Senior Manager, Utilities

AbbVie; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Medical/dental/vision insurance

401(k) plan

Job summary

AbbVie in Durham, North Carolina, is hiring a Sr. Manager Utilities to lead critical utility systems across manufacturing and lab facilities. You will shape design standards, lead commissioning, and drive reliability for WFI, steam, process gases, and waste systems.

You will work with engineering, quality, and operations to ensure safe, compliant, and cost-effective plant performance, with a focus on continuous improvement and future manufacturing needs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field
• 8+ years of GMP manufacturing experience
• Experience in drug substance/product, biologics, or aseptic fill finish preferred

Responsibilities

• Lead site-level utilities design and standards development
• Coordinate trial execution with production and document results
• Oversee start-up, commissioning, and qualification of utility systems
• Provide technical leadership for water for injection and clean utilities
• Ensure safety, compliance, and continuous improvement of utility operations

Skills

Utilities design

GMP manufacturing

Project leadership

Cross-functional partner

Education

Bachelors in Engineering

Tools

Process validation tools

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.

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

New to North Carolina. Known for pursuing breakthroughs in medicine.

Ready to join our team?

At AbbVie, we bring together talented people and innovative science to develop medicines that help patients. Now, we’re bringing that commitment to Durham, North Carolina, with a new manufacturing campus that will expand our ability to produce medicines and create opportunities in the Research Triangle. The campus will integrate advanced manufacturing, laboratory technologies and AI to support the production of immunology, oncology and neuroscience medicines. The first phase will include manufacturing facilities, next-generation laboratories, a warehouse, administrative offices and employee wellness facilities.

To learn more about this investment, please visit https://www.abbvie.com/abbvie-north-carolina-manufacturing.html

We are now recruiting our Sr. Manager Utilities.

Key Responsibilities

The job leads technical workstreams and contributes to program outcomes by developing actionable methods and analyses, collaborating with cross‑functional partners to integrate technical solutions throughout the lifecycle, and advising on complex technical decisions and risks.

Designs site-level processes and improvements by defining operating ranges, critical parameters, and acceptance criteria that support efficient, high-quality production.

Leads process improvement and optimization workstreams, defining the technical approach, coordinating trial execution with production, and documenting results.

Conducts process validation and troubleshooting for manufacturing processes manufacturing processes by analyzing performance data, investigating deviations, and drafting corrective actions and supporting documentation for review and approval

Establishes technical standards for process documentation and change execution, ensuring methods, assumptions, and evidence are complete.

Guides engineers through technical decisions by running working sessions, documenting decision logic, and tracking actions to closure.

Delivers high‑quality technical outputs for complex projects and programs; defines and validates methods, documents results and key assumptions, ensures adherence to applicable standards and controls, and communicates technical progress, impacts and recommended mitigations to project leads and stakeholders.

Provide technical leadership and subject matter expertise for the design and implementation of critical and clean utility systems, including Water for Injection (WFI), clean steam, process gases, and associated generation, storage, distribution, monitoring, and control systems.

Lead utilities design reviews and provide operational input throughout project execution, ensuring systems are designed for safe and reliable operation, maintainability, capacity, redundancy, energy efficiency, lifecycle cost, and future manufacturing requirements.

Provide technical and operational leadership for process waste systems, including waste inactivation, waste neutralization, and waste equalization systems, ensuring appropriate integration with manufacturing processes, environmental requirements, and site infrastructure.

Lead the start-up, commissioning, and qualification of utility and waste systems, including development and execution of system turnover strategies, commissioning plans, acceptance testing, qualification activities, punch-list resolution, and transition from the project organization to site operations.

Establish and manage the utilities operating organization following system turnover, including operating procedures, preventive maintenance strategies, training and qualification of personnel, staffing plans, operating metrics, alarm response, system monitoring, and day‑to‑day utility operations.

Ensure sustained safe, compliant, and reliable performance of utility systems, partnering with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Validation, EHS, Automation, and Maintenance to manage system performance, deviations, change control, reliability improvements, capacity planning, and continuous improvement throughout the asset lifecycle.

Qualifications

• You will have in-depth knowledge typically obtained through advanced education and experience; with a Bachelors degree in Engineering or similiar related discipline and 8 + years relevant industry experience.
• Experience in drug substance, drug product, biologics and/or aseptic sterile fill finish is required
• You will have demonstrated your ability to partner cross functionally with successful teams in a GMP manufacturing environment and prior experience in a start up facility is preferred

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 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

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