Manufacturing, Product Development & QA Domain Architect

AbbVie•North Chicago, IL

23d•$160,500 - $305,000•Remote

About The Position

At AbbVie, we do not just manufacture medicines; we build the technology ecosystems that deliver life-changing therapies to millions of patients worldwide. As a top 1-2 global biopharmaceutical powerhouse, our manufacturing network is massive, complex, and cutting-edge—spanning Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and Biologics Drug Substance (BDS), high-speed sterile fill-finish operations, and discrete medical device assembly. To power the rapid growth of our industry-leading pipeline, we are seeking a visionary, charismatic, and highly connected Domain Architect that will span the disciplines of Product Development (PDS&T), Manufacturing, and Quality. In this pivotal leadership role, you will be the chief technological strategist driving the future-state roadmaps for our global Manufacturing, Quality, and Product Development system landscapes. This is not an "ivory tower" architecture role. You will directly lead, mentor, and inspire a high-performing group of 5–8 Technical Platform Owners (TPOs) and Solution Architects. You will act as the master connection point and translator between our forward-looking business capability teams and our software engineering and project delivery groups. If you are an industry-respected voice, passionate about elevating organizational capability, and excited by the challenge of designing massive greenfield and complex brownfield technology landscapes, your next career chapter starts here. Purpose of the Role As a recognized multidisciplinary expert and visionary technical leader, you will drive functional and technological excellence across AbbVie's global operations. You will define the high-level, enterprise-wide architecture that maps digital capabilities directly to business outcomes. Leading a talented team of architects and TPOs, you will govern and guide investments in process automation, digital manufacturing, and information systems. Your leadership will ensure that our technology landscape remains agile, resilient, and optimized for Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), directly enabling AbbVie's long-term commercial and clinical growth.

Requirements

Education: Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related technology field with typically 10 years of relevant experience; or a Master’s Degree/PharmD with 9 years of experience; or a PhD with 5 years of experience.
Technical Breadth & Depth: Deep, hands-on knowledge of Enterprise Architecture (EA) frameworks (e.g., TOGAF) and the ISA-95/ISA-88 standard. Familiarity with core manufacturing systems including MES (e.g., Werum PAS-X), LIMS, SCADA, PLCs, Data Historians (e.g., OSIsoft PI), Serialization/Track & Trace, PLM, and ERP (SAP) integration.
Strategic & Financial Acumen: Strong experience managing massive technology lifecycles, performing rigorous TCO analyses, and successfully steering large-scale greenfield and brownfield transitions.
Inspirational Leadership: Proven experience directly leading or heavily influencing a team of technical professionals (architects, TPOs, or senior developers), with a demonstrated passion for mentorship and talent development.
Charismatic Communicator: Exceptional interpersonal, storytelling, and negotiation skills. You possess the unique ability to influence without authority, build instant credibility with senior executives, and command the respect of deep-tech software engineers.
Innovation Champion: A documented history of delivering innovative digital solutions that have significantly boosted manufacturing throughput, quality compliance, or overall organizational productivity.

Nice To Haves

Education: Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related technology field with 18+ years of relevant experience; or a Master’s Degree/PharmD with 10+ years of experience; or a PhD with 5+ years of experience.
Industry Expertise: A proven track record of architectural leadership within highly sophisticated, regulated biopharmaceutical, medical device, or healthcare manufacturing environments.

Responsibilities

Architectural Leadership & Talent Development: Lead, mentor, and inspire a dedicated team of 5–8 Technical Platform Owners (TPOs) and Solution Architects, fostering a culture of technical excellence, continuous learning, and high performance.
Strategic Roadmapping & Governance: Drive the overarching architectural governance process across the global Manufacturing, Quality, and Product Development IT landscapes, ensuring all technical platforms align with enterprise-wide standards and long-term business goals.
Business Consultation & Project Design: Act as the primary strategic consultant to business capability owners on the design of high-impact technology initiatives, delivering robust evaluations on Greenfield vs. Brownfield strategies and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
Charismatic Translation & Collaboration: Serve as the critical bridge and storyteller connecting business capability teams with software engineering and project delivery teams, translating high-level business vision into actionable, scalable technical designs.
Multi-Modal Manufacturing Strategy: Architect digital solutions tailored to a highly diverse global manufacturing network, orchestrating integration patterns across continuous/batch API/BDS production, high-speed sterile drug product fill-finish, and discrete device manufacturing.
Industry Influence & Technology Scouting: Actively benchmark AbbVie's technology stack against industry peers. Source, evaluate, and champion emerging Industry 4.0 trends (e.g., Smart Manufacturing, IIoT, Edge Computing, and AI-driven operations) to continuously raise the organizational capability bar.
Risk Mitigation & Business Continuity: Ensure the resilience, quality, and effectiveness of major project plans through early risk assessments, robust design reviews, and the development of proactive fallback strategies.
Strategic Vendor & Partner Management: Shape and cultivate collaborative relationships with global software vendors, system integrators, and academic/industry consortia to steer product roadmaps in alignment with AbbVie’s future-state vision.
Executive Technical Communication: Present complex, high-level technology concepts, and architectures in a compelling manner to both technical and non-technical executive leaders, maximizing the perceived and actual business value of IT investments.
GxP Compliance & Integrity: Adhere to and champion corporate standards regarding GxP compliance, data integrity, security, and safety, ensuring all architectural designs are fully compliant with global regulatory bodies (FDA, EMA, etc.).