Manager, Product Quality

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 www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. 

Purpose

Describe the primary goals, objectives or functions or outputs of this position.

Responsible for quality of assigned products which may include small molecule pharmaceuticals and/or biologics products, combination products, and medical devices to ensure business objectives are met with regards to on time delivery of product while assuring compliance to local, divisional, and corporate policies and external agency regulations worldwide. Products include regulatory starting materials, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), Intermediates or Drug Products produced by AbbVie plants or by third-party manufacturers, In Licensing relationships, or Co-Marketing relationships. Develops in concert with Regulatory Affairs, the appropriate regulatory strategies for product brands. Grade is commensurate on level of overall responsibility.

Responsibilities

• Maintains the primary quality lead with management oversight for project activities and the team members (within and outside of AbbVie) to achieve on-time quality deliverables, high customer value, and profitable results. Primary driver for the quality and compliance aspects of product transfers and organization optimization.
• Participates in the development of global Product Quality Assurance strategy to support pharmaceuticals, biologics, device and combination products produced at AbbVie plants as well as third party manufacturing (TPM) facilities. Implements agreed strategy.
• Performs final quality release of manufactured product lots for products and/or product lines prepared by Third Party Manufacturers.
• Makes recommendations for key decisions on product quality and compliance and regulatory conformance issues for sterile, biological, liquid, solids, and/or device products and elevates medium and high risk events to AbbVie management. Ensures alignment of Quality and Technical Agreements with the legal contracts and that the commitments of the quality and technical agreements are being fulfilled. Helps facilitate resolution in cases where they are not.
• Establishes and maintains relationships and open communication with Third Party Manufacturers, AbbVie plants, affiliates and other functional groups to maintain roles and responsibilities, identify potential projects and issues, obtain an in-depth understanding of the quality, compliance, and resource needs at each site and provide guidance on quality concerns.
• Communicates and negotiates with external companies’ quality organization to maintain a consistent level of quality and a level of expectation that will minimize compliance risks but also balance the cost of operating to provide AbbVie with the agreed service. Prioritizes programs, initiatives, and problem solving with consideration for impact to timelines, resources and conflicting priorities.
• Interfaces with Quality Assurance audit team to develop audit plans, due diligence plans, and inspection readiness plans, review audit observations and responses, and maintain corrective action timetable. Provides support for quality audits, initial site approvals and due diligence activities. Leads and manages pre-approval inspection readiness as related to the third party manufacturers to ensure regulatory approvals are obtained, with no delays to market entries.
• Contributes to Quality Assurance elements needed to facilitate new product launches including Third Party Manufacturer’s that provide products directly to distribution centers, or to AbbVie domestic and International plants for further packaging and/or testing. Coordinates activities to support follow-up on compliant trend investigations for non-medical and medical (adverse events). Supports the management of exception documents and Corrective and Preventive Actions.
• Completes management reviews with assigned Third Party Manufacturers that identify and address quality, operational, and organizational issues. Obtains and reviews summaries of the Annual Product Reviews (domestic) and Annual Product Quality Reports (EU) from the Third Party Manufacturer to ensure accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and trends are identified and addressed in an appropriate manner.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in relevant Life Science or other technical discipline or equivalent job experience required.
• 7+ years of total combined experience. At least 5 years in Quality Assurance Operations Management; 3 years in Operations, Research and Development or Consulting.
• Experience in aseptic manufacturing preferred.
• Knowledge and a comprehensive understanding of some biological and/or pharmaceutical technologies (sterile, biological, liquid, ointments, devices, solid tablets and caplets, suspensions, granulations, soft elastic capsules, gel caps, extended release products, coating solutions, and/or active pharmaceutical ingredients).
• Possesses knowledge and a skill set to operate within an environment that requires a high degree of urgency, strong analytical and problem solving skills, positive interpersonal skills, ability to manage multiple complex tasks simultaneously, and capable of performing as leaders, members and individuals.

Key Stakeholders 

External Manufacturing Business Relationships, Operations, Third Party Manufacturers Business Alliance, Commercial, Global Supply Chain, Domestic and International AbbVie Plants and Affiliates, Regulatory Affairs, Research and Development.

Applicable only to applicants applying to a position in any location with pay disclosure requirements under state or local law: ​

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• 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​

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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. ​

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AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives, serving our community and embracing diversity and inclusion.  It is AbbVie’s policy to employ qualified persons of the greatest ability without discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy), physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, status as a protected veteran, or any other legally protected group status. US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html