Director, Global Automation Engineering

Key Responsibilities

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Own end-to-toe automation architecture and enterprise-wide technical governance for Distributed Control Systems (DCS), Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), batch automation, SCADA, OSI-PI / data historian platforms, Environmental Monitoring Systems (EMS), Building Automation Systems (BAS), and associated digital infrastructure.
• Provide strategic oversight of cybersecurity programs for Operational Technology (OT) environments enterprise-wide, ensuring compliance with AbbVie cybersecurity policy, OT/IT convergence frameworks, and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Champion data integrity across all automated systems, ensuring design, validation, and lifecycle management practices meet current regulatory expectations including FDA 21 CFR Part 11, EU Annex 11, and GAMP 5.
• Lead the development and governance of enterprise automation standards, specifications, User Requirement Specifications (URS), Functional Design Specifications (FDS), and engineering best-practice libraries applicable across all sites.
• Drive integration of automation systems with enterprise digital platforms, Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), ERP, and cloud-based data solutions in support of AbbVie's Factory of the Future strategy.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related engineering or scientific discipline is required.
• Master's degree or equivalent advanced qualification in a relevant engineering or technical field is preferred.
• Minimum 20 years of progressive experience in automation engineering, with a demonstrated track record of increasing leadership responsibility across enterprise-scale organizations.
• Significant experience within the biopharmaceutical or pharmaceutical manufacturing industry is required; experience spanning both biologics and small molecule manufacturing environments is strongly preferred.
• Proven experience leading automation scope on large-scale capital projects ($50M+) in an owner-side or engineering leadership capacity across multiple sites or business units.
• Extensive hands-on and leadership experience with DCS, PLC, batch automation, SCADA, OSI-PI, EMS, BAS, and related process control technologies.
• Deep knowledge of GxP regulatory requirements, data integrity frameworks (21 CFR Part 11, EU Annex 11), and CQV / commissioning practices in a pharmaceutical manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated experience in OT cybersecurity strategy and enterprise-wide implementation within regulated manufacturing environments.
• Track record of defining or making material contributions to digital transformation and Factory of the Future initiatives within a global manufacturing organization.