Director, Global Forecasting COE Operations & Insights

AbbVie•Mettawa, IL

2d•Onsite

About The Position

AbbVie’s Global Forecasting Center of Excellence (COE) sustains and advances the organization’s volume forecasting capabilities established under Finance Transformation Forecasting Excellence. The COE defines forecasting standards, governs best practices, oversees deployment of enabling technologies, executes centralized forecasting functions on behalf of the organization, and builds forecasting competencies across AbbVie’s US, International, and Allergan Aesthetics commercial organizations. Functional leadership of the COE is divided across two roles: Forecasting Standards & Training and Forecasting Operations & Insights. These roles partner closely to ensure that AbbVie forecasters are equipped with consistent, high-quality methodologies and receive the operational support needed to deliver forecasting excellence across the enterprise. The Director, Forecasting Operations & Insights is accountable for the operational and analytical engine of the COE—setting the strategic direction for AI/statistical forecasting, tool governance, and centralized analytics—while leading a team that operates and maintains AI/ML (Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning) and statistical forecasting models, delivers in-scope forecasts to key organizational stakeholders, configures tools on behalf of forecasters, and conducts quantitative research to inform handling of major market events impacting organizational volume forecasts.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a quantitative, technical field (Finance, Economics, Data Science, Engineering, Life Sciences, or related); advanced degree strongly preferred.
12+ years of relevant experience in the pharmaceutical, biotech, or life sciences industries in quantitative or analytical roles.
12+ years of direct forecasting experience, including hands-on development, maintenance, and operation of forecasting or related analytical models.
Experience leading a multi-level team, setting direction for team leads and holding them accountable for their teams' outputs.
Ability to lead across multiple team functions/disciplines, some outside of traditional commercial forecasting & finance.
Experience integrating analytical or operational team outputs with corporate planning processes, financial cycles, or other enterprise functions with defined timelines and downstream dependencies.
History of instilling a culture of quality and continuous improvement in teams they have led.
Strong working knowledge of pharmaceutical data sources (IQVIA TRx/NBRx, 852/867, patient flow, epidemiology) and their use in commercial decision-making.
Experience with statistical or AI-based forecasting methodologies and model governance.
Strong financial acumen, including understanding of how volume forecasts feed into finance and corporate planning processes.
Strong communication skills, including analytical storytelling, presentation development, and ability to translate technical outputs for non-technical audiences.
Demonstrated ability to influence and partner effectively across cross-functional teams in complex, matrixed organizations.
Excellent stakeholder management skills, including the ability to manage expectations and constructively engage forecasting and finance leaders.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience with purpose-built forecasting platforms (e.g., Forecast Horizon, ForecastPro, FlexiCast), providing grounded perspective on their relative strengths in an enterprise forecasting environment.
Experience with data engineering, visualization, or automation tools (e.g., SQL, Python, PowerBI, SAS).
Background in AI/ML and statistical model development, validation, or operationalization.
International or multi-geography commercial analytics experience across product lifecycle.
Experience managing team budgets, including vendor and technology spend, in alignment with team and enterprise priorities.

Responsibilities

Owns the strategy and governance framework for AI/ML forecasting models maintained within the COE, ensuring responsible use, appropriate oversight, and continued performance integrity.
Leads the team in the ongoing operation, maintenance, and continuous improvement of AI/ML and statistical forecasting models developed through Finance Transformation and Forecasting Excellence initiatives.
Monitors model performance trends and determines when enhancements to algorithmic approaches are warranted as new data, methods, or capabilities become available.
Establishes and maintains guardrails and review processes governing the use of AI/ML forecasting tools across user teams, ensuring outputs are appropriately interpreted and applied.
Owns the COE’s technology roadmap for forecasting tooling, defining priorities for tool capability development in partnership with BTS and relevant technology stakeholders.
Leads the team in configuring and onboarding Forecast Horizon for new brands, therapeutic areas, and teams, ensuring consistent and high-quality implementation.
Partners with BTS and technology vendors to govern, maintain, and evolve forecasting system infrastructure.
Directs the team in developing purpose-built analytical tools to address specific forecasting needs across business units where the core platform requires supplemental support.
Brings relevant knowledge of the broader tooling landscape—to inform sound technology decisions when evaluating future investments.
Partners with cross-functional organizational stakeholders to define analytical priorities for the COE—determining which cross-portfolio, cross-TA, or pan-industry questions warrant centralized analytical investment.
Leads the team in executing high-priority analytical work to inform modeling of key organizational and market events, including: Analog research on launch, loss of exclusivity (LOE), label change, and access change events. Analysis of pan-industry events and their volume forecast implications (e.g., IRA policy impacts, macroeconomic shifts). Epidemiological and patient flow analyses to support new indication forecasting.
Synthesizes team outputs into guidance and frameworks that are usable and actionable for local forecasting teams.
Partners with the Director, Forecasting Standards & Training to ensure analytical insights continuously inform the evolution of forecasting best practices and standards.
Serves as an operational and quantitative resource for forecasters and finance leaders seeking guidance on tool utilization, data interpretation, and analytical methodology.
Leads the team in delivering consistent, high-quality support to Engagement Liaisons and the broader forecasting community, using stakeholder feedback to continuously refine operational COE priorities.
Contributes to cross-functional initiatives where quantitative forecasting support or scenario analysis is needed.
Leads a large, multi-disciplinary team organized across multiple specialized sub-functions—AI/ML and Statistical Forecasting, Forecast Horizon (Platform tool) Operation, and Forecasting Analytics & Insights—each with its own lead and direct reports.
Manages through a layer of directors and associate directors, providing leadership, strategic direction, and development support for functional leads accountable for their teams’ delivery.
Ensures team’s activities are well-integrated with AbbVie's corporate financial planning processes, so that functional outputs are coordinated, sequenced, and delivered in alignment with organizational timelines and stakeholder expectations.
Allocates resources and prioritizes work across a technically and functionally diverse portfolio spanning machine learning, statistical modeling, tool/platform operations, and quantitative analytics, balancing competing organizational demands with team capacity and development needs.
Provides regular feedback, coaching, and career development support to direct reports, fostering growth across a team with widely varied technical backgrounds and career trajectories.
Models AbbVie’s Ways of Working and fosters a team culture of rigor, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Identifies and implements structural changes to team design when needed to support the team’s mission as the COE evolves.