Director, Engineering, Utilities & Electrical

AbbVie • North Chicago, IL

1d

About The Position

The Director, Utilities & Electrical provides strategic discipline leadership, people leadership, technical governance and project enablement for electrical power systems, clean and black utilities, energy infrastructure, reliability, maintainability, electrical safety and operational readiness within AbbVie Global Engineering. The role provides senior technical and organizational leadership to 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, setting priorities and accountabilities and ensuring capability and capacity to support brownfield expansions, modernization, debottlenecking, infrastructure upgrades, lifecycle asset replacement and greenfield manufacturing investments. As the senior Global Engineering authority for electrical and utilities strategy, the Director ensures systems are safe, compliant, resilient, energy efficient, maintainable and suitable for current and future manufacturing requirements.

The role 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 solutions. It establishes global standards and assurance processes; provides owner-side engineering leadership for strategic capital investments; guides technical decisions across electrical systems and clean and black utilities; oversees portfolio and partner governance; and builds organizational capability. The position requires global travel to manufacturing sites, engineering partners, suppliers and strategic project locations as required.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related engineering discipline.
• 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, including the ability to assess technical alternatives, lifecycle value, capital and operating costs, 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.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree or relevant professional qualification.
• Technical expertise in medium- and low-voltage power distribution; substations, transformers, switchgear and motor-control systems; emergency and standby power and UPS; 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.
• Technical expertise in clean and black utilities generation and distribution, utility balances, redundancy philosophies, lifecycle strategies, energy efficiency, sustainability and infrastructure decarbonization.
• Experience with 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; and technical risk management and executive decision support.
• Leadership capabilities in enterprise and strategic leadership, direct and matrix people leadership, talent development, succession planning, performance management, portfolio prioritization, resource deployment, executive communication and influence, risk-based decision-making, cross-functional and global stakeholder leadership, partner and supplier governance, change leadership, organizational capability building, financial and commercial judgment, and 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 and black utilities, energy infrastructure, reliability, maintainability and electrical safety.
• Serve 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 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 at key project stage gates.
• Lead resolution and escalation of significant discipline risks, standards deviations and cross-project technical issues; represent Global Engineering in enterprise governance forums and provide executive-ready recommendations.
• Provide senior owner-side engineering leadership for electrical and utilities scopes of strategic capital investments, including new facilities, capacity programs, technology platforms, 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, covering power architecture, utility generation and distribution, redundancy, capacity, energy performance, maintainability, monitoring and operational readiness.
• Ensure discipline assumptions, deliverables, risks, interfaces, resources and decisions are reflected in program plans, cost estimates and execution strategies; direct technical reviews across project stages.
• Balance safety, quality, compliance, reliability, sustainability, cost and schedule in investment decisions, apply network lessons learned, and escalate material enterprise or program decisions to the VP, Global Engineering and Strategic Investments leadership.
• Lead technical decision-making for medium- and low-voltage power distribution, substations, transformers, switchgear, motor control, emergency and standby power, UPS, grounding, lightning protection and electrical protection systems.
• Govern 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 and process gases, and for black utilities including plant steam, chilled and cooling water, compressed air, nitrogen, natural gas, wastewater and supporting infrastructure.
• Set expectations for utility and electrical system capacity, redundancy, resilience, reliability, maintainability, energy efficiency and future expansion; ensure integration 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 resolution and documentation of complex technical issues and associated risks.
• Lead, develop and retain a high-performing global team of electrical, clean-utilities and black-utilities experts; set direction, priorities, objectives and performance expectations.
• Allocate technical resources across programs and sites according to business criticality, project risk, specialist capability and portfolio demand; coach technical leaders and subject-matter experts.
• Establish development plans, knowledge-transfer mechanisms and succession plans for critical capabilities; build an inclusive, accountable and collaborative culture focused on engineering excellence, safety, quality and reliable delivery.
• Clarify decision rights and interfaces among Global Engineering, site engineering, project teams and external partners; use external resources strategically while retaining owner-side knowledge and governance.
• Provide discipline oversight across concurrent projects, sites and technology platforms; maintain portfolio 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 EPCM firms, vendors, OEMs and other partners accountable for technical quality and timely resolution.
• Support sourcing strategies, framework agreements, vendor qualification and technical bid evaluations; review supplier performance and lead corrective actions when expectations are not met.
• Ensure effective transition from project delivery to commissioning, qualification, operational readiness and sustained manufacturing support; promote predictable delivery through standardization, reusable designs, change control and early risk identification.
• Partner across Strategic Investments, manufacturing operations, quality, validation/CQV, EHS, site engineering, MS&T, supply chain, finance, procurement, sustainability, digital/automation and other engineering disciplines.
• Integrate electrical and utilities decisions with manufacturing strategy, network capacity, regulatory expectations, technology deployment and site handover requirements; influence senior stakeholders and facilitate collaboration across functions, regions and sites.
• Represent Global Engineering in technical reviews, investment forums, risk discussions and program governance; communicate technical matters in business terms, including implications for safety, compliance, investment, schedule, resilience and lifecycle performance.
• Operate with an enterprise mindset, translate business and manufacturing strategies into discipline priorities and executable plans, and provide visible leadership for safety, quality, compliance, integrity and engineering excellence.
• Promote standardization, innovation, sustainability, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement; make risks and trade-offs transparent and hold teams and partners accountable for commitments, technical quality and timely delivery.
• Travel globally to manufacturing sites, engineering partners, suppliers and strategic project locations as required.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off (vacation, holidays and sick leave).
• Medical insurance.
• Dental insurance.
• Vision insurance.
• 401(k).
• Eligible to participate in long-term incentive programs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director