Senior Director, Engineering

AbbVie•North Chicago, IL

23h

About The Position

Purpose: The Director, Engineering, will lead the design and engineering efforts for large, global, strategic projects with a TIC >$2B, to enable adoption of best-in-class technology and engineering practices. The incumbent will be responsible for delivery of the engineering content for the projects and interfaces with operations, procurement and construction functions to ensure adherence to project priorities and schedules. The incumbent will drive transformational performance in delivering the engineering content of Strategic projects through accelerated timelines taking advantage of digital technologies, adoption of best-in-class technologies ensuring that the design will deliver a safe, reliable, maintainable best-in-class operation. This position supports multiple strategic projects and ensuring cross-functional alignment and communication in a matrix organization with project leads along with other Operations and external functions is key to success. The incumbent will report to VP, Strategic Capital Deployment in the Operations Transformation organization.

Requirements

BS, Engineering or equivalent technical degree; Master’s degree in Engineering preferred
20+ years of experience as a Senior Engineering / Projects / Operations Leader across multiple technologies.
Proven leadership experience in engineering of biopharmaceutical mega-capital projects ($500MM – $1B+)
Deep knowledge of engineering systems and cGMP requirements in a biopharmaceutical facility
Proven inclusive management and leadership capabilities of large cross-functional teams and the ability to effectively interact and communicate with senior leadership and executives from strategic partners and authorities
Demonstrated experience managing Engineering contractors and global equipment vendors
Results-oriented leadership with outstanding negotiation skills and risk-based decision making is required
Ability to mentor and develop next generation of leaders
Travel within the US outside the US for reviews/workshops/visits to vendor facilities will be required

Responsibilities

Lead a team of Subject matter experts to drive engineering schedules of selected A&E consultants
Ensure deliverables are reviewed, approved and issued for design or construction to ensure that the project procurement and construction activities proceed without any interruption
The Director – Project Engineering provides strategic leadership and oversight for engineering execution across large-scale pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical capital projects, including manufacturing facilities, laboratories, cleanroom environments, and supporting utilities infrastructure.
Responsible for leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and managing global engineering partners to ensure delivery of high-quality, GMP-compliant facility and process designs that meet business objectives for safety, quality, cost, and schedule.
Operating within the company’s capital project governance and stage-gate framework, the Director, Project engineering ensures engineering activities are effectively integrated across project phases—from concept development through design, construction, commissioning, qualification, and operational readiness.
Establish engineering execution strategies aligned with corporate engineering standards and global best practices
Ensure consistency of engineering approaches across projects and sites
Ensure designs support long-term operability, maintainability, and lifecycle performance of manufacturing assets.
Drive timely delivery of engineering design packages aligned with overall project schedules.
Drive procurement process including technical bid analysis and evaluation and testing of vendor packages including FAT, SAT
Ensure effective integration across engineering disciplines and alignment with construction, procurement, and commissioning activities.
Provide technical leadership for complex design decisions and cross-functional engineering issues.
Ensure contractors deliver engineering work consistent with company standards, quality expectations, and regulatory requirements.
Monitor contractor performance, deliverables quality, and resource utilization.
Ensure efficient coordination between contractor teams and internal engineering resources.
Oversee engineering budgets and resource plans across the project lifecycle.
Ensure efficient utilization of both internal and contractor engineering resources.
Support development of capital cost estimates and engineering schedules.
Identify and mitigate risks that could impact project cost or timeline.
Establish and maintain project governance, reporting structures, and decision-making frameworks, ensuring continuous alignment with stakeholders
Lead integrated project teams across engineering, construction, CQV, quality, manufacturing
Ensure alignment of facility design with long-term manufacturing network strategy and product pipeline requirements.
Oversee facility design for aseptic processing operations, including cleanroom classifications, contamination control strategy, filling systems, lyophilization, and sterile formulation
Ensure design supports qualification, regulatory approval and operational excellence from day one.
Manage capital expenditure including cost forecasting, change management, and financial reporting
Establish a risk-based CQV strategy that leverages digital technologies and enables accelerated timeline of facility and equipment qualification
Identify and mitigate technical, regulatory, schedule, and supply chain risks associated with large-scale pharmaceutical capital projects with plans for what-if scenarios
Build and lead a high-performing project organization including program managers, engineering leads, construction managers, CQV leads, and project controls professionals.
Foster a culture of safety, accountability, collaboration, and operational excellence.