Center of Excellence Overview
AbbVie’s Global Forecasting Center of Excellence (COE) sustains and advances the organization’s volume forecasting capabilities established under Finance Transformation Forecasting Excellence. The COE defines forecasting standards, governs best practices, oversees deployment of enabling technologies, executes centralized forecasting functions on behalf of the organization, and builds forecasting competencies across AbbVie’s US, International, and Allergan Aesthetics commercial organizations.
Functional leadership of the COE is divided across two roles: Forecasting Standards & Training and Forecasting Operations & Insights. These roles partner closely to ensure that AbbVie forecasters are equipped with consistent, high-quality methodologies and receive the operational support needed to deliver forecasting excellence across the enterprise.
The Director, Forecasting Operations & Insights is accountable for the operational and analytical engine of the COE—setting the strategic direction for AI/statistical forecasting, tool governance, and centralized analytics—while leading a team that operates and maintains AI/ML (Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning) and statistical forecasting models, delivers in-scope forecasts to key organizational stakeholders, configures tools on behalf of forecasters, and conducts quantitative research to inform handling of major market events impacting organizational volume forecasts.
Core Job Responsibilities
AI/ML & Statistical Forecasting Model Governance
- Owns the strategy and governance framework for AI/ML forecasting models maintained within the COE, ensuring responsible use, appropriate oversight, and continued performance integrity.
- Leads the team in the ongoing operation, maintenance, and continuous improvement of AI/ML and statistical forecasting models developed through Finance Transformation and Forecasting Excellence initiatives.
- Monitors model performance trends and determines when enhancements to algorithmic approaches are warranted as new data, methods, or capabilities become available.
- Establishes and maintains guardrails and review processes governing the use of AI/ML forecasting tools across user teams, ensuring outputs are appropriately interpreted and applied.
Forecasting Technology & Tools
- Owns the COE’s technology roadmap for forecasting tooling, defining priorities for tool capability development in partnership with BTS and relevant technology stakeholders.
- Leads the team in configuring and onboarding Forecast Horizon for new brands, therapeutic areas, and teams, ensuring consistent and high-quality implementation.
- Partners with BTS and technology vendors to govern, maintain, and evolve forecasting system infrastructure.
- Directs the team in developing purpose-built analytical tools to address specific forecasting needs across business units where the core platform requires supplemental support.
- Brings relevant knowledge of the broader tooling landscape—to inform sound technology decisions when evaluating future investments.
Forecasting Analytics & Insights
- Partners with cross-functional organizational stakeholders to define analytical priorities for the COE—determining which cross-portfolio, cross-TA, or pan-industry questions warrant centralized analytical investment.
- Leads the team in executing high-priority analytical work to inform modeling of key organizational and market events, including:
- Analog research on launch, loss of exclusivity (LOE), label change, and access change events.
- Analysis of pan-industry events and their volume forecast implications (e.g., IRA policy impacts, macroeconomic shifts).
- Epidemiological and patient flow analyses to support new indication forecasting.
- Synthesizes team outputs into guidance and frameworks that are usable and actionable for local forecasting teams.
- Partners with the Director, Forecasting Standards & Training to ensure analytical insights continuously inform the evolution of forecasting best practices and standards.
Stakeholder Support & Strategic Consultation
- Serves as an operational and quantitative resource for forecasters and finance leaders seeking guidance on tool utilization, data interpretation, and analytical methodology.
- Leads the team in delivering consistent, high-quality support to Engagement Liaisons and the broader forecasting community, using stakeholder feedback to continuously refine operational COE priorities.
- Contributes to cross-functional initiatives where quantitative forecasting support or scenario analysis is needed.
Team / People Leadership
- Leads a large, multi-disciplinary team organized across multiple specialized sub-functions—AI/ML and Statistical Forecasting, Forecast Horizon (Platform tool) Operation, and Forecasting Analytics & Insights—each with its own lead and direct reports.
- Manages through a layer of directors and associate directors, providing leadership, strategic direction, and development support for functional leads accountable for their teams’ delivery.
- Ensures team’s activities are well-integrated with AbbVie's corporate financial planning processes, so that functional outputs are coordinated, sequenced, and delivered in alignment with organizational timelines and stakeholder expectations.
- Allocates resources and prioritizes work across a technically and functionally diverse portfolio spanning machine learning, statistical modeling, tool/platform operations, and quantitative analytics, balancing competing organizational demands with team capacity and development needs.
- Provides regular feedback, coaching, and career development support to direct reports, fostering growth across a team with widely varied technical backgrounds and career trajectories.
- Models AbbVie’s Ways of Working and fosters a team culture of rigor, accountability, and continuous improvement.
- Identifies and implements structural changes to team design when needed to support the team’s mission as the COE evolves.
Reporting
- Reports to: Senior Director, Global Forecasting
- Direct reports may include: Commercial AI/ML/Statistical Forecasting leads, Forecast Horizon Operations lead, Forecast Insights & Analytics lead
Qualifications
Required:
- Bachelor's degree in a quantitative, technical field (Finance, Economics, Data Science, Engineering, Life Sciences, or related); advanced degree strongly preferred.
- 12+ years of relevant experience in the pharmaceutical, biotech, or life sciences industries in quantitative or analytical roles.
- 12+ years of direct forecasting experience, including hands-on development, maintenance, and operation of forecasting or related analytical models.
- Experience leading a multi-level team, setting direction for team leads and holding them accountable for their teams' outputs.
- Ability to lead across multiple team functions/disciplines, some outside of traditional commercial forecasting & finance.
- Experience integrating analytical or operational team outputs with corporate planning processes, financial cycles, or other enterprise functions with defined timelines and downstream dependencies.
- History of instilling a culture of quality and continuous improvement in teams they have led.
- Strong working knowledge of pharmaceutical data sources (IQVIA TRx/NBRx, 852/867, patient flow, epidemiology) and their use in commercial decision-making.
- Experience with statistical or AI-based forecasting methodologies and model governance.
- Strong financial acumen, including understanding of how volume forecasts feed into finance and corporate planning processes.
- Strong communication skills, including analytical storytelling, presentation development, and ability to translate technical outputs for non-technical audiences.
- Demonstrated ability to influence and partner effectively across cross-functional teams in complex, matrixed organizations.
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, including the ability to manage expectations and constructively engage forecasting and finance leaders.
Preferred:
- Hands-on experience with purpose-built forecasting platforms (e.g., Forecast Horizon, ForecastPro, FlexiCast), providing grounded perspective on their relative strengths in an enterprise forecasting environment.
- Experience with data engineering, visualization, or automation tools (e.g., SQL, Python, PowerBI, SAS).
- Background in AI/ML and statistical model development, validation, or operationalization.
- International or multi-geography commercial analytics experience across product lifecycle.
- Experience managing team budgets, including vendor and technology spend, in alignment with team and enterprise priorities.
Key Leadership Competencies
- Drive Operational Excellence: Sets high standards for analytical quality and delivery, continuously identifying and directing improvements to the team’s processes and outputs.
- Lead at Scale: Builds and sustains a high-performing organization and drives continuous improvement across multiple functions with diverse technical profiles, setting strategic direction, and holding team leads accountable for quality and delivery.
- Build Strong Relationships: Cultivates trusted partnerships with forecasters, BTS, finance leadership, and commercial stakeholders across geographies and organizational levels.
- Clear & Courageous Communication: Willing to challenge senior commercial and finance leaders on data quality, methodology concerns, and technology trade-offs.
- Analytical Leadership: Synthesizes complex quantitative analysis into clear insights and recommendations that shape enterprise-level strategic decisions.
- Agile & Accountable: Adapts priorities and delivery plans in a rapidly-evolving technology and business landscape while maintaining accountability for operational commitments.
- Decide Smart & Sure: Exercises sound judgment to make timely, well-reasoned decisions—including on model governance and tool strategy—even under conditions of ambiguity.
- Enterprise Integration: Ensures that the team’s technical outputs connect to and enable AbbVie's broader financial planning and commercial decision-making processes, ensuring team timelines, deliverables, and stakeholder relationships are designed around organizational need.
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.
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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 thisposting 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 anduntil paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent with applicable law.
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