AbbVie Posted August 7, 2026

Associate Director, Quality Control Laboratory

Irvine, CA Full-time
Quality Associate Director

AbbVie is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

Company Description

About AbbVie

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 including immunology, oncology and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at  www.abbvie.com . Follow @abbvie on  LinkedIn,   Facebook ,  Instagram ,  X  and  YouTube.

Job Description

Will typically serve as the head of the laboratory operations for the plant. Responsible for management of the QC Laboratory organization which may include management of Managers, Supervisors and Analysts. Manages a business unit consisting of one of the following disciplines: API Laboratory Operations, Finished Goods Laboratory Operations, Raw Material/ In-Process Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Support Operations, and Laboratory Continuous Improvement/Compliance Operations.

Responsibilities

Manage a team of Managers, Supervisors and Lab Analysts. Is responsible to hire, lead and develop team members to ensure that the department has the appropriate talent and level of performance to meet business objectives. Assure training and development of subordinates. Assist subordinates in problem solving. Identify and resolve people issues without direct supervision.

Assure conformance to all government and corporate regulations. Responsible to develop, provide, defend, persuade Corporate/Plant practices with outside organizations. Routinely meet with regulators (FDA & EU) and customers to ensure no interruption in business due to compliance issues.

Directs area of responsibility to meet production objectives within planned budgets. Provides input to manager for resources needed to construct budget, updates, and changes in financial plan. Manages area supplies and equipment within budgeted amounts.

Establish and execute plans and commitments consistent to Development, Manufacturing, Customers and Business needs.

Conceives, designs, conducts, and advanced independent scientific research activities per strategic business needs.

Ensure research activities/projects are on track per business needs and established timeline.

Develop, negotiate, finalize timeline and cost estimates for projects and/or service contracts to support business operations and/or external customer’s needs.

Conceives, design, and executes projects related to the strategic needs of the business operations.

Provide timely testing or execution of in-process, raw materials, intermediates, API, finished goods, continuous improvement initiatives, QA training, laboratory equipment validation and stability depending on area of responsibility.

Applies advanced technical writing skills to prepare project protocol, and final reports to support product registration and/or business needs.

Conducts business and interacts/ negotiates with external contacts and customers to develop positive business relationships.

Qualifications

Required - BS degree in Science or equivalent and 10+ years of relevant experience OR

Master's degree in Science or equivalent and 8+ years of relevant experience

Preferred - PhD in Science or equivalent and 6+ years of relevant experience.

Must be experienced and demonstrate high level of technical skill in technical lab operations and good understanding of related business.

Related knowledge in Product Quality, Quality Control Lab Operation and Regulatory requirements is required.

Ability to work independently to meet operational goals and business needs.

Ability to develop, design, execute and manage complex research programs.

Ability to make operational and business decisions with minimum direction from immediate manager. Must have knowledge and skill in personnel management, and develop and managing budget.

Ability to interact and establish positive interaction with internal/external customers.

Shows broad understanding of the issues relevant to technical/science and business.

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.​

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.

US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit  https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html

US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more:

https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html

Job details

Seniority
Associate Director
Function
Quality
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Irvine, CA
Employment type
Full-time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Quality role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 238 comparable Associate Director Quality roles across 55 biopharma companies.

238Comparable roles tracked
221Currently active
55Companies hiring similar roles
28Countries represented

Salary context

49 of 238 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject $141,500/yr – $268,500/yr
Peer group range $98,050 – $219,500 (median $159,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 238 comparable roles

United States106
India26
Ireland22
China16
Singapore15
Japan10

+ 22 more countries

Seniority mix

238 of 238 peers have a known seniority level

Manager116
Senior97
Associate Director25

Therapeutic area mix

0 of 238 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

No peers with a known therapeutic area yet.

Similar opportunities

The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Novartis Durham, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Novartis Indianapolis, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Boehringer Ingelheim Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

60%
Associate Director, Quality Assurance Compliance
Gilead Sciences, Inc. · Foster City, United States · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
QA Operations Head (Associate Director)
Novartis · Durham, United States · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director, Global Quality Risk Management
Biogen · Cambridge, United States · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director - Quality Assurance - Device Assembly
Lilly · Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, United States of America · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.