AbbVie Posted May 4, 2026

Associate Director, External Manufacturing - Small Molecule

Worcester, MA Full-time
Manufacturing & CMC Associate Director
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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

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 – immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and eye care – and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at  www.abbvie.com . Follow @abbvie on  X ,  Facebook ,  Instagram ,  YouTube ,  LinkedIn  and  Tik Tok .

Job Description

The Associate Director, Third Party Manufacturing (TPM) Manager will be the main supplier relationship contact person in charge of providing the organization, supervision, strategic initiatives, and technical support necessary to manage supply of designated products. The role will ensure that high quality product is manufactured in compliance with local and international regulations, and released and delivered according to the established forecasts, schedules, and cost planned. This position also manages projects and programs impacting AbbVie to ensure a cost effective, marketable and manufacturable product and maximizes profitability throughout its life cycle. Through matrix management of cross functional groups/individuals, the Associate Director, TPM is responsible for leading various teams without direct authority, providing program management support, and is the primary AbbVie representative to coordinate operations for existing and new products manufactured with the supplier.

Responsibilities:

Participate in the negotiation of the Manufacturing Service Agreement and amendments, and ensure compliance with the terms of the agreements.

Ensure effective planning and material procurement strategies are in place to supply the TPM with the required materials.

Communicate to the TPM the product forecasts, and agree on manufacturing and delivery schedules. In coordination with Supply Chain and Planning, ensure the supplier delivers the product according to the demand forecasted.

Actively participate in the development of Financial Operating Plan, Updates, LRP, and Standard processes, and ensure the financial goals are met

Coordinate the Steering Committee and monitor that the Virtual Operation Teams meet periodically to evaluate performance, address issues, and if necessary escalate.

Review status reports and prepare updates for Senior leadership.

In collaboration with technical and quality teams, periodically review process performance, quality trends, and agree on process improvement plans.

Establish governance, guidelines, and communication channels. Ensure in coordination with the quality units that the supplier has the required quality systems and documentation to meet regulatory requirements, follow up inspection responses and commitments.

Coordinate with QA, the annual quality management review and periodic audits of the TPM. Ensure deviations are properly investigated and product disposition decisions are made in a timely manner. Establish performance metrics and periodically track performance.

Develop, implement and manage the programs or projects such as scope, cost, time & resource management, communication and risk management through the initiating, planning and executing phases of the project.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in science or technical related field. MSc or MBA degree is preferred.

A minimum of 10+ years of experience, in areas such as: manufacturing, engineering, project management, quality and S&T.

The individual needs a broad business perspective, knowledge and understanding of manufacturing processes.

Strong project experience and an ability to influence others are essential.

Previous experience managing subcontracted relationships preferred.

Proven leadership ability with superior communication skills including listening, verbal, presentation and written.

Strong strategy development and planning skills coupled with necessary knowledge of pharmaceutical development, manufacturing and supply activities.

Issue identification and strong problem analysis and solution development skills.

Demonstrated team player and ability to work in a globally oriented work environment.

Strong knowledge of business financial systems and tools

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 short-term incentive programs. ​

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
Associate Director
Function
Manufacturing & CMC
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Worcester, MA
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 676 comparable Associate Director Manufacturing & CMC roles across 88 biopharma companies.

676Comparable roles tracked
603Currently active
88Companies hiring similar roles
38Countries represented

Salary context

184 of 676 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject $141,500/yr – $268,500/yr
Lowest disclosed · Sr Manufacturing Technician · Genz. Therap Product LP $2,400/yr – $3,200/yr
Highest disclosed · Regional Manager - Megasys · Merck KGaA $220,000/yr – $250,000/yr
Peer group range $2,800 – $235,000 (median $151,700)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 676 comparable roles

United States346
India94
Netherlands23
Ireland19
Switzerland19
China's Mainland18

+ 32 more countries

Seniority mix

676 of 676 peers have a known seniority level

Senior320
Manager267
Associate Director89

Therapeutic area mix

2 of 676 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Rare Disease2

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.

60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Novartis Watertown (Massachusetts), United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority 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.

60%
Associate Director / Director, CMC Product Development
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director Physics Team Leader and Process Automation
Novartis · Watertown (Massachusetts), United States · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director, Master Production Planner
Gilead Sciences, Inc. · Foster City, United States · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director- Supply Chain Data Science
Amgen Inc. · Remote, United States · Associate Director
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.