Engineering Director Jobs at AbbVie with Visa Sponsorship
AbbVie hires Engineering Directors to lead complex, cross-functional teams across drug development, manufacturing, and technology infrastructure. The company has an established track record of sponsoring work visas for senior engineering talent, making it a realistic target for international candidates pursuing long-term careers in the pharmaceutical and biotech space.
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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.
Job Description
Purpose: The Director, Engineering, will lead the design and engineering efforts for large, global, strategic projects with a TIC >$2B, to enable adoption of best-in-class technology and engineering practices. The incumbent will be responsible for delivery of the engineering content for the projects and interfaces with operations, procurement and construction functions to ensure adherence to project priorities and schedules. The incumbent will drive transformational performance in delivering the engineering content of Strategic projects through accelerated timelines taking advantage of digital technologies, adoption of best-in-class technologies ensuring that the design will deliver a safe, reliable, maintainable best-in-class operation. This position supports multiple strategic projects and ensuring cross-functional alignment and communication in a matrix organization with project leads along with other Operations and external functions is key to success. The incumbent will report to VP, Strategic Capital Deployment in the Operations Transformation organization.
Responsibilities:
- Lead a team of Subject matter experts to drive engineering schedules of selected A&E consultants
- Ensure deliverables are reviewed, approved and issued for design or construction to ensure that the project procurement and construction activities proceed without any interruption
- The Director – Project Engineering provides strategic leadership and oversight for engineering execution across large-scale pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical capital projects, including manufacturing facilities, laboratories, cleanroom environments, and supporting utilities infrastructure.
- Responsible for leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and managing global engineering partners to ensure delivery of high-quality, GMP-compliant facility and process designs that meet business objectives for safety, quality, cost, and schedule.
- Operating within the company’s capital project governance and stage-gate framework, the Director, Project engineering ensures engineering activities are effectively integrated across project phases—from concept development through design, construction, commissioning, qualification, and operational readiness.
- Establish engineering execution strategies aligned with corporate engineering standards and global best practices
- Ensure consistency of engineering approaches across projects and sites
- Ensure designs support long-term operability, maintainability, and lifecycle performance of manufacturing assets.
- Drive timely delivery of engineering design packages aligned with overall project schedules.
- Drive procurement process including technical bid analysis and evaluation and testing of vendor packages including FAT, SAT
- Ensure effective integration across engineering disciplines and alignment with construction, procurement, and commissioning activities.
- Provide technical leadership for complex design decisions and cross-functional engineering issues.
- Ensure contractors deliver engineering work consistent with company standards, quality expectations, and regulatory requirements.
- Monitor contractor performance, deliverables quality, and resource utilization.
- Ensure efficient coordination between contractor teams and internal engineering resources.
- Oversee engineering budgets and resource plans across the project lifecycle.
- Ensure efficient utilization of both internal and contractor engineering resources.
- Support development of capital cost estimates and engineering schedules.
- Identify and mitigate risks that could impact project cost or timeline.
- Establish and maintain project governance, reporting structures, and decision-making frameworks, ensuring continuous alignment with stakeholders
- Lead integrated project teams across engineering, construction, CQV, quality, manufacturing
- Ensure alignment of facility design with long-term manufacturing network strategy and product pipeline requirements.
- Oversee facility design for aseptic processing operations, including cleanroom classifications, contamination control strategy, filling systems, lyophilization, and sterile formulation
- Ensure design supports qualification, regulatory approval and operational excellence from day one.
- Manage capital expenditure including cost forecasting, change management, and financial reporting
- Establish a risk-based CQV strategy that leverages digital technologies and enables accelerated timeline of facility and equipment qualification
- Identify and mitigate technical, regulatory, schedule, and supply chain risks associated with large-scale pharmaceutical capital projects with plans for what-if scenarios
- Build and lead a high-performing project organization including program managers, engineering leads, construction managers, CQV leads, and project controls professionals.
- Foster a culture of safety, accountability, collaboration, and operational excellence.
Qualifications
- BS, Engineering or equivalent technical degree; Master’s degree in Engineering preferred
- 20+ years of experience as a Senior Engineering / Projects / Operations Leader across multiple technologies.
- Proven leadership experience in engineering of biopharmaceutical mega-capital projects ($500MM – $1B+)
- Deep knowledge of engineering systems and cGMP requirements in a biopharmaceutical facility
- Proven inclusive management and leadership capabilities of large cross-functional teams and the ability to effectively interact and communicate with senior leadership and executives from strategic partners and authorities
- Demonstrated experience managing Engineering contractors and global equipment vendors
- Results-oriented leadership with outstanding negotiation skills and risk-based decision making is required
- Ability to mentor and develop next generation of leaders
- Travel within the US outside the US for reviews/workshops/visits to vendor facilities will be required
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
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.
Job Description
Purpose: The Director, Engineering, will lead the design and engineering efforts for large, global, strategic projects with a TIC >$2B, to enable adoption of best-in-class technology and engineering practices. The incumbent will be responsible for delivery of the engineering content for the projects and interfaces with operations, procurement and construction functions to ensure adherence to project priorities and schedules. The incumbent will drive transformational performance in delivering the engineering content of Strategic projects through accelerated timelines taking advantage of digital technologies, adoption of best-in-class technologies ensuring that the design will deliver a safe, reliable, maintainable best-in-class operation. This position supports multiple strategic projects and ensuring cross-functional alignment and communication in a matrix organization with project leads along with other Operations and external functions is key to success. The incumbent will report to VP, Strategic Capital Deployment in the Operations Transformation organization.
Responsibilities:
- Lead a team of Subject matter experts to drive engineering schedules of selected A&E consultants
- Ensure deliverables are reviewed, approved and issued for design or construction to ensure that the project procurement and construction activities proceed without any interruption
- The Director – Project Engineering provides strategic leadership and oversight for engineering execution across large-scale pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical capital projects, including manufacturing facilities, laboratories, cleanroom environments, and supporting utilities infrastructure.
- Responsible for leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and managing global engineering partners to ensure delivery of high-quality, GMP-compliant facility and process designs that meet business objectives for safety, quality, cost, and schedule.
- Operating within the company’s capital project governance and stage-gate framework, the Director, Project engineering ensures engineering activities are effectively integrated across project phases—from concept development through design, construction, commissioning, qualification, and operational readiness.
- Establish engineering execution strategies aligned with corporate engineering standards and global best practices
- Ensure consistency of engineering approaches across projects and sites
- Ensure designs support long-term operability, maintainability, and lifecycle performance of manufacturing assets.
- Drive timely delivery of engineering design packages aligned with overall project schedules.
- Drive procurement process including technical bid analysis and evaluation and testing of vendor packages including FAT, SAT
- Ensure effective integration across engineering disciplines and alignment with construction, procurement, and commissioning activities.
- Provide technical leadership for complex design decisions and cross-functional engineering issues.
- Ensure contractors deliver engineering work consistent with company standards, quality expectations, and regulatory requirements.
- Monitor contractor performance, deliverables quality, and resource utilization.
- Ensure efficient coordination between contractor teams and internal engineering resources.
- Oversee engineering budgets and resource plans across the project lifecycle.
- Ensure efficient utilization of both internal and contractor engineering resources.
- Support development of capital cost estimates and engineering schedules.
- Identify and mitigate risks that could impact project cost or timeline.
- Establish and maintain project governance, reporting structures, and decision-making frameworks, ensuring continuous alignment with stakeholders
- Lead integrated project teams across engineering, construction, CQV, quality, manufacturing
- Ensure alignment of facility design with long-term manufacturing network strategy and product pipeline requirements.
- Oversee facility design for aseptic processing operations, including cleanroom classifications, contamination control strategy, filling systems, lyophilization, and sterile formulation
- Ensure design supports qualification, regulatory approval and operational excellence from day one.
- Manage capital expenditure including cost forecasting, change management, and financial reporting
- Establish a risk-based CQV strategy that leverages digital technologies and enables accelerated timeline of facility and equipment qualification
- Identify and mitigate technical, regulatory, schedule, and supply chain risks associated with large-scale pharmaceutical capital projects with plans for what-if scenarios
- Build and lead a high-performing project organization including program managers, engineering leads, construction managers, CQV leads, and project controls professionals.
- Foster a culture of safety, accountability, collaboration, and operational excellence.
Qualifications
- BS, Engineering or equivalent technical degree; Master’s degree in Engineering preferred
- 20+ years of experience as a Senior Engineering / Projects / Operations Leader across multiple technologies.
- Proven leadership experience in engineering of biopharmaceutical mega-capital projects ($500MM – $1B+)
- Deep knowledge of engineering systems and cGMP requirements in a biopharmaceutical facility
- Proven inclusive management and leadership capabilities of large cross-functional teams and the ability to effectively interact and communicate with senior leadership and executives from strategic partners and authorities
- Demonstrated experience managing Engineering contractors and global equipment vendors
- Results-oriented leadership with outstanding negotiation skills and risk-based decision making is required
- Ability to mentor and develop next generation of leaders
- Travel within the US outside the US for reviews/workshops/visits to vendor facilities will be required
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
See all 30+ Engineering Director at AbbVie jobs
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Engineering Director Jobs at AbbVie Jobs
Frame your credentials around regulated engineering environments
AbbVie operates under FDA manufacturing standards and GxP compliance requirements. Before applying, make sure your resume explicitly reflects experience in validated systems, regulated production environments, or pharmaceutical-adjacent engineering so your background maps directly to their technical leadership needs.
Target roles aligned with AbbVie's therapeutic pipeline priorities
AbbVie's Engineering Director openings cluster around immunology, oncology, and neuroscience manufacturing platforms. Search for roles tied to these therapeutic areas or their biologics facilities, where engineering leadership demand tends to be most active and sponsorship for senior hires is well established.
Clarify E-3 eligibility before your final interview round
If you're an Australian citizen, the E-3 visa is significantly faster to process than the H-1B and has no lottery. Raise your eligibility early with the recruiting team so AbbVie's immigration counsel can prepare the Labor Condition Application with DOL before an offer is extended.
Understand how PERM affects senior engineering timelines
For EB-2 or EB-3 Green Card pathways, AbbVie must run a PERM labor market test through DOL before filing your immigrant petition. At the Engineering Director level, this process typically takes six to twelve months before USCIS even receives your I-140, so factor that into your long-term planning.
Use Migrate Mate to identify active Engineering Director openings at AbbVie
Filter by role title and visa type on Migrate Mate to surface current Engineering Director positions at AbbVie that explicitly support sponsorship. Applying to verified roles saves time and gives you a clearer picture of which business units are actively hiring sponsored candidates.
Confirm cap-exempt status does not apply to your situation
AbbVie is a for-profit employer, so H-1B filings go through the annual lottery unless you're transferring from a cap-exempt institution. If you're currently on OPT or between roles, confirm your timeline with USCIS processing windows so your work authorization stays continuous through any transition.
Engineering Director at AbbVie jobs are hiring across the US. Find yours.
Find Engineering Director at AbbVie JobsFrequently Asked Questions
Does AbbVie sponsor H-1B visas for Engineering Directors?
Yes, AbbVie sponsors H-1B visas for Engineering Directors. As a large pharmaceutical employer, AbbVie has a well-established immigration program that handles H-1B petitions through USCIS, including premium processing when timelines require it. Senior engineering roles typically involve complex sponsorship coordination, so their in-house legal team or outside counsel manages the process from Labor Condition Application filing through petition approval.
Which visa types does AbbVie commonly use for Engineering Director roles?
AbbVie sponsors several visa categories for senior engineering talent, including H-1B, E-3 for Australian citizens, TN for Canadian and Mexican nationals, and H-1B1 for Chilean and Singaporean citizens. For candidates seeking permanent residence, AbbVie supports EB-2 and EB-3 Green Card pathways through the PERM labor certification process with DOL, followed by an I-140 immigrant petition filed with USCIS.
What qualifications does AbbVie expect for a sponsored Engineering Director role?
AbbVie typically requires a bachelor's degree or higher in engineering, chemical engineering, or a closely related field, combined with substantial leadership experience in a regulated manufacturing or pharmaceutical environment. Engineering Directors are expected to manage cross-functional teams, oversee capital projects, and maintain compliance with GxP or FDA standards. Advanced degrees and experience with biologics or sterile manufacturing processes strengthen your candidacy significantly.
How do I apply for Engineering Director jobs at AbbVie?
You can search and apply for Engineering Director positions directly through AbbVie's careers portal, or use Migrate Mate to filter specifically for AbbVie roles that offer visa sponsorship. Applying through a platform that surfaces sponsorship-verified roles saves time, especially if you're targeting roles that match your specific visa type. Tailor your application to highlight regulated engineering leadership and any pharmaceutical or biotech-specific experience.
How do I plan my timeline if I need visa sponsorship for an AbbVie Engineering Director role?
If you're targeting an H-1B, the annual lottery cap-subject registration window opens in March, with employment typically starting October 1. If you're on F-1 OPT, confirm your remaining authorization period allows enough runway for the petition cycle. E-3 and TN visas move faster since they bypass the lottery entirely. For Green Card sponsorship, PERM labor certification and subsequent USCIS filings can extend the overall timeline to two years or more depending on your priority date.
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