Global Category Lead - Clinical Development Services

About the role

This role sits in the R&D Procurement team and leads category strategy and a team of category managers to maximise enterprise value from external spend. It partners with senior stakeholders to shape business priorities, strengthen supplier relationships and deliver measurable outcomes across cost, innovation, quality, sustainability and risk. The position is based in Boston, MA.

Key responsibilities

• Define and lead category strategies covering cost optimisation, innovation, risk management, sustainability and business growth
• Act as a strategic partner to senior business leaders and shape supplier portfolio and enterprise spending decisions
• Manage a small team of category managers and coach them in best-practice category management methodology
• Own the contracting and commercial strategy, including MSA management and the frameworks used for downstream service agreements, SOWs and purchase orders
• Own the total category spend portfolio, including tail-spend and buying-channel strategy, and set and govern targets and KPIs
• Build and maintain a supplier ecosystem and own strategic supplier relationships, governance and performance management
• Assess supply risks, develop mitigation strategies and ensure resilience across supplier networks

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree; an MBA in a relevant field is an advantage
• 10+ years of experience in procurement, category management, supply chain or related commercial functions in complex global organisations
• Subject-matter expertise in clinical development or similar categories in healthcare, biotech or pharma
• Fluent written and spoken English

Required skills

• Category management, strategic sourcing, supplier relationship management and contract governance
• Commercial and financial acumen, with a track record of cost optimisation, risk management and value creation
• Negotiation, communication and executive stakeholder management
• Use of digital technologies, automation and data-driven approaches in procurement

What we offer

• US base salary range of $177,000 to $278,080