Associate Director, Digital Accessibility

About the Team 
Join our dynamic Digital Experience and Innovation Team within AbbVies IT division where we focus on enhancing digital accessibility throughout our global organization. Our mission is to ensure an inclusive digital environment that eliminates barriers to information and functionality enriching the user experience for all employees. 
  
About the Role 
As Associate Director of Digital Accessibility you will spearhead efforts to advance AbbVies digital accessibility maturity and compliance this role you will assemble and lead a team dedicated to optimizing accessibility across AbbVies internal and external digital properties including custom web/mobile applications low-code solutions third-party platforms emails documents and intranet sites. This position requires an accomplished digital accessibility leader that will drive collaboration transparency and clarity between multiple teams and functions. You will appropriately pair the right approaches with project size to achieve high quality outcomes at reasonable cost. Lastly you will utilize your strong business insight intuition and presentation skills to keep key partners and division leadership well-informed of progress and impact. 

This position reports to the Director of Digital Experience & Innovation at AbbVies global headquarters in Lake County IL. 

Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership 

• Define build and lead a Digital Accessibility practice within AbbVies enterprise IT function. 

• Collaborate with Digital Accessibility Council stakeholders and sponsors to develop and execute a comprehensive digital accessibility strategy that is aligned with company-wide accessibility goals and priorities.  

• Establish short- and long-term program objectives to drive organizational change. 

• Advocate for accessibility initiatives at the executive level and across the organization. 

• Lead change initiatives and advocate for accessibility at all levels. 

• Champion digital accessibility standards and ensure legal and regulatory compliance. 

• Leverage data insights to drive strategic decision-making and accessibility improvements. 

• Utilize your strong business insight intuition and presentation skills to keep key partners and leadership well-informed of progress and impact. 

• Evangelize and champion digital accessibility throughout the company focused on creating inclusive and usable experiences for everyone. 

 
Team Building and Management  

• Build and develop a digital accessibility consulting practice and services to support external & internal digital accessibility compliance efforts across AbbVie. 

• Recruit train and lead a team of accessibility specialists testers and consultants 

• Manage relationships and licensing agreements with external digital accessibility partners that provide accessibility consulting services tools and role-based training.  

• Drive initiatives to enhance accessibility maturity and align with governance council priorities. 

• Collaborate with cross-functional solution teams to integrate accessibility into digital solution design and development. 

• Manage resource capacity assignments timelines and project commitments. 

• Provide ongoing mentorship and professional development opportunities for the team. 

Accessibility Testing and Assessment 

• Establish a digital accessibility testing framework and methods to identify and address accessibility issues in software websites and other digital solutions.  

• Ensure compliance with relevant accessibility standards (e.g. WCAG ADA Section 508). 

• Conduct regular accessibility assessments and audits to identify areas for improvement. 

• Develop and implement remediation plans to address accessibility issues while balancing client contractual commercial and regulatory requirements and concerns 

• Oversee tracking and reporting of accessibility-related efforts and progress across the portfolio. 

• Produce accessibility compliance reports following industry standard formats. 

Continuous Improvement 

• Drive continuous improvement efforts to enhance the accessibility of digital products and services 

• Monitor and report on key performance indicators related to accessibility efforts 

• Scale accessibility learning initiatives and curriculum across the organization 

• Stay current with emerging trends and industry research and implement new technologies and approaches to improve digital accessibility 

• Collaborate with our engineering teams to integrate accessibility into our CI/CD and general development practices 

Qualifications :

•  Bachelors or Masters degree in Design Computer Science Information Systems or a related field or equivalent certification. 

• 9 years experience in digital accessibility with at least 5 years in a leadership role. 

• Strong understanding of accessibility standards and best practices (e.g. WCAG ADA Section 508). 

• Proven ability to lead accessibility projects and improve compliance across digital platforms. 

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills with the ability to engage stakeholders at all levels. 

• Experience managing vendor relationships and implementing accessibility tools and training. 

• Strong problem-solving and strategic thinking skills with a user-focused mindset. 

• Familiarity with design and development collaboration tools. 

• Proven track record of leading and growing a successful accessibility program 

• Expert understanding of accessibility standards and regulations 

• Expert understanding of usability principles and heuristics 

• Expert understanding of assistive technologies and usage patterns 

• Familiarity with Agile development processes and working in cross-functional teams 

• Experienced with leading digital accessibility tools to ensure our digital products meet WCAG standards and deliver inclusive accessible experiences for all users. 

• Familiarity with Agile development processes and working in cross-functional teams 

• Demonstrated experience creating and delivering digital accessibility training and workshops 

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 short-term incentive programs. 

• 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 Companys sole and absolute discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Companys 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  & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation click here to learn more:

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