Sr. Director, Global Design and Construction

Abbott Laboratories • Lewes, DE

1d • $190,000 - $380,000

About The Position

The Senior Director, Global Design and Construction is accountable for the enterprise‑wide technical leadership, financial stewardship, and execution governance of Abbott’s global facilities, utilities, and infrastructure portfolio supporting Manufacturing, Warehousing, Commercial, and R&D operations. The role leads a globally distributed organization of approximately 40 engineering and project management professionals across North America, Latin America, EMEA, and APAC, with direct P&L responsibility of approximately $12M and capital delivery accountability approaching $1B across Abbott’s businesses. Acting as Abbott’s engineering design authority, the role owns the full lifecycle delivery of complex, high‑risk capital programs including greenfield facilities, large‑scale expansions, infrastructure and utility systems, and mission‑critical manufacturing environments. Responsibilities span including site master planning, A&E selection and oversight, construction management strategy, contract development and administration, field engineering governance, commissioning, qualification, and operational handover—ensuring projects are delivered safely, compliantly, on schedule, and within approved financial commitments.
In addition, the role is the enterprise owner of Abbott’s Technical Center of Excellence (CoE) and the Abbott Global Engineering Standards, serving as the final technical authority for facilities, utilities, and infrastructure design and execution worldwide. This includes direct leadership of senior subject‑matter experts in mechanical systems, electrical and power distribution, automation and controls, architecture, fire protection, metallurgy, and industrial utilities. The role establishes global technical strategies for standardization, innovation, lifecycle cost optimization for new infrastructures and expansion, to support new product introductions, margin improvement initiatives, and long‑term asset sustainability. Through close partnership with IT, EHS, Security, Purchasing, Risk Management, Corporate Real Estate, and businesses site leadership, the position ensures consistent application of engineering rigor across regions and delivery models. The scale of fiscal responsibility, technical complexity, and execution risk inherent to this role requires deep, hands‑on engineering expertise, demonstrated success delivering large capital programs, and the credibility to make independent technical and investment decisions at the executive level.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree Mechanical, Civil, Electrical or Chemical Engineering (or in a related field)
• Minimum 20 years experience in
• Extensive experience managing and governing Architect & Engineer firms and Construction Management organizations delivering large, complex capital projects in regulated environments.
• Prior direct experience owning capital plans and delivering large capital projects with hands‑on accountability as Project Manager and/or Construction Manager in regulated manufacturing environments.
• Advanced engineering expertise in disciplines supporting regulated facility design and construction including electrical, mechanical, instrumentation and controls, automation, architecture, fire protection, industrial utilities, and professional capital cost estimation.
• Demonstrated technical understanding of pharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics manufacturing processes and their impact on facility design, utilities, HVAC and facilities controls automation, commissioning, and compliance.
• Proven people leadership experience managing senior, multi‑disciplinary engineering organizations, including performance management, capability development, and succession planning.
• Established senior leadership credibility, including regular interaction with executive leadership and C‑suite stakeholders, providing technically grounded guidance on capital investment, engineering risk, and lifecycle asset strategy

Nice To Haves

• Prior direct professional experiences working within an A&E, EPC, or Construction Management firm with hands‑on accountability for engineering design development, execution, estimating, and field delivery a Plus.
• Advance technical degree, PE, or PMP a plus

Responsibilities

• Provide enterprise‑level leadership for a globally deployed organization of approximately 40 engineers and project professionals across North America, Latin America, EMEA, and APAC, accountable for regulated facilities, utilities, and infrastructure delivery supporting pharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics businesses.
• Own full operating P&L accountability for a global engineering services budget of approximately $12MM and direct capital execution accountability approaching $1B USD across multiple business units and geographies.
• Serve as Abbott’s enterprise engineering design authority for facilities, utilities, and infrastructure, with final technical decision rights spanning conceptual design, detailed engineering, construction execution, and commissioning.
• Direct front‑end planning and capital project development activities including feasibility studies, site selection, master planning, basis of design development, scope definition, and execution strategy selection to establish robust project foundations.
• Lead the end‑to‑end technical governance of complex capital programs, including greenfield sites, major expansions, utility central plants, and infrastructure upgrades from FEP‑1 through FELP‑3, construction, and operational readiness.
• Engage and influence executive leadership through clear communication of capital strategy, risks, investment options, and engineering recommendations.
• Own and lead Abbott’s Technical Center of Excellence, providing authoritative engineering leadership across mechanical systems, electrical power distribution, automation and controls, architecture, fire protection, metallurgy, industrial utilities, and building systems.
• Function as global owner and steward of Abbott Engineering Standards, accountable for their technical integrity, constructability, lifecycle performance, and regulatory compliance across all capital projects and engineering activities.
• Maintain engineering standards in continuous alignment with evolving global regulatory, code, and industry requirements including but not limited to FDA and CBER regulations, EU MDR/IVDR and notified bodies, MHRA, BSI, ANVISA, INVIMA, ISO standards, NFPA, Factory Mutual, and local Authorities Having Jurisdiction.
• Establish formal governance mechanisms to assess regulatory, code, and industry changes and translate those requirements into updated engineering standards, standard details, specifications, design criteria, and construction execution requirements through the Abbott Engineering Standards Program.
• Ensure regulatory intent and compliance expectations are embedded into facility layouts, utility architectures, equipment selection, control strategies, and commissioning plans approaches during design rather than remediated during construction, qualification, or validation.
• Maintain technical currency and depth of Technical Center of Excellence subject‑matter experts through structured training programs, advanced professional certifications, external technical forums, standards committees, and engagement with industry and regulatory bodies.
• Ensure Technical Center of Excellence expertise is embedded directly in capital execution by mandating participation in front‑end planning, design reviews, constructability analyses, value engineering, hazard and operability reviews, and lifecycle cost evaluations.
• Continuously assess evolving engineering service needs across Abbott businesses and proactively evolve the Technical Center of Excellence by developing new technical capability offerings aligned with increasing operational and technological complexity.
• Build in‑house emerging capabilities to address complex engineering evolving challenges such as high‑speed automation, advanced material handling systems, robotics integration, digital manufacturing platforms, data‑integrated controls, and system scalability.
• Direct development of capital cost estimates across all project phases, including order‑of‑magnitude, conceptual, preliminary, and definitive estimates, ensuring accuracy, benchmarking, and alignment with scope definition and execution strategies.
• Lead quantitative construction and design risk assessments utilizing probabilistic methods, including Monte Carlo simulations, to model cost and schedule risk exposure and inform contingency, escalation, and investment decisions.
• Serve as Abbott’s technical authority for construction execution strategies, including delivery model selection (CM at‑Risk, EPC, design‑bid‑build), sequencing, logistics planning, and field engineering governance.
• Direct selection, engagement, and performance management of architect‑engineer firms, EPC partners, construction management firms, and specialty contractors, including development, negotiation, and administration of complex engineering and construction contracts.
• Establish and enforce standardized global project delivery frameworks covering front‑end loading, cost control, schedule management, field change management, risk mitigation, commissioning, qualification, and transition to operations.
• Lead resolution of complex engineering, construction, and utility issues impacting live GMP and non‑GMP operations, including root cause analysis, deviation support, and corrective and preventive action execution in partnership with Quality and Regulatory Affairs.

Benefits

• Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.
• Employees can qualify for free medical coverage in our Health Investment Plan (HIP) PPO medical plan in the next calendar year.
• An excellent retirement savings plan with high employer contribution
• Tuition reimbursement, the Freedom 2 Save student debt program and FreeU education benefit - an affordable and convenient path to getting a bachelor’s degree
• A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries around the world and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.
• A company that is recognized as one of the best big companies to work for as well as a best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists.

What This Job Offers

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