Senior Director Engineering Strategy, Front-End Planning, and Engineering Standards

Senior Director Engineering Strategy, Front-End Planning, and Engineering Standards Employer AbbVie Location North Chicago, IL Salary 206500 - 393000 USD Start date May 20, 2026 View more categories View less categories Discipline Administration , Information Technology , Marketing , General Required Education Bachelors Degree Position Type Full time Hotbed BioMidwest , Best Places to Work Apply now Save job Click to add the job to your shortlist You need to sign in or create an account to save a job. Send job Job Details Company Job Details Company Description About AbbVie AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com . Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook , Instagram , X and YouTube. Job Description Position Summary The Senior Director, Engineering Strategy, Front End Planning, and Standards Governance provides enterprise leadership for early-stage capital planning, engineering standards oversight, and long-range technical strategy. This role is responsible for shaping and governing the engineering framework that enables safe, compliant, cost-effective, and sustainable execution of AbbVies capital and operational priorities. The Senior Director leads cross-functional collaboration to ensure front end planning is rigorous, engineering standards and SOPs are current and effectively governed, and strategic long-range plans align with business growth, network needs, and operational excellence objectives.

Key Responsibilities:

Front End Planning:

Lead front end planning activities for capital and strategic projects, ensuring scope definition, feasibility assessment, basis of design development, and risk identification are completed with rigor. Partner with business, operations, quality, EHS, validation, supply chain, and finance stakeholders to translate business needs into executable engineering plans. Ensure project concepts are evaluated for technical feasibility, cost, schedule, capacity, sustainability, and lifecycle performance. Establish and maintain standard methods for front end loading, project definition, and investment justification.

Engineering Standards and SOPs Governance:

Own governance for engineering standards, specifications, and SOPs across the assigned scope. Ensure engineering standards and procedures are current, compliant with regulatory and corporate requirements, and consistently applied across sites and programs. Lead periodic review, approval, revision, and retirement of standards and SOPs. Promote standardization, operational consistency, and right-first-time execution through clear governance and stakeholder engagement. Serve as a subject matter leader for engineering best practices, design standards, and procedural compliance.

Strategic Long Range Planning:

Develop and maintain long-range engineering plans aligned with AbbVies business strategy, manufacturing network strategy, and capital priorities. Identify infrastructure, capacity, technology, and utility needs over a multi-year horizon. Lead scenario planning, gap analysis, and strategic recommendations to support future site and network requirements. Partner with senior leaders to anticipate future investments and enable sustainable business growth. Translate long-range planning outputs into actionable roadmaps, governance reviews, and capital planning inputs. Leadership and Cross-Functional Influence Provide strategic leadership to engineering teams and matrixed stakeholders across functions and sites. Build strong partnerships with Operations, Quality, EHS, Technical Operations, Procurement, IT, and Finance. Drive alignment on priorities, standards, and resource allocation across multiple initiatives. Coach and develop team members and ensure strong succession and talent development within the engineering organization.

Compliance, Quality, and Risk Management:

Ensure all activities are conducted in accordance with AbbVie policies, quality standards, safety expectations, and applicable regulatory requirements. Champion a culture of compliance, risk-based decision-making, and proactive issue escalation. Support audits, inspections, and internal reviews related to engineering governance and standards.

Qualifications Education and Experience:

Bachelors degree in Engineering required; advanced degree preferred. Typically requires 20+ years of progressive engineering experience, including substantial leadership responsibility in capital planning, engineering governance, and strategic planning. Demonstrated experience leading front end planning, standards development, and long-range capital or infrastructure strategy in a regulated industry. Strong knowledge of engineering systems, project lifecycle management, and cross-functional governance.

Skills and Competencies:

Strategic thinking and enterprise planning Strong governance and policy development experience Executive-level communication and influence Ability to lead through ambiguity and complexity Deep understanding of engineering design, capital project planning, and operational readiness Change leadership and stakeholder management Strong analytical and decision-making skills .

Key Stakeholders:

This role partners closely with the following stakeholders: Engineering Leadership Operations / Manufacturing Leadership Quality Assurance and Quality Systems Leadership Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) Leadership Capital Project Management Procurement / Sourcing Leadership Regulatory or Compliance stakeholders Key Third Party Engineering Companies Regulators and Industry Bodies that define

Technical Engineering Standards Business Development Teams Job Evaluation Details:

Function:

Operations, Engineering Country of Employment:

Global Location, Travel Globally Required Additional Information Applicable only to applicants applying to a position in any location with pay disclosure requirements under state orlocal law: The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Companybelieves ingood faith it will pay for this role at the timeof thisposting based on the job grade for this position.

Individualcompensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location,andwemayultimatelypaymore or less than the posted range. This range may bemodifiedin thefuture. We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick),medical/dental/visioninsurance and 401(k) to eligibleemployees. This job is eligible toparticipatein our long-term incentiveprograms.

Note:

No amount of payis considered to bewages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, anddeterminable.

The amount and availability of any bonus,commission,incentive, benefits, or any other form ofcompensation and benefitsthat are allocable to a particular employeeremainsin the Company's sole andabsolutediscretion unless anduntil paid andmay bemodifiedat the Companys sole and absolute discretion, consistent withapplicable law. AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community. Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled. US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more: https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html Company AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com . Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook , Instagram , X and YouTube.

Company info Website http:

//www.abbvie.com/ Phone 1-800-255-5162 Location 1 North Waukegan Road North Chicago Illinois 60064 United States Share this job Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Apply now Send job Apply now Save job Click to add the job to your shortlist You need to sign in or create an account to save a job. Get job alerts Create a job alert and receive personalized job recommendations straight to your inbox. Create alert Similar jobs Associate Director Data Architect Cambridge, MA