Director, External Supply

Company Description

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 – immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and eye care – and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at . Follow @abbvie on X , Facebook , Instagram , YouTube , LinkedIn and Tik Tok .

Job Description

Purpose
The External Supply Manager will build and lead a team of Supplier Leads to manage, develop, and optimize cross-site supplier relationships for AbbVie’s global manufacturing network. This role is accountable for supplier performance, assurance of supply, capacity planning, and cross-functional supplier management to ensure quality, compliance, and strategic business objectives are achieved.

Responsibilities

• Shape team objectives and program structure to meet intended outcomes.
• Lead cross-functional supplier engagement teams for assigned suppliers, driving supplier performance and alignment with AbbVie’s objectives. Manage and facilitate cadenced operational reviews with suppliers across multiple sites; ensure actions and deliverables are tracked and completed. Communicate supplier highlights to appropriate leadership team and cross-functional forum.
• Measure and report supplier Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), driving continuous improvement initiatives with partners.
• Consolidate and communicate global demand forecasts; ensure adherence to contractual obligations for assigned suppliers across categories and regions.
• Ensure robust long-term supply capacity by coordinating AoS (Assurance of Supply) activities, including business case development, toolset implementation, and investment execution.
• Manage and resolve daily supply and quality escalations in collaboration with site procurement, quality, and category managers; leverage scale across sites to optimize outcomes.
• Partner with Quality and Science & Technology (S&T) to drive supplier engagement in quality resolution and development of technical solutions.
• Develop and implement joint strategies with suppliers, setting performance and capacity goals and improvement plans thereof.
• Lead and support business case development for capacity expansion and investment to meet AbbVie’s mid- and long-term needs.
• Drive supplier-led cost improvement and productivity initiatives, ensuring year-over-year benefit realization.
• Ensure both AbbVie and the supplier comply with all contractual, technical, regulatory, and quality requirements.
• Secure and allocate appropriate supplier resources to meet AbbVie’s supply, quality, and technical requirements.
• Represent procurement as required in various AbbVie manufacturing, supply chain and various operations forum.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field required; Master’s or Doctorate preferred.
• Minimum 15 years of professional experience, including substantial individual technical contributions and project management.
• At least 8 years in supply chain, external manufacturing, procurement, or supplier management within pharmaceuticals, biotech, or other regulated industries.
• Demonstrated progression as supervisor, manager, and leader of operations teams (Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Engineering, etc.).
• Strong business acumen and functional leadership in complex operations.
• Proven success leading cross-functional supplier or operations teams.
• Deep understanding of supply agreements, KPIs, capacity planning, and global forecasting.
• Experience managing strategic suppliers, vendor negotiations, and issue resolution.
• Familiarity with supporting quality and technical requirements in cGMP environments.
• Ability to influence suppliers and stakeholders at all levels.
• Excellent communication, project management, and analytical skills.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally up to [xx]% as required.
• Preferred Qualifications:
• Experience developing and implementing supplier strategies at regional or global scale.
• Experience with new product introductions and/or technology transfers.
• Six Sigma, Lean, or project management certification.

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 short-term incentive programs. ​

• 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.

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