Associate Director, Design Strategy & Engineering

Role Summary

The Associate Director, Design Strategy and Engineering leads the UX/UI development team responsible for designing and implementing intuitive, high-impact user experiences and front-end solutions for Data Science and Analytics products. This role partners with product owners and data science experts to ensure seamless integration of advanced analytical insights into scalable, user-centric applications. The role includes leadership, strategic direction, and collaboration across cross-functional teams to drive adoption and impact of analytics solutions.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for people management including managing line-level people managers
• Oversees UX/UI and front-end development strategy for Data Science & Analytics (DSA) product portfolio, ensuring best practices in accessibility, usability, and modern front-end architectures
• Partners closely with cross-functional stakeholders (including Product, Engineering, Clinical, and Compliance teams) to translate analytical capabilities and complex datasets into engaging user interfaces
• Champions design-thinking principles and user-centered approaches to accelerate adoption and impact of DSA solutions
• Drives continuous improvement in front-end quality, maintainability, scalability, and performance across all DSA products
• Drive the implementation of next generation technology and process to enable enterprise data analytics on pace with emerging integrated data sources (biomarker/translational, big data, digital sources, real world data, pharmacovigilance data, clinical trial data)
• Responsible for coaching, mentoring and performance management of direct reports. Responsible for talent development in alignment with R&D business needs
• Represents the functional area at critical governance, quality and compliance, and regulatory meetings
• Ensures consistent analytics support through effective resource management, prioritization, and timeline management
• Fosters innovation and entrepreneurial culture within the team that attracts and retains top talent; Creates an environment of continuous learning
• Ensures adherence to federal regulations and applicable local regulations, Good Clinical Practices (GCPs), ICH Guidelines, AbbVie SOPs, and functional quality standards; stays abreast of new/evolving local regulations related to clinical development

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree statistics, analytics, bioinformatics, data science or equivalent field. Master’s degree preferred
• 6-8+ years of experience enabling novel analytics capabilities through UI/UX across business areas with 3-4 years of experience leading a team or cross-functional initiatives
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams in UX/UI design, front-end engineering, or product design for analytics or data-driven applications preferred
• Familiarity with front-end frameworks (e.g., Angular), design systems, and rapid prototyping tools (e.g., Figma) preferred
• Experience with visualization and dashboard tools or interactive analytical web applications platforms (e.g., Dash Enterprise, Spotfire) preferred
• Demonstrated ability to set strategy for design and engineering within complex product portfolios preferred
• Working knowledge of digital accessibility standards and inclusive product design best practices preferred
• Intermediate-level proficiency in R, Python or other statistical packages; intermediate knowledge of statistical and data mining techniques
• Demonstrated project management skills
• Experience with Machine Learning and other advanced analytics techniques preferred
• Demonstrated effective communication skills; ability to explain analytical/technical concepts in layman’s terms
• Demonstrated problem-solving and analytical skills
• History of successful execution in a fast-paced environment with multiple priorities
• Ability to influence cross-functional leaders at Director level
• Good understanding of clinical development functional areas and related processes preferred
• Proven track record leading complex cross-functional initiatives

Skills

• UX/UI design leadership
• Front-end engineering leadership
• Strategic planning and governance
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Design thinking and user-centered design
• Data visualization and analytics integration
• Communication and storytelling for technical concepts

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in statistics, analytics, bioinformatics, data science or equivalent field; Master’s degree preferred

Additional Requirements

• This is a hybrid opportunity that requires onsite 3x/week in Lake County, IL