Lead AI Automation Engineer at Abbvie

As a Lead AI Automation Engineer, you will drive measurable business impact by designing and implementing AI-powered automation solutions that transform how our Corporate Services and HR business partners operate. You'll serve as the critical bridge between complex business needs and technical execution—deeply understanding current-state processes, translating inefficiencies into innovative automation opportunities, and leveraging enterprise tools and AI agents to deliver rapid ROI. This role uniquely combines hands-on technical leadership with strategic thinking: you'll architect end-to-end solutions, build working prototypes, mentor the team in design thinking and agentic development, and ensure every solution drives tangible efficiency gains and value for stakeholders.  This role reports to the Director, BTS Corporate Services within the Business Technology Solutions department. We set the vision for how AI and automation enhance our enterprise systems and work closely with business partners to bring that vision to life. This role is on site in Lake County, IL; we're flexible and work from home 2 days/week.  Ideal Candidates Are:  • Business-Savvy Technologists: You have a strong ability to quickly learn and understand current-state processes, apply design thinking to ask diagnostic questions that uncover inefficiencies, and design end-to-end solutions that deliver clear ROI and efficiency gains for business partners.  • Forward Thinkers: Impact-driven pragmatists who stand at the forefront of AI and automation, focused not on what's possible, but on what's practical, measurable, and real  • Strong Technical Leaders: Rapid learners who stay current with evolving AI technologies, frameworks, and enterprise tools, and code at a detailed technical level   • Quick-to-Value Developers: Developers who understand that working code is paramount and prioritize rapid prototyping, iteration, and production deployment.  • Highly Agile: Individuals who prefer to learn by building, experimenting, and iterating—comfortable with ambiguity and evolving requirements.  • Exceptional Coach & Mentor: As a lead, you'll mentor engineers, architects, and business analysts/consultants in design thinking, agentic workflows, and automation best practices—building capability across the team.  • Stakeholder Champions: You excel at building relationships, communicating technical concepts to non-technical audiences, and securing buy-in through clear demonstration of value.  Responsibilities: Solution Design & Technical Delivery  • Engage deeply with Corporate Services and HR stakeholders to understand current-state processes, pain points, constraints, to-be business requirements, and success metrics; translate these into technical solution designs that deliver measurable efficiency gains.   • Engineer and implement scalable AI automation solutions; delivering clean, scalable, production-ready code that integrates with enterprise systems and optimizes business partner workflows.  • Prioritize rapid prototyping and iterative development, building working MVPs quickly to validate solutions with stakeholders, then refining based on feedback to accelerate time-to-value.  •  Cultivate cross-team relationships while continuously expanding technical knowledge; identifying existing capabilities, shared platforms, and collaborative opportunities that maximize internal resources and drive productivity gains.  Technical Leadership & Quality  • Ensure code quality, maintainability, and adherence to coding standards through thorough code reviews, quality assurance plans, and technical guidance to the development team (when applicable)—setting the standard and resolving complex technical issues.   Project & Program Management  • Manage the Software Development Lifecycle and required documentation, serving as a System Owner  •  Drive projects to successful completion by resolving key hurdles and assumptions through technical expertise, while tracking milestones and deliverables to ensure timely delivery within scope and goals.  Mentorship & Organizational Impact   • Mentor and coach current staff (engineers, architects, analysts/consultants) in design thinking principles, agentic AI development, automation best practices, and modern development methodologies.  • Support multiple projects simultaneously and advocate for optimal solutions while working within constraints including cost, security, regulatory compliance, and organizational change management.  • Understand and adhere to corporate standards regarding applicable Corporate and Divisional Policies, including code of conduct, safety, GxP compliance, data security, and the software development lifecycle.  • Operate with high autonomy and minimal supervision—proactively managing stakeholder expectations and keeping leadership informed through clear, concise verbal and written communication.