Senior Administrative Assistant

SmartRecruiters, Inc.; North Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 37,000 - 68,000; Full time

Job summary

AbbVie seeks a Senior Administrative Assistant to provide high-judgment administrative and operational support to the VP, Global Business Platforms, and leadership team within Commercial IT. The role spans calendar management, travel logistics, event coordination, and financial processing for a global organization with a multi-million budget.

The ideal candidate will be highly organized, discreet, and proactive, capable of navigating complex schedules and engaging with senior stakeholders and

Qualifications

• High school diploma required.
• 3–5 years of administrative experience, including supporting senior/executive-level leaders.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with ability to manage diverse stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience planning and executing large-scale events with vendors.
• Attention to detail and strong organizational skills under deadline pressure.
• Proactive and able to work independently as well as in a team.

Responsibilities

• Manage VP calendars and calendars for other senior leaders, resolving conflicts.
• Monitor executive correspondence and draft responses for priority actions.
• Coordinate meeting logistics and prepare briefing materials or presentations for governance reviews.
• Book complex domestic/international travel and process expense reports.
• Plan large-scale events (town halls, offsites, all-hands) and vendor management.
• Administer SharePoint sites, maintain confidential files, and onboard/offboard users.
• Process purchases, invoices, and vendor contracts; identify cost-saving opportunities.
• Serve as a trusted liaison among executives, IT leaders, vendors, and cross-functional teams.

Skills

Administrative experience

Executive support

Communication skills

Event planning

Multitasking

Education

High school diploma

Associate's or Bachelor's Degree a plus

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

SharePoint administration

Travel/Expense systems (Concur)

Job description

• Compensation: USD 27 - USD 48.8 - hourly

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.

Job Description

The Senior Administrative Assistant provides advanced, high-judgment administrative and operational support to the Vice President, Global Business Platforms, and theirbroader leadership team within a large, matrixed, global application development organization spanning Commercial IT. This organization isa substantialapplication development function across Commercial IT, operating a shared services model that supports tens of thousands of internal and external customers, a team of 200+ employees and 1,000+ non-employees, and a combined operating and capital budget ofmore than$100 million. Given the scale, complexity, and executive visibility of this organization, the Senior Administrative Assistant serves as a critical enabler of leadership productivity-managing complex calendars across multiple senior stakeholders, leading logistics for large-scale organizational events, administering key collaboration systems, and executing select financial and procurement processing-all while maintaining composure, discretion, and professionalism in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment with diverse executive stakeholders across Commercial Operations and Business Unit IT.

This position demands superior organizational abilities, sound judgment under pressure, and the capability to collaborate effectively with senior executives, Business Unit IT leaders, and external vendors to ensure smooth calendar management, event execution, and operational efficiency across a large, complex, global organization. The successful candidate willbe responsible forcultivating andmaintainingprofessional relationships across a diverse and matrixed stakeholder base to support leadership priorities and keep operations running seamlessly.

Ideal candidates willdemonstratethe ability to build rapport and communicate professionally, be highly organized, self-motivated, and driven toanticipateneeds before they arise. The role requires the ability to navigate between high-level executive support and detailed operational tactics within a fast-moving technology organization. The individual mustpossesscomposure and grace under pressure, discretion in handling sensitive and confidential information, and a strong professional presence when interfacing with executive leadership and external partners.

Responsibilities:

Calendar and Executive Support:

• Manage and proactively prioritize the VP's calendar, along with calendars for other senior leaders across the organization as needed;anticipateand resolve scheduling conflicts across a heavily matrixed stakeholder base before they escalare..
• Monitor and triage executive correspondence (email, calls) from a diverse set of internal executive stakeholders, Business Unit IT leaders, and external technology vendors/partners, draft responses, and flag priority actions.
• When necessary, coordinate meetinglogistics, compile briefing/meeting materials, and prepare or revise presentations and business documents to support governance reviews, portfolio updates, and executive stakeholder communications.

Travel and Expense Management:

• Book and coordinate complex domestic and international travel arrangements for the VP and other senior leaders, reflecting the organization's global footprint across geographies and business units.
• Process related expense reports accurately andin a timely manner, ensuring compliance with company travel policy.

Event and Engagement Logistics:

• Plan and execute large-scale organizational events (e.g., Global Town Halls, leadership offsites, all-hands meetings for a 1,200+ person organization), including vendor sourcing, contracting, budget tracking, on-sitelogistics, and post-event follow-up.
• Ownlogisticsforteam buildingand engagement activities (e.g., summer picnics, holiday events) that foster a culture of inclusion, agility, innovation, and continuous improvement across a large, globally distributed team.
• Foster andfacilitatedepartmental reviews, town halls, and cultural/social activities in partnership with organizational leaders and Business Unit IT partners.

Systems and Information Administration:

• Administer SharePoint sites for the organization from a user-access perspective-managing permissions, onboarding/offboarding users across a large employee and non-employeepopulation andmaintaining site structure in line with governance policies.
• Maintain departmental files and confidential/business-sensitive information (including matters related to budget, vendor contracts, and organizational strategy) in compliance with corporate and legal guidelines.
• Support new employee and contractor office setup and onboarding, reflecting the scale of the organization's employee and non-employee workforce.

Financial and Procurement Processing:

• Process financial transactions as needed, including creating purchase orders, routing/paying invoices, and reconciling related records in compliance with company purchasing policies — supporting an organization managing significant operating and capital budgets and a broad landscape of technology vendor and professional services contracts.
• Manage procurement of office supplies and stationery for the organization, tracking inventory and vendor relationships.
• Identifyand proactively flag cost-saving or process-efficiency opportunities in day-to-day office operations, aligned with the organization's broader focus on total cost of ownership and productivity.

Communication and Liaison:

• Serve as a trusted point of contact for the VP and leadership team, ensuring effective communication and coordination among Commercial Operations executives, Business Unit IT leaders, and cross-functional partners.
• Build andmaintainrelationships with technology vendors, external partners, facilities, IT, and cross-functional teams to ensure seamless execution of events and operational needs.

Qualifications

Required:

• High school diploma
• Minimum 3–5 years of administrative experience, including supporting senior/executive-level leaders (VP or above).
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to build trust, listen, and manage competing expectations/demands across a diverse and matrixed stakeholder base.
• Demonstrated experience planning and executing large-scale events with multiple external vendors.
• Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills; ability to manage multiple competing priorities under deadline pressure in a fast-paced, technology-driven environment.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a team environment.
• Advancedproficiencyin Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel) and corporate travel/expense systems.
• Proventrack recordof reliable execution. Keeps calm and executes while self-managing time and priorities.
• Demonstrated resilience and composure in high-stress, fast-changing situations, sound judgment under pressure.
• Be proactive and always think, act, and communicate in advance.

Preferred:

• Associate's or Bachelor'sDegreea plus.
• Experience supporting multiple leaders concurrently preferred.
• Experience with purchase order creation, invoice/AP processing, or procurement systems (e.g., SAP, Ariba, Concur)stronglypreferred.
• Working knowledge of SharePoint administration (site/user management)preferred.
• Familiarity with procurement processes and internal controls/governance standards.
• Experience coordinating with facilities, catering, and event vendors.
• Understandingofthe pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical business environment and/or exposure to a technology/IT organization.
• Experiencesupporting leaders whooperatein large, global, matrixed organizations with diverse executive stakeholders.

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 thetimeofthis posting based on the job grade for this position.Individualcompensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographiclocation,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 short-term incentiveprograms.

Note: No amount of payis considered to bewages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, anddeterminable.Theamountandavailabilityof anybonus,commission, incentive, benefits, or any other form ofcompensation and benefitsthat are allocable to a particular employeeremainsin the Company'ssoleandabsolutediscretion 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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