation and uninterruptible power supplies
Grounding, lightning protection, electrical protection and coordination
Electrical safety, arc-flash risk and hazardous-area interfaces
Power quality, load studies, capacity planning and system resilience
Clean utilities generation, storage, distribution and monitoring
Black utilities generation and distribution
Utility balances, redundancy philosophies and lifecycle strategies
Energy efficiency, sustainability and infrastructure decarbonization
Reliability, maintainability and asset-management strategy
GMP engineering, validation/CQV and operational readiness
Global engineering standards and design governance
Front-end engineering and strategic capital investment support
Vendor, EPCM and external engineering-partner governance
Technical risk management and executive decision support
Enterprise and strategic leadership
Direct and matrix people leadership
Talent development, succession planning and performance management
Portfolio prioritization and resource deployment
Executive communication and influence
Risk-based decision-making
Accountability for technical and project outcomes
Cross-functional and global stakeholder leadership
Partner and supplier governance
Change leadership and organizational capability building
Financial and commercial judgment
Commitment to safety, quality, compliance and continuous improvement

Responsibilities

Establish, own and deploy global engineering standards, design criteria, specifications, technical practices and governance expectations for electrical power systems, clean utilities, black utilities, energy infrastructure, reliability, maintainability and electrical safety.
Act as the senior discipline authority for material electrical and utilities decisions affecting safety, quality, compliance, cost, schedule, operability, resilience or lifecycle value.
Define discipline strategy and multiyear capability roadmaps aligned with AbbVie’s manufacturing network strategy, sustainability objectives and strategic investment priorities.
Govern consistent application of standards, design principles, lessons learned and engineering playbooks across regions, sites and capital projects.
Establish assurance and review processes that verify technical quality at key project stage gates.
Lead resolution and escalation of significant discipline risks, deviations from standards and cross-project technical issues.
Represent Global Engineering in enterprise technical governance forums and communicate clear, executive-ready recommendations to senior stakeholders.
Provide senior owner-side engineering leadership for the electrical and utilities scope of strategic capital investments, including new facilities, major capacity programs, technology platform deployments, infrastructure solutions and lifecycle asset strategies.
Lead discipline input to front-end engineering, facility concepts, site master planning, investment option evaluation, business cases and technology selection.
Define electrical and utilities design strategies for strategic projects, including power architecture, utility generation and distribution, redundancy philosophy, capacity planning, energy performance, maintainability, monitoring and operational readiness.
Ensure discipline assumptions, deliverables, risks, interfaces, resources and decisions are incorporated into program plans, cost estimates and execution strategies.
Establish project assurance priorities and direct senior technical reviews at concept, basic design, detailed design, construction, commissioning and handover stages.
Balance safety, quality, compliance, reliability, sustainability, cost and schedule when making or recommending investment decisions.
Apply global lessons learned and network standards to improve project quality, speed, predictability and readiness across the portfolio.
Provide clear escalation to the VP, Global Engineering and Strategic Investments leadership when decisions have material enterprise, program or network impact.
Lead technical decision-making for medium- and low-voltage power distribution, substations, transformers, switchgear, motor control, emergency and standby power, uninterruptible power supplies, grounding, lightning protection and electrical protection systems.
Provide governance for electrical safety, arc-flash risk, hazardous-area classification interfaces, protection coordination, power quality, system studies and safe equipment lifecycle management.
Direct strategies for clean utilities, including purified water, water for injection, clean steam, process gases and associated generation, storage, distribution, monitoring and sanitization systems.
Direct strategies for black utilities, including plant steam, chilled water, compressed air, nitrogen, natural gas, wastewater and other supporting infrastructure.
Set expectations for system capacity, redundancy, resilience, reliability, maintainability, energy efficiency and future expansion.
Ensure electrical and utilities systems are appropriately integrated with process, HVAC, mechanical, civil, structural, automation, instrumentation and building-management systems.
Oversee technical reviews of load lists, single-line diagrams, utility balances, capacity models, equipment specifications, vendor packages, design calculations and commissioning strategies.
Ensure engineering deliverables support GMP compliance, validation/CQV, safe operation, maintainability, sustainability and effective site handover.
Drive timely resolution of complex technical issues and ensure decisions are documented, risk assessed and communicated.
Lead, develop and retain a high-performing global team of electrical, clean-utilities and black-utilities technical experts.
Set clear direction, priorities, objectives and performance expectations aligned with Global Engineering and Strategic Investments priorities.
Allocate technical resources across programs and sites based on business criticality, project risk, specialist capability and portfolio demand.
Coach and mentor technical leaders and subject-matter experts, strengthening technical judgment, leadership capability and succession readiness.
Establish structured development plans, knowledge-transfer mechanisms and succession plans for critical electrical and utilities capabilities.
Build an inclusive, accountable and collaborative culture focused on engineering excellence, safety, quality and reliable delivery.
Clarify decision rights and interfaces between Global Engineering, site engineering, project teams and external partners.
Use external engineering partners and specialist resources strategically while retaining effective owner-side knowledge and governance.
Provide discipline oversight across multiple concurrent projects, manufacturing sites and technology platforms.
Establish portfolio-level visibility of significant technical decisions, design maturity, risks, resource constraints and assurance findings.
Work with project leadership to define discipline deliverables, review schedules, staffing needs and escalation routes.
Hold external engineering partners, EPCM firms, vendors and OEMs accountable for technical quality, standards compliance and timely resolution of issues.
Support sourcing strategies, framework agreements, vendor qualification and technical bid evaluations for key electrical and utilities equipment and services.
Review supplier performance and lead corrective action where technical quality, schedule, documentation or execution does not meet expectations.
Ensure effective transition from project delivery to commissioning, qualification, operational readiness and sustained manufacturing support.
Promote predictable delivery through standardization, reusable designs, disciplined change control and early risk identification.
Partner with Strategic Investments, manufacturing operations, quality, validation/CQV, EHS, site engineering, MS&T, supply chain, finance, procurement, sustainability, digital/automation and related engineering disciplines.
Ensure electrical and utilities decisions are integrated with manufacturing strategy, network capacity, regulatory expectations, technology deployment and site handover requirements.
Influence senior stakeholders across functions, regions and sites to achieve aligned enterprise outcomes.
Facilitate collaboration across projects and sites to prevent fragmented solutions and unnecessary technical variation.
Represent Global Engineering in technical reviews, investment forums, risk discussions and program governance relevant to the assigned scope.
Communicate complex technical matters in clear business terms, including implications for safety, compliance, investment, schedule, resilience and lifecycle performance.
Operate with an enterprise mindset and make decisions that optimize outcomes across the manufacturing network rather than for an individual project or site.
Translate business and manufacturing strategies into discipline priorities, technical roadmaps and executable plans.
Demonstrate visible leadership for safety, quality, compliance, integrity and engineering excellence.
Provide clear direction in ambiguous or high-risk situations while appropriately engaging specialists and senior stakeholders.
Build trusted relationships with executives, site leaders, project leaders and external partners.
Develop organizational capability through coaching, performance management, succession planning and intentional deployment of talent.
Challenge technical assumptions constructively and ensure important risks and trade-offs are transparent.
Promote standardization, innovation, sustainability, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement across the global network.
Hold teams and partners accountable for commitments, technical quality and timely delivery.