Director, Engineering. HVAC & Mechanical

AbbVie • North Chicago, IL

2d

About The Position

The Director, HVAC Mechanical owns strategic discipline leadership, technical governance, and project enablement for HVAC, mechanical static and rotating systems, facility interfaces, reliability, maintainability, sustainability, and Building Management Systems within AbbVie Strategic Investments Engineering. The role provides senior technical leadership for strategic capital investments through standards deployment, front-end engineering support, technical decision-making, project risk management, and disciplined execution support across priority investment programs and technology platforms.

The position enables delivery of new facility investments, major capacity programs, technology platform deployments, infrastructure solutions, and facility system strategies that support enterprise growth, operational readiness, and long-term asset performance. It partners with Strategic Investments, project delivery teams, operations, quality, EHS, validation/CQV, digital/automation, site engineering, and external engineering partners to deliver technically robust, scalable, and business-aligned solutions.

As an enterprise-level discipline leader, the Director sets direction, exercises technical authority, and shapes decisions across AbbVie’s strategic investment portfolio. The role serves as the senior HVAC and mechanical advisor to the VP Global Engineering and project leadership, leading primarily through influence in a global matrix. It sets a global vision and multi-year roadmap, provides or escalates material technical decisions, translates complex issues into executive-ready recommendations, develops technical talent, and represents the discipline in executive and governance forums.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Science, or a relevant technical discipline.
• Typically 12+ to 15+ years of relevant engineering, manufacturing, capital project, technical operations, or regulated manufacturing experience.
• Demonstrated technical capability in HVAC, mechanical static and rotating systems, facility interfaces, reliability, maintainability, sustainability, and project delivery support.
• Ability to work across global functions, manufacturing sites, project teams, suppliers, vendors, and external engineering partners.
• Strong communication, risk management, technical judgment, stakeholder engagement, and structured problem-solving skills.
• Technical knowledge of HVAC systems, zoning, pressure cascades, and environmental control strategy.
• Technical knowledge of mechanical static and rotating equipment, facility systems integration, and Building Management Systems enablement.
• Experience or capability in strategic capital investment support; new facility, infrastructure, and technology platform investment support; engineering governance and standards; technical risk management; project execution support; stakeholder management; vendor and partner technical coordination; GMP and regulated manufacturing awareness; and operational readiness and handover support.
• Leadership competencies including strategic thinking, enterprise mindset, matrix leadership, influence without direct authority, executive-ready technical communication, risk-based decision-making, issue escalation, collaboration, capability building, mentoring, knowledge sharing, and commitment to safety, quality, and compliance.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree, where relevant.
• Experience supporting pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, medical device, API, peptides, biologics, sterile, or similarly regulated manufacturing environments.

Responsibilities

• Establish, maintain, and deploy engineering standards, technical practices, and governance expectations for HVAC, mechanical static and rotating systems, Building Management Systems, facility interfaces, reliability, maintainability, sustainability, and project delivery support.
• Drive consistent application of technical standards, design principles, lessons learned, and engineering playbooks across regions, sites, and capital projects.
• Ensure discipline strategies support long-range strategic investment objectives, technical capability needs, and major capital program priorities.
• Provide governance and escalation for technical decisions with material safety, quality, compliance, cost, schedule, operability, or lifecycle impact.
• Provide engineering leadership for strategic capital investments, including new facility builds, major capacity programs, technology platform deployments, critical infrastructure solutions, and lifecycle asset strategies.
• Support front-end engineering, facility concept development, investment option evaluation, manufacturing capability assessments, and site and platform planning.
• Partner with Strategic Investments and project leadership to integrate technical assumptions, deliverables, risks, and resource needs into capital program plans.
• Apply global lessons learned and network standards to improve project quality, speed, reliability, and readiness across the portfolio.
• Define and influence HVAC, mechanical, and Building Management Systems design strategies, including system architecture, capacity planning, environmental control philosophy, critical utility interfaces, alarm and monitoring requirements, maintainability, and operational readiness.
• Lead or support technical decision-making across HVAC, mechanical systems, Building Management Systems, facility interfaces, reliability, maintainability, sustainability, and project delivery support.
• Ensure engineering deliverables support safety, quality, compliance, operability, maintainability, reliability, sustainability, and operational readiness.
• Provide technical governance for HVAC zoning, pressure cascade concepts, temperature and humidity control, ventilation strategy, cleanroom and controlled-environment interfaces, mechanical utilities, energy performance, and BMS integration.
• Coordinate technical input from project teams, site SMEs, external engineering partners, vendors, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Drive timely resolution of technical issues and escalate decisions with broader project, network, or business impact as appropriate.
• Partner with Strategic Investments, manufacturing operations, quality, validation/CQV, EHS, site engineering, MS&T, supply chain, finance, and related engineering disciplines.
• Integrate discipline decisions with manufacturing strategy, network capacity, technology platform deployment, regulatory expectations, and site handover needs.
• Facilitate collaboration across regions, sites, and project teams to promote consistent solutions across the global network.
• Represent Strategic Investments Engineering in relevant technical reviews, project forums, and risk discussions.
• Share engineering best practices, lessons learned, and technical knowledge across sites, regions, and projects.
• Build capability through coaching, mentoring, technical review discipline, and development of reusable engineering practices.
• Promote engineering excellence, safety, quality, reliability, collaboration, accountability, and proactive risk management.
• Support continuous improvement of standards, templates, knowledge management, and project delivery approaches.
• Set and communicate a clear global vision, strategy, and multi-year roadmap for HVAC, mechanical, and Building Management Systems across the strategic investment portfolio.
• Serve as accountable enterprise discipline leader and senior technical advisor, with authority to endorse, challenge, or escalate material technical decisions and departures from approved standards.
• Translate complex technical issues into executive-ready recommendations covering options, risks, trade-offs, required decisions, and business impact.
• Lead through influence across programs, disciplines, sites, and external partners; establish decision rights, align stakeholders, and hold owners accountable for commitments and outcomes.
• Support long-range manufacturing strategy, strategic investment planning, and technical capability development.
• Build a global technical community and succession pipeline through coaching, mentoring, talent development, standards governance, knowledge management, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Model visible leadership in safety, quality, integrity, inclusion, constructive challenge, disciplined execution, and continuous improvement.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package, including paid time off (vacation, holidays, and sick leave), medical, dental, and vision insurance, and 401(k), for eligible employees.
• Eligible to participate in long-term incentive programs.

What This Job Offers

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