Director, Global Automation Engineering

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 Director, Global Automation Engineering is AbbVie's enterprise-wide authority for automation architecture, process control systems, and digital infrastructure across the global manufacturing network. This executive-level role carries full financial accountability for approximately $100 million in annual automation operating spend and provides strategic and technical leadership to a high-performing, enterprise-distributed team of automation and capital project engineers.

The Director is accountable for the development and execution of AbbVie's enterprise automation strategy, governing automation investments for a portfolio exceeding $3 billion over a five-year horizon. This leader establishes, owns, and continuously advances AbbVie's Factory of the Future automation vision — embedding its requirements into every new capital project and site modernization program to ensure consistent, compliant, and cutting-edge automation solutions are delivered across the enterprise.

The role serves as Design Authority for all automation and digital systems enterprise-wide, providing governance over standards, specifications, vendor qualification, and operational readiness throughout the full project lifecycle. As a member of AbbVie's senior engineering leadership community, this role exerts direct influence on enterprise technology direction, regulatory strategy, and long-range digital transformation.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Automation Leadership

• Serve as AbbVie's enterprise automation authority and senior-most engineering leader for automation, process control, and digital infrastructure across all manufacturing sites globally.
• Define, own, and continuously evolve AbbVie's Factory of the Future automation strategy, ensuring its requirements are embedded in every new capital project, site modernization program, and technology investment decision.
• Exercise Design Authority for automation and digital systems across the enterprise manufacturing network, ensuring all technical decisions align with enterprise strategy, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices.
• Provide owner-side leadership for automation architecture, process control systems, and digital infrastructure supporting pharmaceutical manufacturing capital projects with a total portfolio value exceeding $3 billion.
• Drive enterprise-wide harmonization of automation standards, specifications, and engineering practices across all AbbVie manufacturing sites, eliminating fragmentation and reducing compliance risk.
• Deliver executive-level technical direction on automation technology selection, platform architecture, and long-range digital infrastructure roadmaps in support of enterprise business objectives.

2. Capital Project Ownership & Oversight

• Lead and provide owner-side oversight for automation scope across AbbVie's enterprise capital project portfolio, with full financial accountability for approximately $200 million in automation capital spend.
• Define automation deliverables, design requirements, and technical specifications for all capital projects, ensuring alignment with GxP, cybersecurity, and data integrity requirements from project inception through operational handover.
• Govern the selection, qualification, and performance management of automation vendors, system integrators, and engineering contractors enterprise-wide across all capital programs.
• Ensure Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), commissioning, qualification, and verification (CQV) activities are executed to the highest quality and regulatory standards at every project site.
• Oversee operational readiness and startup support for automation systems on all major capital projects, ensuring seamless transiti