Senior Director, Project Engineering

AbbVie

Confirmed live today High trust

Quick summary

Work type
On-site
Location
Chicago, IL
Salary
$206,500–$393,000 / yr
Posted
2 days ago
Freshness
Confirmed live today
Closes
Sep 17, 2126

Market check

Salary context

Above market

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $212k
This role $300k
$139k most similar roles pay here $420k

This role pays more than 88% of similar roles. Most pay $168,550–$254,943 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $300k versus about $212k for comparable roles.

Based on 240 similar postings.

Employer

About AbbVie

AbbVie is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and delivering innovative medicines and solutions in immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and eye care. Its products include Humira, Skyrizi, and Rinvoq.

AbbVie currently has 342 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $109,500–$208,500 across 312 roles with salary data.

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View all roles at AbbVie

At a glance

TL;DR · Senior Director, Project Engineering

Senior Director, Project Engineering serves as a technical leader within the Strategic Investment team, providing governance and direction for biologics drug substance and cell and gene therapy manufacturing. The role is responsible for establishing global engineering standards, managing process platform deployments, overseeing process package designs, and ensuring technical assurance across multiple manufacturing sites. Day-to-day responsibilities include leading capital investment projects, coordinating with cross-functional partners in quality, EHS, and supply chain, and mentoring engineers to build technical bench strength. The position requires expertise in bioreactor, harvest, purification, single-use, closed processing, aseptic processing, viral vector, cell processing, and cryogenic interfaces. Candidates must navigate complex manufacturing environments involving mRNA, sterile biologics, and other regulated biopharmaceutical technologies while ensuring all engineering deliverables meet rigorous safety, quality, compliance, and operational readiness requirements for advanced manufacturing platforms.

What you'll do

  • Establish and maintain global engineering standards and technical governance for biologics and cell and gene therapy manufacturing.
  • Provide engineering leadership for capital investments, including new facility builds and technology platform deployments.
  • Lead technical decision-making for process engineering strategy, package design, and manufacturing technology interfaces.
  • Support front-end engineering, site planning, and investment option evaluations for the strategic portfolio.
  • Ensure all engineering deliverables meet safety, quality, compliance, and operational readiness requirements.
  • Coordinate technical input from project teams, internal stakeholders, and external engineering partners to resolve issues.
  • Build technical capability through coaching, mentoring, and the development of reusable engineering practices.
  • Drive the adoption of lessons learned to improve project quality and consistency across global sites.

What we're looking for

  • Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Science, or a relevant technical discipline required; advanced degree preferred.
  • Typically 15+ years of experience in engineering, manufacturing, capital projects, technical operations, or regulated manufacturing.
  • Demonstrated capability in biologics drug substance and cell and gene therapy process engineering strategy and project delivery.
  • Experience with viral vector, mRNA, sterile biologics, or similar biopharmaceutical manufacturing environments (preferred).
  • Proven ability to work across global functions, manufacturing sites, and external engineering partners.
  • Strong communication, risk management, technical judgment, stakeholder engagement, and structured problem-solving skills.
  • Technical understanding of bioreactors, harvest, purification, single-use, closed processing, and aseptic processing.
  • Ability to lead, coach, and develop a high-performing technical engineering team.

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