Engineering Manager
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL
- Level
- Manager
- Team
- Manufacturing
- Degree
- Preferred
- Experience asked
- 8+ years
- Industry
- Pharma & life sciences
- Posted
- Today
The role in 30 seconds
A management manufacturing role at AbbVie (pharma & life sciences) in North Chicago, IL. Identify, prioritize, and execute projects that improve safety, quality, productivity, capacity, cost, and operational reliability.
- They ask for
- 8+ years · degree preferred
- Tools it names
- Root cause, FDA / GMP, EHS / safety
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of October 26, 2026
Manufacturing Engineer roles in Illinois: typical posted base $96k–$145k.
Median of the low and high ends of 19 live postings that list pay, out of 41 manufacturing engineer openings in Illinois, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
Illinois plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 40 other live manufacturing postings in Illinois.
- Base pay
- Not listed in this posting
- Experience asked
- More than usual (8+ vs 5+)
Typical $89k–$134k, from 17 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- ✓ Root cause 54%
- Automation 49%
- Lean 41%
- Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ) 34%
- New product launch 29%
- Tooling 24%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Manufacturing team at AbbVie
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Is the work mostly new product launches or sustaining existing lines?
- How much time do you spend on the floor versus at a desk?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
This plant: AbbVie in North Chicago
8 other open roles at this site.
- Automation Validation Engineer · Quality
- Maintenance Technician III (HVAC Controls) · Controls · Technician
- Production Specialist I · Production · Specialist
- Senior Director, Manufacturing Strategy · Manufacturing · Director+
- Lead AI Automation Engineer · Controls · Manager
- Associate Director, Midwest Project Engineering · Manufacturing · Director+
Full description from AbbVieAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
Responsibilities
- ◆Lead day-to-day engineering and maintenance support. Set priorities and coordinate team activities to support production needs, respond to operational issues, and minimize equipment downtime and disruption to manufacturing.
- ◆Direct troubleshooting and issue resolution. Lead or coordinate timely investigation of equipment, process, utility, and facility problems; apply structured problem-solving and root cause analysis; and ensure corrective actions are implemented and verified.
- ◆Oversee maintenance execution. Ensure preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance work is planned, prioritized, assigned, and completed effectively, with appropriate work documentation, parts availability, and coordination with production schedules.
- ◆Lead continuous improvement initiatives. Identify, prioritize, and execute projects that improve safety, quality, productivity, capacity, cost, and operational reliability. Define project scope, resources, schedules, and success measures, and track delivery through completion.
- ◆Ensure compliance and safe execution. Hold the team accountable for following applicable site policies, engineering standards, EHS requirements, quality procedures, and GMP or other relevant regulatory requirements. Ensure maintenance and engineering changes are appropriately assessed, documented, reviewed, and approved.
- ◆Assess and mitigate operational and project risk. Identify potential failure modes and impacts of equipment, process, or facility changes; conduct risk assessments; and establish appropriate controls, contingency plans, and fallback strategies.
- ◆Coordinate across site functions. Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, EHS, Supply Chain, Facilities, and other stakeholders to align maintenance priorities, resolve production-impacting issues, plan outages, and deliver engineering work with minimal operational disruption.
- ◆Manage team resources and performance. Assign work based on business priorities and team capability; monitor workload and execution; set clear expectations; and support hiring, coaching, performance management, training, and development of engineers, technicians, and supervisors.
- ◆Manage budgets, contractors, and work execution. Oversee assigned operating expenses, maintenance and project budgets, external service providers, and contractor work. Ensure resources are used responsibly and that work is completed safely, on schedule, and to required quality and technical standards.
- ◆Bachelors Degree in Engineering, science, or closely related discipline is desired or equivalent technical experience plus demonstrated competence. Advanced degree in a technical field preferred.
- ◆8+ years’ experience including: work as an individual contributor building technical expertise and proved project management skills. Progressively increased responsibility and performance as a supervisor, department manager in multiple areas of Operations. Post-graduate degree may contribute towards the desired years of experience.
- ◆Business acumen coupled with leadership experience is required to drive high performance.
- ◆Has demonstrated excellence across multiple engineering disciplines. Interacts well with diverse groups within engineering and maintains strong working relationships with internal and external collaborators.
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Purpose
Provide technical and operational leadership for the site’s engineering and maintenance teams, with a primary focus on reliable day-to-day manufacturing support. Ensure timely troubleshooting and resolution of equipment, facility, and process issues; effective execution of preventive and corrective maintenance; and delivery of continuous improvement projects. Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, EHS, and other functions to sustain safe, compliant, and efficient operations while developing a capable, accountable engineering and maintenance team.