Global Category Lead - Clinical Trial Management

About the role

This role sits in the R&D Procurement team and leads category strategy and a team of category managers to maximize 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 optimization, innovation, risk management, sustainability and business growth
• Act as a strategic partner to senior business leaders, aligning category priorities with organizational objectives
• Shape supplier portfolio strategy and enterprise spending decisions, and orchestrate cross-functional collaboration
• Manage a small team of category managers, coach them and build succession strength
• 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
• Build and maintain a supplier ecosystem that includes quality and sustainability requirements, and manage supplier relationships, governance and performance
• Set and govern targets and KPIs across P&L impact, P&L protection, cash improvement and value beyond savings
• Assess supply risks, develop mitigation strategies and ensure resilience across supplier networks

Required profile

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

Required skills

• Category management, strategic sourcing, supplier relationship management and contract governance
• Commercial and financial acumen, strong negotiation and stakeholder management skills
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and change leadership
• Use of digital technologies, automation and data-driven approaches in procurement

What we offer

• US base salary range of $212,000 to $333,190