Sr. Director, Global Design and Construction

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 115,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

     

JOB DESCRIPTION:

WORKING AT ABBOTT:

At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and family, be your true self and live a full life. You’ll also have access to:

• 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.

Job Title

Senior Director, Global Design and Construction

The Opportunity

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.

What You’ll Work On

• 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 $12