David Mackey; Senior Manager, AbbVie
Please Subscribe Here
Video Version
About the Podcast
I invite David Mackey is a senior manager at AbbVie presently responsible for the implementation of the SAP “procure to pay” processes at AbbVie. Previously, he was the Director of Operational Excellence at Pharmacyclics (a subsidiary of AbbVie). In addition to AbbVie, he has had senior leadership roles at Genentech and Roche.
We start the conversation with David’s early days when he was “bitten” by the travel bug, specifically the international travel bug. He was an exchange student to Sweden in high school and to Mexico when at community college.
His first degree was in Geography with an emphasis on international trade from Humboldt State University and he earned his MBA in International Business Trade and Operations from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
His love of travel has guided his professional journey; always seeking and chasing opportunities which would take him near (across the US) and far (everywhere else). Most of this work was found in the pharma/biotech industries.
David shares the various companies he has worked for and the assignments he had there; each building on the other and each adding to his ever-increasing variety and scope of his accumulated life’s experiences.
We also spend some time discussing how he and the people who he leads, which are located around the world, have coped during the COVID pandemic. Interestingly, he shares that already being a disbursed workforce, the workings of his team were already purposely designed and configured for working virtually. The conversation then gravitates to post-pandemic business operations, what that may look like, what challenges might be faced, and what may be needed to keep a edge of the team’s knife sharp.
Give a listen. I am sure you will enjoy hearing David’s story as much as I did.
About David Mackey
David is a global operational excellence leader that focuses on competitive advantage by optimizing employees, teams, technology, organization structure/culture, physical infrastructure, processes and the ability to measure and manage performance and results.
His extensive experience managing operations and leading/participating in strategic global initiatives include; the design and launch of a new and ecommerce capable corporate websites, to restructuring multiple regional global supply chains and global service centers, to mapping the customers’ experience to launch several improved and/or new operational processes and organizations.
After high school graduation, David departed as an exchange student for a second senior year to Sweden where he lived with an exchange family, attended school, and got a job on a dairy farm in the village where he lived.
During his time there, he auditioned successfully to play keyboards in a rock band called Sista Utvagen (The Last Way Out); an opening act for more famous Swedish bands (such as Cal P Dahl) whose US hit “Can’t Get That Feeling“, with the crazy “Uga chaga uga chaga” as the memorable chorus. This gave him the opportunity to travel around Europe.
He returned to California and attended Delta Community College, during which he was a summer exchange student to Mexico to improve his Spanish.
Given his worldly experiences, he thrives in and across different cultures leading diverse, multi-site teams. And he has leveraged these experiences in his professional career with opportunities to work extensively in countries such as France, Mexico, Singapore, Sweden and across the US for extensive periods of time; as well as many other countries for shorter time periods.
He considers his Core Competencies to be: Customer Focus • Coaching to Potential • Global Process Development • GxP • Data and Process Management, Analysis and Communication • Global/Trade Challenges • Continuous Improvement • Program Development and Execution
Company; AbbVie
Website; https://www.abbvie.com/
Headquarters; North Chicago, Illinois
Year Founded; 2013
Company Type; Pharmaceuticals
Company Size; ~48,000 employees worldwide
Specialties; Immunology, Oncology, Neuroscience research, manufacturing and sales/distribution.
AbbVie may have been founded in 2013, but its roots run deep. In 2013, AbbVie became a separate company from Abbott, though the company shares a common legacy and strong prospects for future success. When formed, AbbVie became a new kind of enterprise—a biopharmaceutical company.
AbbVie, sees a future full of possibility; where health is in reach and patient lives are improved. They blend the stability, global scale, resources and commercial capabilities of a pharmaceutical company with the focus and culture of a biotech. Today, their employees around the world focus on delivering transformational medicines and therapies that offer significant patient benefits.
AbbVie’s ~48,000 employees are scientists, researchers, communicators, manufacturing specialists and regulatory experts located around the globe. They come up with new approaches to addressing today’s health issues—from life-threatening illness to chronic conditions.
We target specific difficult-to-cure diseases where we can leverage our core R&D expertise to advance science. We’re constantly working to create solutions that go beyond treating the illness to have a positive impact on patients’ lives, on societies—and on science itself.
One Comment
Comments are closed.