Associate Director, Transformation Program Management

BioSpace; North Chicago (IL); On-site; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits including paid time off

Medical/dental/vision insurance

401(k) plan

Job summary

A leading pharmaceutical company in North Chicago is seeking an Associate Director of Transformation Program Management to lead and deliver large-scale transformation initiatives. This role requires exceptional leadership skills, over 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical sector, and a strong ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders. The Associate Director will manage complex programs aimed at improving operational excellence and driving strategic business outcomes. Competitive benefits and opportunities are included.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of combined experience in Manufacturing, QA, QC, R&D.
• Basic understanding of chemical characteristics of products.
• Familiarity with quality policies and regulatory requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex cross‑functional projects and manage teams.
• Ensure compliance with corporate policies and procedures.
• Advise and strategize with executive sponsors.

Skills

Leadership

Effective communication

Project management

Quality engineering

Statistical analysis

Education

Bachelors Degree in Physical or Life Sciences, Pharmacy, or Engineering

Masters Degree or PhD

Tools

Quality systems

Electronic document management

Laboratory information management

Job 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

Purpose: The Associate Director, Transformation Program Management, leads and is accountable for successful delivery of large-scale transformation programs and strategic initiatives across the organization. This role builds strategies and implementation plans to drive business transformation, operational excellence, and continuous improvement to support departmental and enterprise-wide objectives. The Associate Director will serve as a key contributor in program planning, stakeholder engagement, and outcome delivery, ensuring that projects meet their objectives related to efficiency, agility, and business value.

Main Responsibilities

• Lead and manage complex cross‑functional project and program teams, overseeing creation and maintenance of key artifacts such as program charters, status reports, work plans, and stakeholder engagement models.
• Ensure program compliance with relevant corporate, quality, and operational policies and procedures.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships at all organizational levels, providing leadership to advance transformation priorities.
• Identify and recommend opportunities for transformational improvement using recognized methodologies (e.g., Lean Six Sigma, Kaizen).
• Advise and strategize with executive sponsors and business leads on program direction, key decisions, and change management.
• Manage full program lifecycle: set team accountabilities, resolve issues and risks, and deliver regular executive updates/recommendations.
• Partner with business and functional leaders to implement new initiatives that drive productivity, compliance, efficiency, and business strategy.
• Ensure projects and programs are delivered on time, within scope, and with strong business impact.
• Oversee resources planning to meet critical program and day‑to‑day staffing needs, with dotted‑line reporting to senior leadership.

Qualifications

• Minimum Bachelors Degree required, preferably in Physical or Life Sciences, Pharmacy, or Engineering; Masters Degree or PhD preferred.
• Certified Quality Engineer or formal training in quality engineering or statistics is preferred.
• 15+ years of combined experience in Manufacturing, QA, QC, R&D in pharmaceutical, biologics, device or chemical industry.
• Must have a basic understanding and working knowledge of the physical and chemical characteristics of the products, including raw materials, manufactured at the plant.
• Must be familiar with use of statistical quality systems, electronic document management and laboratory information management.
• Must also be familiar with Quality policies as well as cGMP and other regulatory requirements.
• Must have effective people management and communication skills necessary to supervise those reporting directly or through subordinates as well as establish and maintain effective working relationships among other key individuals in manufacturing, materials management, engineering, product development, Quality Systems, Product QA, Quality Control, Information Systems and Regulatory Affairs and must demonstrate sound judgment in evaluating and acting on day‑to‑day situations.
• Strong communication Skills, both oral and written.
• 10+ years of supervisory/technical leadership experience.

Additional Information

• 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 short‑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

US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more: https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html