AbbVie Posted September 8, 2026

Senior Director, Strategic Planning and Operations, Oncology Clinical Development

North Chicago, IL Full-time
Clinical Development Oncology Senior Director
Notify me about similar jobs

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

Purpose

To enable AbbVie’s emergence as a World Class R&D organization, the Senior Director, Project Management, plays a leadership role with the Development TA Vice President (TA VP) and the Therapeutic Executive Committee (TEC) to optimize the value of our portfolio of current and future assets. Under the guidance of the TA VP, the incumbent is responsible for leading development of the long-term strategy (portfolio plan) for the TA; for supporting existing Asset Development Teams (ADTs) in effective utilization of the Asset Playbook discipline to better enable teams to maximize the value of the asset. Achieving these goals requires a combination of excellent interpersonal and collaborative skills, broad strategic thinking, and an ability to synthesize inputs and drive alignment in complex situations.

Responsibilities

Serves as a core member of the TEC as a strategic partner with TA VP and TEC members, with responsibility for the TEC agenda and areas of focus, driving the overall, long-term TA strategy.

Advises ADTs across the lifecycle, to ensure application of the Playbook and alignment of the Target Product Profile (TPP) and Development Plan with the TA strategy.

Partners with Business Development as Co-lead of Therapy Assessment Teams, and works with Ventures & Early Stage Collaborations to undertake external molecule assessments consistent with TA strategy.

Provides strategic input into the development of Disease Opportunity Profiles (DOPs), cross-functional evaluations of potential Discovery initiatives, and the TA investment thesis.

Coordinates the generation of competitive environment assessments for review at TEC, to turn the data into useful working knowledge for the TEC and disease area in support of the pipeline.

As appropriate, facilitates identification, evaluation, and implementation of novel tools and technologies (e.g., biomarkers, drug delivery systems, devices and other platform technologies, compliance tools, disease monitoring techniques) that can be employed to improve or accelerate pipeline progression in disease areas of interest.

In collaboration with relevant functions, drives internal and external stakeholder assessments in order to anticipate changes in the external environment (e.g. regulatory trends, changing payer environment), and to understand the patient journey and levers to improve outcomes.

Coordinates the conduct and rollup of long-range strategic planning and portfolio documentation for the TA, working in close collaboration with the Clinical TA VP, Decision Support Group (DSG), Commercial and R&D.

Works with TA and TEC leaders to identify, prioritize, and nurture external collaborations (consortia, academic and scientific collaborations, key scientific leader advisors, etc.) in areas where we want to further our understanding of disease pathways and mechanisms. Advances our partnerships and alliances for improved outcomes, creating holistic “Total Patient Solutions”.

Qualifications

Bachelors or equivalent degree required. Advanced degree (PharmD, PhD, MD, MBA) highly preferred.

Minimum of 10 years (15+ years preferred) of research/development, commercial, project management, portfolio management, business development, or related experience in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry with a track record of expertise in one or more therapeutic areas.

Recognized team player with proven facilitative leadership skills in a cross-functional global team environment. Proven performance in a matrix environment with ability to influence and align stakeholders.

Excellent interpersonal skills. Ability to interact externally and internally to support business strategy.

Strong analytical skills. Recognized ability to evaluate complex issues from multiple perspectives to ensure that balanced risk assessments are made.

Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Additional Information

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
Senior Director
Function
Clinical Development
Therapeutic area
Oncology
Location
North Chicago, IL
Employment type
Full-time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Clinical Development role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 254 comparable Senior Director Clinical Development roles across 46 biopharma companies.

254Comparable roles tracked
232Currently active
46Companies hiring similar roles
16Countries represented

Salary context

125 of 254 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 $206,500/yr – $393,000/yr
Lowest disclosed · Sr Director CDOS Process Owner - Clinical Trial Foundations · Lilly $156,000/yr – $228,800/yr
Peer group range $192,400 – $458,800 (median $275,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 254 comparable roles

United States203
United Kingdom14
India9
Spain8
Switzerland5
Ireland2

+ 10 more countries

Seniority mix

254 of 254 peers have a known seniority level

Director191
Senior Director42
Executive/VP21

Therapeutic area mix

82 of 254 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology40
Immunology16
Neuroscience10
Cardiovascular / CVRM6
Ophthalmology4
Respiratory3
Rare Disease2
Gastroenterology1

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.

100%similar
E.R. Squibb & Sons,L.L.C. Cambridge Crossing, United States Senior Director
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
100%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Senior Director
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
100%similar
ModernaTX, Inc. Cambridge, United States Senior Director
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
100%similar
BioNTech Cambridge, United States Senior Director
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
100%similar
Exelixis Inc Remote, United States Senior Director
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
100%similar
Exelixis Inc Alameda, United States Senior Director
Same function Same therapeutic area 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.

100%
Senior Director Oncology Biostatistics
E.R. Squibb & Sons,L.L.C. · Cambridge Crossing, United States · Senior Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
100%
Senior Director / Director Clinical Development, Oncology (Cambridge, MA, US, MA 02139)
BioNTech · Cambridge, United States · Senior Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
90%
Global Development Medical Director, Hematology Oncology
AstraZeneca · Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States of America · Director
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
90%
Senior Medical Director, Clinical Development, Hematology Oncology
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) · Tarrytown, United States · Director
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent 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.