Senior Director, Business Operations
AbbVie
September 03, 2026
On-site
North Chicago, IL
$206,500 - $393,000 USD yearly
Operations
Role Purpose
- Serve as the senior strategic and operational partner to the VP of Development Sciences, translating strategy into disciplined execution, effective governance, sound resource stewardship, and a high-performing, inclusive organization.
- Lead business operations and chief-of-staff activities across the global function.
Key Responsibilities
- Advise the VP/Leadership Team on priorities, trade-offs, decisions, and follow-through; convert strategy into integrated operating plans, milestones, risks, and performance indicators.
- Shape clear, timely communications for leadership forums, organization-wide updates, executive materials, and key external interactions; ensure consistent narrative and message discipline.
- Design and facilitate leadership-team rhythms, agendas, decision forums, and off-sites; strengthen accountability, inclusion, and collaboration.
- Lead internal/external financial planning, rolling forecasts, investment tracking, vendor/resource oversight, and scenario analysis.
- Establish and maintain governance, controls, policies, decision records, and inspection-ready business processes; identify/escalate/mitigate operational and compliance risks.
- Lead continuous-improvement initiatives to simplify processes, improve operating discipline, enhance data quality, and strengthen capability.
- Build cross-functional partnerships (R&D, Finance, Procurement, Quality, Legal, HR, Communications, etc.) to remove barriers and align dependencies.
- Provide core business-operations leadership for the Ludwigshafen site (planning, operating rhythms, issue resolution, local engagement).
- Maintain insight into performance, capacity, risks, decisions, and commitments; deliver actionable reporting and recommendations.
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor’s degree in a scientific, business, operational, or related discipline.
- 15+ years in business operations, chief-of-staff, strategic planning, finance/resource management, or organizational leadership (pharma/biotech/R&D).
- Strong strategic thinking, operational execution, financial acumen, governance discipline; ability to synthesize complex information.
- Proven change management and process improvement; experience building inclusive leadership and organizational cultures.
- Excellent written/verbal/facilitation/executive communication skills; sound judgment and high discretion.
- Demonstrated commitment to ethical conduct, quality, compliance, and respectful collaboration.
Preferred
- Advanced degree in a relevant scientific, business, or management discipline.
- Experience supporting a senior R&D/Development Sciences/pharma executive as chief of staff or business operations leader.
- Working knowledge of drug development, regulated environments, portfolio governance, and external partner management.
Application Instructions
- Not specified in the provided job description.
- Serve as the senior strategic and operational partner to the VP of Development Sciences, translating strategy into disciplined execution, effective governance, sound resource stewardship, and a high-performing, inclusive organization.
- Lead business operations and chief-of-staff activities across the global function.
Key Responsibilities
- Advise the VP/Leadership Team on priorities, trade-offs, decisions, and follow-through; convert strategy into integrated operating plans, milestones, risks, and performance indicators.
- Shape clear, timely communications for leadership forums, organization-wide updates, executive materials, and key external interactions; ensure consistent narrative and message discipline.
- Design and facilitate leadership-team rhythms, agendas, decision forums, and off-sites; strengthen accountability, inclusion, and collaboration.
- Lead internal/external financial planning, rolling forecasts, investment tracking, vendor/resource oversight, and scenario analysis.
- Establish and maintain governance, controls, policies, decision records, and inspection-ready business processes; identify/escalate/mitigate operational and compliance risks.
- Lead continuous-improvement initiatives to simplify processes, improve operating discipline, enhance data quality, and strengthen capability.
- Build cross-functional partnerships (R&D, Finance, Procurement, Quality, Legal, HR, Communications, etc.) to remove barriers and align dependencies.
- Provide core business-operations leadership for the Ludwigshafen site (planning, operating rhythms, issue resolution, local engagement).
- Maintain insight into performance, capacity, risks, decisions, and commitments; deliver actionable reporting and recommendations.
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor’s degree in a scientific, business, operational, or related discipline.
- 15+ years in business operations, chief-of-staff, strategic planning, finance/resource management, or organizational leadership (pharma/biotech/R&D).
- Strong strategic thinking, operational execution, financial acumen, governance discipline; ability to synthesize complex information.
- Proven change management and process improvement; experience building inclusive leadership and organizational cultures.
- Excellent written/verbal/facilitation/executive communication skills; sound judgment and high discretion.
- Demonstrated commitment to ethical conduct, quality, compliance, and respectful collaboration.
Preferred
- Advanced degree in a relevant scientific, business, or management discipline.
- Experience supporting a senior R&D/Development Sciences/pharma executive as chief of staff or business operations leader.
- Working knowledge of drug development, regulated environments, portfolio governance, and external partner management.
Application Instructions
- Not specified in the provided job description.