AbbVie

Executive Director, Engineering - Allergan Aesthetics

AbbVie$160K — $200K *
Healthcare
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • BS or MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field; or equivalent practical experience.
  • 10+ years of software engineering experience with strong depth in backend and data engineering.
  • 4+ years of engineering leadership experience managing multiple teams.
  • Proven capability in building and scaling high-performing engineering organizations.
  • Strong experience delivering complex technical programs across teams.

Responsibilities

  • Own execution and outcomes across engineering teams, aligning with organizational objectives.
  • Lead engineering managers, supporting their team effectiveness and personal development.
  • Drive a high-performing culture through accountability and continuous improvement.
  • Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to shape strategy and executable plans.
  • Oversee the development of backend data services, APIs, and pipelines ensuring performance and reliability.

Benefits

  • Paid time off including vacation, holidays, and sick leave.
  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
  • 401(k) participation for eligible employees.
  • Opportunity to participate in long-term incentive programs.
Full Job Description
Job Description

As a Director of Engineering, you will lead multiple engineering teams through a layer of engineering management, reporting to senior technology leadership and partnering closely with cross-functional stakeholders across the business. You will be responsible for delivering scalable backend platforms, data services, and data products that address critical business and technical challenges.

This role requires a strong blend of strategic leadership, technical depth, organizational design, and operational excellence. You will set direction, empower engineering managers, drive execution across a portfolio of initiatives, and ensure your organization consistently delivers secure, reliable, and high-quality solutions aligned with company goals.

Responsibilities
  • Own delivery, execution, and outcomes across multiple engineering teams, ensuring alignment to organizational objectives, key results, and business priorities.
  • Lead and develop engineering managers, enabling them to effectively run their teams, grow their people, and deliver high-impact results.
  • Build a high-performing engineering organization by driving clarity of accountability, strong operating rhythms, talent development, and a culture of continuous improvement.
  • Partner closely with product, architecture, data, security, and business stakeholders to shape strategy, define roadmaps, and translate priorities into executable plans.
  • Oversee the design, development, and operation of backend data services, APIs, pipelines, and data products, ensuring scalability, reliability, maintainability, and performance.
  • Drive technical and architectural decision-making in partnership with architects and senior engineers, ensuring solutions align with enterprise standards and long-term business needs.
  • Establish and improve engineering processes across planning, estimation, prioritization, execution, dependency management, and release delivery.
  • Ensure visibility into portfolio health through clear communication of plans, risks, milestones, status, and outcomes to both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Champion engineering excellence by promoting modern software development practices, code quality, test automation, observability, incident management, and operational readiness.
  • Oversee production reliability through effective monitoring, logging, alerting, and response processes, ensuring teams proactively identify and resolve issues.
  • Ensure strong data governance and engineering discipline across systems, including data quality, security, privacy, and compliance with applicable standards and regulations.
  • Partner with leadership on organizational planning, staffing strategy, succession planning, and resource allocation across teams and priorities.
  • Coach leaders and teams through change, helping the organization scale effectively while maintaining engagement, accountability, and delivery momentum.
  • Stay current on industry trends, emerging technologies, and engineering best practices, and drive thoughtful adoption where it creates business value.


Qualifications

Required Experience & Skills
  • BS or MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field; or equivalent practical experience.
  • 10+ years of software engineering experience, including strong depth in backend and data engineering domains such as APIs, distributed systems, data pipelines, and platform infrastructure.
  • 4+ years of engineering leadership experience, including managing engineering managers and leading multiple teams or functional areas.
  • Proven experience building and scaling high-performing engineering organizations, including hiring, coaching, performance management, and leadership development.
  • Demonstrated success leading complex technical programs across multiple teams, with accountability for delivery, resource planning, and business outcomes.
  • Strong experience developing production-grade applications using technologies such as Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, and Node.js.
  • Experience designing and scaling data APIs, microservices, event-driven systems, and distributed architectures.
  • Deep understanding of data engineering concepts including data warehousing, data pipelines, data integration, and data product development.
  • Strong working knowledge of SQL and NoSQL technologies such as PostgreSQL, Snowflake, and DynamoDB.
  • Experience with cloud-native platforms and modern engineering tooling, including AWS, Git, Terraform, CI/CD pipelines, Docker, Kubernetes, and serverless technologies such as Lambda, SQS, and SNS.
  • Experience establishing strong engineering quality practices, including unit, integration, end-to-end, load, and security testing strategies.
  • Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence across technical and business functions and translate complex concepts into clear decisions and action.
  • Strong operational leadership skills, including incident management, reliability practices, and service ownership.
  • Demonstrated ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on technical judgment and pragmatic execution.

Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience with technologies such as NestJS, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Snowflake, DynamoDB, Kafka, Fivetran, dbt, Airflow, Docker, Kubernetes, Datadog, and PagerDuty.
  • Experience leading platform, data, or backend engineering organizations in fast-paced, product-driven environments.
  • Familiarity with governance, compliance, and security considerations in regulated environments.
  • Experience driving organizational transformation, engineering maturity, and platform modernization initiatives.


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.

About AbbVie

AbbVie develops pharmaceuticals and medical devices. They provide products and services to therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, eye care, virology, women's health, and gastroenterology.

AbbVie Careers

Joining AbbVie means becoming part of a global team dedicated to making a remarkable impact on patients' lives. At AbbVie, our employees are united in the pursuit of groundbreaking innovation and are committed to transforming the future of healthcare with leading-edge science.

Work You’ll Do

At AbbVie, you’ll collaborate with some of the brightest minds in the industry to solve challenging problems that have a high impact on society. Our culture fosters growth and embraces leadership and diversity training, ensuring that every team member can thrive.

Explore Job Opportunities

AbbVie offers a wide range of job opportunities and career paths, providing a platform where professionals can propel their careers forward. From research and development to marketing and sales, the potential to make a significant impact is limitless.

Internship Programs

Kickstart your career with an AbbVie internship. Our programs provide invaluable industry experience and a chance to develop essential skills in a real-world setting. Interns at AbbVie are considered integral members of the team and are given tasks that are both challenging and rewarding.

Professional Growth and Development

We believe in nurturing our team's professional growth through comprehensive training programs, leadership development opportunities, and continuous learning. Our commitment to your career growth is reflected in our robust offerings that enhance your skills and knowledge.

Benefits and Culture

AbbVie is dedicated to supporting our employees' well-being both inside and outside of work. Our benefits package includes health, financial, and social benefits that are designed to support the diverse needs of our employees. Our inclusive culture encourages collaboration and innovation, fostering a workplace where all can excel.

Hiring Process

Our hiring process is designed to ensure a match that will be beneficial both for the company and for your career aspirations. From resume submission to interview, each step is an opportunity to showcase your skills and fit with the AbbVie team.

Networking and Career Advancement

At AbbVie, networking doesn’t just enhance your career; it propels it. We encourage our employees to engage internally and externally to build relationships that foster personal and professional growth.

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Whether you’re seeking to advance your career in a dynamic and empowering environment, or looking for a place where you can innovate, lead, and contribute to something bigger, AbbVie is the place for you. Join us in our mission to discover and deliver innovative medicines that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow.
Learn more about AbbVie
Size
50,000 employees
Market Cap
$288.5 billion
Industry
Net Income
$4.6 billion
Founded
2013
5 Year Trend
+17%
Revenue
$45.8 billion
NASDAQ

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