Associate Director, Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships

BioSpace; North Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Medical/dental/vision insurance

401(k)

Long-term incentive programs

Job summary

AbbVie is seeking an Associate Director for Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships to drive Oncology Early Development priorities. You will lead global, cross-functional initiatives, manage site networks, and partner with CROs and vendors to advance the portfolio.

The role requires 8+ years in pharma, strong leadership, and program-management expertise, with potential for 1–2 direct reports in a matrix organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (or ex-US equivalent) required; associate degree/R.N. acceptable with experience.
• 8+ years in pharma drug development, with cross-functional exposure.
• Strong leadership and communication skills; global/team experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead global, cross-functional strategic initiatives for OED.
• Drive pilot-to-scale innovation with KPIs and governance.
• Create plans, risks, contingencies, and metrics; lead risk mitigation.
• Represent OED in cross-AbbVie initiatives for processes and tech.
• Oversee P1PER program/operations, KPIs, and site engagement.
• Collaborate with study teams and affiliates to optimize site use.
• Coordinate investigator engagements and sponsor meetings.
• Manage partner relationships; monitor KPIs and issue trends.
• Report to a director; may oversee 1–2 direct reports.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

Education

Bachelor’s degree or assoc. degree/R.N.

Job description

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.

Purpose

The Associate Director, Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships plays a central role in advancing Oncology Early Development (OED) strategy by connecting strategic initiatives, partnerships, and emerging capabilities to OED priorities, helping the organization deliver its pipeline with greater speed, quality, and efficiency. This role serves as program and operations lead for P1PER, OED's preferred site network, managing site performance and investigator relationships. The role also leads innovation initiatives, moving successful pilots to scale across OED, and manages OED's key external partnerships, including CROs.

Responsibilities

• Lead global, complex, cross-functional strategic initiatives and innovation projects for OED.
• Drive innovation pilot-to-scale efforts by engaging innovation partners and providing program management, KPIs, and leadership alignment to inform scaling decisions.
• Develop project plans, risk and contingency plans, and effectiveness metrics for each initiative; lead problem solving and risk mitigation at a global level.
• Represent OED in cross-AbbVie initiatives, bringing a first-in-human perspective to process, technology, and organizational implementations.
• Lead program and operations for P1PER, OED's preferred site network, including engagement planning, site operational capabilities, KPIs, and alignment with AbbVie's broader site engagement strategy.
• Partner with study teams, OED, and country affiliates to maximize use of P1PER sites across the OED portfolio.
• Coordinate site and investigator engagement, including conference meetings and study coordinator meetings, to strengthen relationships and OED's visibility with leading oncology sites.
• Manage day-to-day relationships across OED's partnership portfolio, including CROs and vendors; track performance against KPIs, identify issue trends, and support partnership governance forums to promote partner accountability.
• This position will report into a director level and will manage matrix teams. This position may have 1-2 direct reports.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (or ex-US equivalent) is required, typically in scientific field. An Associate’s degree/R.N. (or ex-US equivalent) with relevant experience is acceptable
• 8+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry in a variety of roles associated with drug development (research and development, commercial, project management, operations) Minimum of 2 years supporting cross-functional teams in a core function (Program Management, Development, Regulatory, Operations)
• Developing leadership skills
• Good communication skills both written and oral
• Strong project management experience in the pharmaceutical industry
• Preferred: Experience with both global and regional teams in the pharmaceutical industry
• Demonstration of leading a global team PMP, Change management, Lean Six Sigma or process improvement experience desirable

Key Stakeholders

Clinical Operations, Clinical Science, Pharmaceutical Development, Drug Development Project Management, Precision Medicine, Country Affiliates, Purchasing & Supplier Management, RQA, IT, External Partners (sites, CROs, and vendors)

Additional Information

Applicable only to applicants applying to a position in any location with pay disclosure requirements under state or local law:

The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Company believes in good faith it will pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location, and we may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick), medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees.

This job is eligible to participate in our long-term incentive programs.

Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, incentive, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole and absolute discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent with applicable law.

AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community. Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled.

US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html