Senior Manager, Commercial Sales Training
Abbott Laboratories · Lake Forest · $129,300–$258,700 (stated in the posting)
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 122,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.
Senior Manager, Commercial Sales Training
Working at Abbott
At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, 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 Senior Manager, Commercial Sales Training is the institutional owner and architect of the US Commercial Sales Training system. This role is responsible for the design, sequencing, and governance of role‑specific commercial training curricula, including certification standards, content progression, and reinforcement strategy.
Ensures that training is professionally designed, scalable, and durable, translating global sales training assets and business strategies into a cohesive US commercial sales training architecture. The Senior Manager partners closely with Global Training, Marketing, Sales Leadership, and Field Sales Trainers to ensure training drives measurable improvement in commercial execution.
What You'll Work On:
Sales Training Architecture & Curriculum Design
- Own the end‑to‑end design of US commercial sales training curricula across sales, management, and customer-facing roles.
- Define and maintain role‑specific certification frameworks, including readiness standards, assessments, and graduation criteria.
- Design logical sequencing of sales training content from foundational knowledge through advanced execution, ensuring rigor and accountability.
- Establish and maintain a consistent sales curriculum structure (“training chunks”) to be deployed and reinforced by field trainers.
- On-going sales enablement training to stay abreast of industry and product changes, to ensure enhanced skills.
Global-to-US Content Translation
- Serve as the key interface with Global Training for sales development, inventory global assets and determining applicability for the US commercial organization.
- Adapt and translate global content into US‑specific sales strategies, messaging, and field application, while maintaining compliance and consistency.
- Identify content gaps and commission or develop new materials as required.
Governance, Standards & Quality
- Own sales training governance, including curriculum standards, certification criteria, content version control, and documentation.
- Ensure sales training design aligns with adult learning principles and current best practices in commercial capability development.
- Establish clear success measures tied to role readiness, field execution, and performance indicators.
Cross‑Functional Partnership and Training Staff Leadership
- Partner with Sales Leadership, Marketing, Commercial Operations, and other commercial enablement teams to ensure training reflects current strategy, products, and market dynamics.
- Full management responsibility for Regional Field Sales Trainers (staff of 3-4); sets and defines role expectations to ensure designed curricula are reinforced consistently and effectively in the field.
- Provide guidance and oversight to ensure training delivery remains aligned to institutional design.
Continuous Improvement & Planning
- Conduct ongoing needs analysis to anticipate future capability requirements.
- Use field feedback, certification data, and business results to continuously refine curricula and standards.
- Stay current on industry trends, instructional design methodologies, and commercial training best practices.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree required (Business, Education, Organizational Development, or related field preferred)
- Minimum 8 years of experience across IVD sales/sales management, commercial training, sales enablement, marketing or related commercial functions
- Demonstrated experience designing and owning training curricula or learning systems, not just delivering training
- Strong ability to evaluate complex processes, integrate multiple inputs, and translate strategy into structured programs
- Excellent written, verbal, and executive‑level communication skills
- Proven ability to influence and lead across functions without direct authority
Preferred Qualifications
- Advanced degree (MBA, Master’s in Education, Organizational Development, or similar)
- Experience interfacing with global training organizations
- Background in diagnostics, medical devices, or regulated commercial environments
- Formal exposure to instructional design or adult learning methodologies
- Experience building certification or role‑readiness frameworks
Key Competencies
- Systems thinking and architectural design
- Strategic planning and execution
- Adult learning and instructional rigor
- Stakeholder influence and partnership
- Analytical judgment and decision‑making
- High credibility with senior leadership
Learn more about our health and wellness benefits, which provide the security to help you and your family live full lives: www.abbottbenefits.com
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.
Connect with us at www.abbott.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott, and on Twitter Abbott News.
The base pay for this position is $129,300.00 – $258,700.00. In specific locations, the pay range may vary from the range posted.
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