AbbVie Posted August 22, 2026

Transformation Project Automation Lead

North Chicago, IL Full-time
Manufacturing & CMC

AbbVie is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

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 Operations Transformation organization's mission is to accelerate future-ready Operations through purposeful transformation and drive excellence through new technology and enhanced cross-functional collaboration. The Strategic Capital Deployment team leads AbbVie Operations' long-term strategic investments and investment roadmaps, while executing large-scale capital projects through optimized delivery, technology adoption, and cross-functional collaboration.

The Transformation Project Automation Lead will lead the project Automation sub-team on a Strategic Capital Project. They are accountable to the Project Director and will be responsible for driving the schedule, execution, risk management, and reporting for the team.

The Sr. Automation Engineer will be responsible for identifying and developing automation technologies and Manufacturing control systems to improve site productivity and quality and safety performance. The Sr. Automation Engineer will be the technical lead for automation development and the site Subject Matter Expert (SME) for new and existing Manufacturing control systems.

Responsibilities

Identify opportunities for automation improvements to Manufacturing productivity, quality, and EHS (environmental, health, and safety), including technology options, vendor identification, and project business cases.

Technical lead for automation equipment and control system design, including development of system and user requirements, laboratory testing, vendor management and qualification, and integration activities.

Technical lead for automation equipment and control system design, including development of system and user requirements, laboratory testing, vendor management and qualification, and integration activities.

Subject Matter Expert (SME) for automation technologies related to the development of new products and Manufacturing processes to ensure Design for Manufacturability (DFM)

Lifecycle management of new or existing on-site control systems

Provide technical support to all Manufacturing control system related issues, including troubleshooting and optimization.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field is required.

Minimum 10 years experience developing and maintaining automation software and equipment and PLC systems in a manufacturing environment; AI and machine learning experience, including experience with new technology development for new product introductions.

Direct experience with system development and validation, including development of system specifications (DS, FS, URS) and risk-based validation strategies, and validation protocol development and execution.

Demonstrated knowledge of 21 CFR Part 11 requirements for automated systems in the pharmaceutical or medical device industries.

Demonstrated problem solving skills and innovative thinking to develop and implement untested solutions.

Ability to provide technical program leadership, including external vendor management and lead cross-functional team including internal and external resources.

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

US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more:

https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html

Job details

Seniority
Not listed
Function
Manufacturing & CMC
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
North Chicago, IL
Employment type
Full-time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Manufacturing & CMC role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 2239 comparable Manufacturing & CMC roles across 149 biopharma companies.

2239Comparable roles tracked
2070Currently active
149Companies hiring similar roles
52Countries represented

Salary context

647 of 2239 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function. This posting doesn't list a seniority level, so peers aren't narrowed by seniority either -- the range below may span more levels than usual.

This roleSubject $109,500/yr – $208,500/yr
Lowest disclosed · Senior Scientist II – CMC Developmental Sciences · AbbVie $0/hr – $0/hr (≈ $0–$0/yr)
Highest disclosed · Technical Operator, Packaging - 2nd Shift · Mylan Technologies, Inc. $37,000/yr – $800,000/yr
Peer group range $0 – $418,500 (median $123,250)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 2239 comparable roles

United States1136
India131
Germany119
France86
Ireland76
Singapore73

+ 46 more countries

Seniority mix

980 of 2239 peers have a known seniority level

Senior316
Manager244
Associate116
Principal101
Associate Director79
Director72
Senior Director28
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc17
Executive/VP7

Therapeutic area mix

5 of 2239 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Vaccines & Infectious Disease3
Oncology1
Respiratory1

Similar opportunities

The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

40%similar
AstraZeneca New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
Same function Same country
40%similar
AstraZeneca Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America Director
Same function Same country
40%similar
AstraZeneca New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
Same function Same country
40%similar
40%similar
Lilly Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America Associate
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Senior Director
Same function Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

40%
Scientist II, LC Development, Biologics Analytical Development
AstraZeneca · New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America · Seniority not listed
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Director, Global Regulatory Affairs – Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC), Platform Innovation – Synthetic Peptides and Oligonucleotides
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Scientist, Bioprocess Purification Development
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Seniority not listed
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Senior Principal Scientist - Bioanalytical Research
Lilly · Louisville, Colorado, United States of America · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.