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

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 AbbVie's 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.
• Education and Experience:
• Bachelor's 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
• Applicable o

Benefits

Additional Information

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 AbbVie's 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.

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