AbbVie Posted September 11, 2026

Director, Strategic Process Excellence

North Chicago, IL Full-time
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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

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

Accountable for optimizing end-to-end processes, leading cross-functional teams to improve process efficiency and compliance. Acts as the strategic point of contact for process improvements and change management, communicates updates to leadership, and mentors junior team members. Oversees innovative process excellence initiatives working closely with Clinical Development Medical Directors/Scientific Directors (MDs/SDs) and aligning with organizational goals while managing connections across R&D.

Responsibilities

Acts as expert and owner for specific R&D high complexity processes, within Clinical Development Therapeutic Areas, ensuring effective oversight, decision-making, and maintenance throughout their life cycle. Partners with management to streamline and optimize processes.

Conducts process reviews/audits, facilitates stakeholder sessions, provides best practices awareness, and serves as an expert for audits and compliance activities.

Defines metrics to measure process health and compliance. Strategically manages and updates processes in collaboration with leadership, understanding the business environment.

Identifies and escalates risks to leadership to ensure strategic alignment and mitigation.

Addresses process-related questions, identifies knowledge gaps, and prepares remediation plans.

Leads large-scale and iterative process improvements by identifying efficiencies, facilitating cross-functional teams, and updating process-related materials. Mentors junior PELs as needed.

Analyzes performance and compliance metrics to identify improvements and implement solutions. Engages with stakeholders to drive transformation and process efficiency.

Encourages creativity, resourcefulness, and improvement suggestions, effectively presenting ideas.

Ensures sustainability of improvements through partnerships with team leaders to track performance metrics over time.

Upholds ethics and values, acts with integrity, follows commitments, and treats others with respect. Demonstrates accountability and consistency.

Qualifications

12-15+ years industry experience; 8+ with Masters, 5+ with PhD (preferred).

8+ years in process management/improvement preferred.

Strong project management and adaptability skills.

Experience with metrics for business decisions.

Expertise in business procedures, GxP understanding.

Organizational and communication skills required.

Strong stakeholder management and leadership.

Creative problem-solving abilities.

Lean/Six Sigma experience preferred.

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
Director
Function
BD&L & Strategic Planning
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
North Chicago, IL
Employment type
Full-time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active BD&L & Strategic Planning role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 131 comparable Director BD&L & Strategic Planning roles across 46 biopharma companies.

131Comparable roles tracked
122Currently active
46Companies hiring similar roles
16Countries represented

Salary context

51 of 131 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 $160,500/yr – $305,000/yr
Lowest disclosed · Principal Scientist II, Translational Biomarker Strategy Lead · Novartis $114,100/yr – $211,900/yr
Highest disclosed · Sr. Director, US Policy Strategy · CSL Behring L.L.C. $297,000/yr – $364,000/yr
Peer group range $163,000 – $330,500 (median $235,450)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 131 comparable roles

United States85
China19
Japan5
United Kingdom5
Switzerland3
France2

+ 10 more countries

Seniority mix

131 of 131 peers have a known seniority level

Director93
Senior Director30
Principal8

Therapeutic area mix

34 of 131 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology11
Neuroscience11
Immunology8
Respiratory2
Dermatology & Aesthetics1
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1

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
Amgen Inc. Remote, United States Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Boehringer Ingelheim Fremont, California, United States Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Boehringer Ingelheim Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck Rahway, New Jersey, United States Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL 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.

Or follow a whole field: get every new BD&L & Strategic Planning job in the United States, and choose locations and companies.

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%
Oncology Strategy Director
Amgen Inc. · Remote, United States · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
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Merck · Rahway, New Jersey, United States · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Director, Employee Experience and Talent Strategy
AstraZeneca · Wilmington, Delaware, United States of America · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Licensing & Business Development Director
Merck KGaA · Burlington, Massachusetts, United States · 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.