Director II, Data Engineering - Business Technology Solutions

Allergan; North Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

AbbVie seeks a senior leader to head Development Data Engineering, supporting AbbVie's drug development pipeline. You will own the vision, roadmap, and governance for ingestion, curation, and delivery of transactional data across multiple functions.

This role requires leading a large team of engineers and contractors, shaping platform modernization, and aligning data initiatives with regulatory expectations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in CS/Engineering with 12+ years in data engineering leadership.
• Proven ability to translate complex tech choices into business value.
• Experience leading large teams and managing cross-functional programs in regulated environments.

Responsibilities

• Own the data engineering vision, strategy, and multi-year roadmap.
• Lead ~15 engineers and 100 contractors; drive delivery governance.
• Define operating model, design standards, and data quality controls.
• Represent data engineering to executives; align with business stakeholders.

Skills

Data leadership

Roadmap planning

Data architecture

Governance

Stakeholder influence

Enterprise architecture

Vendor strategy

Regulated environments

Education

Bachelor's Degree in CS/Engineering

Advanced degree preferred

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, Xand YouTube.

Job Description

We are seeking a senior leaderfortheData Engineeringteam supportingthe Development side of R&Dwithin AbbVie's Information Research organization. This role is accountable for the ingestion, curation, integration, quality, and reliable delivery of the transactional data that supports AbbVie's drug development pipeline from first-in-human clinical trials through medical affairs. The leader will partner across Clinical Operations, PortfolioPerformance and Business Excellence,Finance, Statistics, Regulatory Affairs, CMC, Drug Supply, Data Management,Pharmacovigilance, Medical Health Impact,Quality, and Compliance to ensure trusted, governed, fit-for-purpose data is available for operational execution, analytics, reporting,integrationsand decision-making. The role will lead approximately 15 AbbVie engineers and oversee close to 100 contractors from a strategic partner, combining technical depth, delivery discipline, and enterprise leadership to scale a modern, reliable development data engineering capability.

Development Data Engineeringoperatesacross a complex, regulated, and highly interconnected data landscapeconsisting of both internal source systems and external partners supporting the drug development pipeline. This role is accountable for turning that complexity into trusted, well-governed, reusable data assets that improve interoperability, strengthen data quality and lineage, reduce operational friction, and accelerate data-driven decisions across the drug development lifecycle.

Responsibilities:

• Own theDevelopmentDataEngineeringvision, strategy, and multi-yearroadmap;aligningestion, curation, integration, and data quality prioritieswithInformation Research,enterprise architecture, businessstakeholders, regulatoryexpectations, andinvestment priorities.
• Define the operating model for Development Data Engineering, including intake and prioritization, design standards, delivery governance, data quality controls, release discipline, production support, decision rights, and accountability across AbbVie engineers, strategic partner contractors, business partners, and platform teams.
• Lead and develop a high-performing organization of approximately 15 AbbVie data engineers while providing day-to-day leadership, accountability, and delivery oversight for nearly 100 strategic partner contractors; build engineeringcapability, talent depth, partner performance discipline, and a culture of quality, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Shapeportfolioand investmentdecisions by translatingdata engineeringtradeoffs into business value,deliveryrisk,compliance impact, operational resilience, and total cost; influence prioritizationacrosspipelinedata platforms,integrationcapabilities,modernizationefforts, partner capacity, and quality improvements.
• Provide engineering leadership for major development data initiatives, including platform modernization, transactional data ingestion, data product creation, integration pattern standardization, lineage and metadata foundations, data quality automation, operational monitoring, and simplification of duplicative capabilities.
• Design and govern target-state patterns for development data platforms, transactional data pipelines, curated data products, integration services, metadata and semantic layers, master and reference data, data quality controls, observability, access management, and audit-ready delivery in a regulated environment.
• Define cross-cuttingengineeringstandards for schemadesign,metadata management, data lineage, masterand referencedata, interoperability, APIand integration patterns,semantic consistency, security, encryption, access control, resiliency,observability, data quality, and compliance evidence.
• Establish and chairengineeringgovernance forums to ensureconsistent design, delivery discipline, production readiness, data quality accountability, compliancealignment,disciplined exception management, and scalable reuseacrossdevelopment datainitiatives.
• Drive data governance, compliance, privacy, and risk management in partnership with Legal, Security, Privacy, and Compliance teams, ensuringarchitecturessupport regulated use cases and audit readiness.
• Guide enterprise tooling and partner strategy for dataengineering activities; evaluate strategic vendors, influence sourcing decisions, and oversee complex proof-of-concept and due diligence efforts tied to long-term capability building.
• Representdata engineeringarchitecture strategy in executive forums; communicate options, risks, investment tradeoffs, and transformation implications to senior leadership in business terms.
• Contribute to financial stewardship for a large-scale architecture and transformation portfolio, including shaping annual and multi-year investment plans, cost discipline, and value realization expectations.
• What success looks like:
  • Enterprise adoption of a clear target-state architecture, standards, and decision framework across business units, products, and delivery teams
  • Measurable reduction in fragmented platforms, duplicated capabilities, and architectural exceptions across theR&Dlandscape
  • Improved speed to deliver data through reusable patterns, stronger interoperability, and simplified architecture governance.
  • Demonstrable business value from major transformation investments, including cost optimization, capacity efficiency, risk reduction, and improved delivery predictability.
  • Mature enterprise architecture practice with strong bench strength, documented patterns, disciplined governance, and visible influence on executive investment choices

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field with 12+ years of experience.
• Proven success building and leading high performing teams of both solidlineand matrixed reporting structures.
• Strong experience shaping roadmaps, target-state architectures, and major investment decisions tied to modernization, simplification, and scale.
• Proven success designing Data architectures including data products, feature stores, monitoring, and governance in regulated environments.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior executives and cross-functional leaders by translating complex technical choices into business value, risk, and financial implications.
• Experienceestablishingenterprise governance mechanisms, architecture review processes, standards adoption models, and operating rhythms across diverse teams.
• Strong financial and strategic acumen, including experience informing portfolio prioritization, investment planning, vendor strategy, and value realization discussions.
• Behaviors & leadership expectations:
  • Enterprise executive who balances long-range strategic vision with pragmatic delivery and sustained adoption
  • Leader of leaders who builds organizational capability, develops senior talent, and scales influence through strong leadership teams.
  • Highly credible partner to business and technology executives, able to simplify complexity and shape critical decisions through trust and clarity.
  • Disciplined steward of investment and risk who advances innovation while driving accountability, resilience, and value realization.

Preferred:

• Advanced degree (MS/PhD) in Computer Science,Engineering,or related field
• Prior experience as an enterprise architect or head of architecture in a data/AI-intensive organization
• Background in regulated industries and familiarity with compliance frameworks and audit processes
• 10+ years of progressive experience in software engineering, data engineering, enterprise architecture, or platform leadership, includingsignificant experienceinfluencing at scale in large, complex organizations.
• 10+ years of building production grade data capabilities
• Deepexpertisein cloud architecture, distributed systems, enterprise data platforms, interoperability, and modern data ecosystem design

Additional Information

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

• The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Companybelieves ingood faith it will pay for this role at the timeof this posting based on the job grade for this position.Individualcompensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location, andwemayultimatelypaymore or less than the posted range. This range may bemodifiedin thefuture.

• We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick),medical/dental/visioninsurance and 401(k) to eligibleemployees.

• This job is eligible toparticipatein our long-term incentiveprograms.

Note: No amount of payis considered to bewages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, anddeterminable.The amount and availability of any bonus,commission, incentive, benefits, and any other form ofcompensation and benefitsthat are allocable to a particular employeeremainsin the Company's sole andabsolutediscretion unless and until paid andmay bemodifiedat the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent withapplicable 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.

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