Global Solution Architect, Supply Chain

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 115,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and your family, be your true self, and live a full life. You’ll also have access to:

• Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.
• Employees can qualify for free medical coverage in our Health Investment Plan (HIP) PPO medical plan in the next calendar year.
• An excellent retirement savings plan with a high employer contribution
• Tuition reimbursement, the  Freedom 2 Save student debt program, and  FreeU education benefit - an affordable and convenient path to getting a bachelor’s degree.
• A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries worldwide and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.
• A company that is recognized as one of the best big companies to work for as well as the best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists.

The Opportunity:

The Global Solution Architect, Supply Chain is a high-impact, enterprise leadership role responsible for shaping the future of Abbott’s digital supply chain. This role defines and drives the architecture, design, and implementation of global planning and logistics solutions across regions and business units.

Operating with significant autonomy and strategic influence, the architect partners closely with senior business and IT leaders to translate complex supply chain challenges that enable execution-aligned planning, logistics optimization, and long-term business growth.

This is a unique opportunity to lead large-scale transformation initiatives, standardize global platforms, and build future-ready capabilities that improve planning responsiveness, operational efficiency, and decision-making across a highly complex global supply chain network. The role is expected to set direction, influence investment decisions, and deliver measurable business outcomes—not just support execution. This role offers the opportunity to shape one of the most complex and impactful digital supply chain transformations across Abbott’s global operations.

What You’ll Work On

Solution Architecture Leadership

• Define and govern end-to-end architecture for supply chain planning domains
• Establish multi-year technology roadmaps aligned to business strategy and digital supply chain vision aligned to corporate strategy and business units' needs.
• Act as a thought leader, influencing senior IT and business leadership on platform strategy
• Strategize, standardize, and rationalize global solutions across business units
• Owns alignment of architecture strategy to measurable business outcomes and long-term digital supply chain transformation goal

Solution Architecture & Delivery

• Design, implement, and execute architecture for large-scale implementations of:
  • Advanced Planning Systems: OMP, SAP IBP (S&OP, Demand, Supply, Finite Scheduling, Inventory Optimization, Response)
  • Logistics: Transportation Systems, Customs Systems, Serialization, and Warehousing
• Translate complex business requirements into scalable, reusable solution designs
• Drive end-to-end process integration (Plan → Build → Deliver)

Integration & Data Strategy

• Define enterprise integration patterns across:
  • SAP S/4HANA / ECC
  • Planning (SAP, OMP, Kinaxis, Etc.)
  • Transportation (SAP TM, Manhattan)
  • Customs (Amber Road, e2Open, Etc)
  • WMS and external partners (3PLs, carriers)
• Lead architecture for real-time data flows, APIs, and event-driven frameworks
• Ensure end-to-end data consistency across planning and logistics systems, including governance of master and transactional data domains
• Provide architectural governance across system integrators and vendors, ensuring adherence to Abbott standards and solution consistency
• Review and approve solution designs across delivery partners to ensure scalability and alignment with enterprise architecture

Program & Technical Leadership

• Serve as lead architect on global transformation programs
• Provide architectural oversight to multiple concurrent initiatives
• Mentor solution architects, technical leads, and delivery teams
• Drive vendor selection, architecture alignment, and performance accountability
• Expected to define architecture direction and influence enterprise-wide planning and logistics strategy, not just support execution

Innovation & Continuous Improvement

• Innovation: control towers, AI, scenario planning
• Continuous improvement: performance tuning, simplification, cost reduction

Core Competencies

• Strategic Leadership: Shapes enterprise direction and technology vision
• Executive Communication: Engages effectively with VP/SVP-level stakeholders
• Influence & Alignment: Drives consensus across diverse global teams
• Simplify Complexities; Technical Depth + Business Acumen by bridging architecture with business outcomes
• Decision-Making Under Ambiguity: Operates effectively in complex, evolving environments
• Lead architecture for hybrid planning models integrating time-series and order-based planning (e.g., SAP IBP OBP), ensuring alignment across strategic, tactical, and execution horizons
• Design execution-aligned planning capabilities, tightly integrated with ERP (ECC/S/4) and downstream logistics systems
• Ensure solutions support scalability across geographies, business units, and increasing data volumes
• Architecture Authority: Acts as a key decision-maker for supply chain technology design and standards

Success Metrics

• Measurable improvements in:
  • Forecast accuracy and planning cycle times
  • Logistics costs, efficiencies, and service levels
  • Inventory turns and working capital improvements
  • OTIF (On-Time In-Full) / service level improvements
  • Reduction in planning cycle time
  • Reduction in manual planning effort
• Reduction in system fragmentation and integration complexity
• Delivery of scalable, high-performing solutions aligned to business growth

Typical Reporting & Interfaces

• Reports to Manager of Supply Chain Systems
• Partners with:
  • Global Supply Chain & Logistics leadership
  • IT Architecture & Engineering
  • Data & Analytics organizations
  • Strategic vendors (SAP, OMP, Manhattan, Systems Integrators)
• Drive evolution toward a digital supply chain control tower, enabling real-time visibility, exception-based planning, and decision intelligence

Business Value and Adoption

• Ensure delivery of measurable business value, including improvements in forecast accuracy, planning cycle times, inventory efficiency, and logistics performance
• Partner with supply chain business leaders to drive adoption of new capabilities and alignment with operating processes
• Define success metrics and track value realization post-implementation

Level Alignment:

• No direct management required, but consistent leadership across programs
• Expected to set direction, not just execute
• Evaluated on enterprise impact, innovation, and influence

Minimum Requirements & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Supply Chain, or related field (master’s preferred)
• 12+ years of experience in supply chain systems, with significant architecture leadership
• Deep expertise in planning platforms including SAP IBP, OMP, Kinaxis, with strong experience with SAP S/4HANA or ECC integration
• Experience with hybrid planning models and execution-aligned planning processes
• Demonstrated success leading global, complex implementations

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with logistics platforms like Manhattan or other Warehousing/Transportation systems
• Experience with cloud-native or SaaS architectures (Azure preferred in the Abbott context)
• Expertise in integration platforms (SAP CPI, Tibco, MuleSoft, APIs, event streaming)
• Knowledge of advanced planning algorithms, optimization, and heuristics
• TOGAF or equivalent enterprise architecture certification
• Experience in regulated industries (medical devices, pharma, healthcare)

MISC:

• This is an onsite role based in IL This is  NOT a remote role/opportunity.

Learn more about our health and wellness benefits, which provide the security to help you and your family live full lives:

Follow your career aspirations to Abbott for diverse opportunities with a company that can help you build your future and live your best life. Abbott is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to employee diversity.

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The base pay for this position is $113,300.00 – $226,700.00. In specific locations, the pay range may vary from the range posted.]]><