Associate Director, GLBL Categories - IT Procurement

Associate Director, GLBL Categories - IT Procurement Req ID #:  99332 Location: 

Wilmington, MA, US, 01887 At Charles River, we are passionate about improving the quality of people’s lives. When you join our global family, you will help create healthier lives for millions of patients and their families. 

Charles River employees are innovative thinkers, who are dedicated to continuous learning and improvement. We will empower you with the resources you need to grow and develop in your career. 

As a Charles River employee, you will be part of an industry-leading, customer-focused company at the forefront of drug development. Your skills will play a key role in bringing life-saving therapies to market faster through simpler, quicker, and more digitalized processes. Whether you are in lab operations, finance, IT, sales, or another area, when you work at Charles River, you will be the difference every day for patients across the globe.

IMPORTANT:   In order to be considered for this position, a resume/CV must be uploaded and submitted during the application process.  Please make sure work history and education are added correctly.   

  Job Summary

Co-develop and iImplement global category strategy, negotiate agreements and contracts, and manage special procurement project initiatives. Analyze and understand global multimillion dollar spend categories, act as a strategic partner to functional areas within the company to lead the development and achievement of all category goals, including overall best value sourcing strategies for categories (quality, service and cost), negotiating and contracting, SRM (supplier relationship management), establishing partnerships with key suppliers, and harmonizing supplier base. Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop and iImplement global category sourcing strategies with business leads for assigned categories of products and services, several which are complex and of strategic importance, high value and critical to the success of the business.

• Drive innovation and the development of how to satisfy the requirements of goods and services.

• Implement SRM with strategic suppliers and all key suppliers, and utilize analytics to enable effective procurement strategies to measure and improve supplier performance against key business objectives while reducing costs and increasing value.

• Stay current and informed on the market (category based), changing technologies, and global market trends to ensure CRL category strategies are delivering maximum value while maintaining quality and service.

• Identify, manage, and mitigate risks in the supply chain, follow market conditions and collect vendor intelligence; anticipate market trends and develop strategies.

• Utilize collaborative procurement for partnering and competitive processes to assure continuous improvements in quality, supply chain and service performance, and maximize the value to CRL.

• Liaise with procurement peers to ensure a consistent approach to category strategies and management.

• Develop, negotiate and manage global contractual relationships including all appropriate supply agreements, statements of work and quality specifications, and quality service agreements.

• Manage cost savings and performance measurement systems for supplier contracts. Where appropriate, track, analyze and report cost savings against investment proposals, capital expenditure and contract spend commitments. Utilize and manage reporting procedures that meet the internal needs of Finance, Legal, Procurement and Audit.

• Ensure the enforcement of related process and policy, working with Finance, Legal, Procurement and Audit as appropriate. Create process documents, SOPs and work instructions as required.

• Develop senior level relationships to better understand and align with business strategy and direction to prioritize initiatives and harmonize business and category strategies.

• Work closely with suppliers to ensure a complete understanding of the global market. Manage supplier relationships and serve as their key contact for contract management and service level adherence, ensure appropriate level of relationship for strategic suppliers.

• Utilize SRM process and develop formal supplier business review program and requirements as part of the overall supplier management process.

• Develop criteria for new supplier evaluation and qualification.

• Ensure business partners are aware of procurement standards and processes

• Utilize and manage procurement processes (category strategy, RFP, SRM, compliance, etc.).

• Assure the success of sourcing projects with attention to detail and communication with involved parties.

• Skillfully negotiate agreements in a timely manner, manage tough vendor situations and sensitive relationships ensuring value and minimizing risk.

• Resolve disputes and commercial issues with suppliers in conjunction with internal customers.

• Lead cross-functional teams identifying executable actions and drive implementation plans and schedules.

• Effectively communicate within and across departments and businesses. Job Qualifications • Education: Bachelor’s degree (B.A./B.S.) or equivalent in a related discipline. MBA or Engineering degree preferred.

• Experience:

• 8-12 years related experience, management/leadership experience preferred, preferably in a life sciences company and/or multinational corporation. Including,

• 3-5 years IT category procurement with specific expertise in one or more of the following:

• IT Outsourced Services

• Enterprise software and Cloud licensing

• Telecom

• IT Hardware including Infrastructure as a Service

• An equivalent combination of education and experience may be accepted as a satisfactory substitute for the specific education and experience listed above.

• Certification/Licensure: CPSM preferred.

• Other: Excellent oral and written communication skills and interpersonal, analytical, presentation, influencing and negotiation skills required. Must possess in-depth knowledge of complex pricing arrangements and supplier profitability.

IMPORTANT: A resume is required to be considered for this position. If you have not uploaded your resume in your candidate profile, please return to upload field and attach your resume/CV. 

About Corporate Functions

The Corporate Functions provide operational support across Charles River in areas such as Human Resources, Finance, IT, Legal, Sales, Quality Assurance, Marketing, and Corporate Development. They partner with their colleagues across the company to develop and drive strategies and to set global standards. The functions are essential to providing a bridge between strategic vision and operational readiness, to ensure ongoing functional innovation and capability improvement.  

About Charles River

Charles River is an early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our foundation of laboratory animal medicine and science to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, to support clients from target identification through preclinical development. Charles River also provides a suite of products and services to support our clients’ clinical laboratory testing needs and manufacturing activities. Utilizing this broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness to increase speed to market.

With over 17,000 employees within 90 facilities in 20 countries around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our client’s unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies and hospitals and academic institutions around the world. And in 2019, revenue increased to $2.62 billion.

At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guide us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. We have proudly supported the development of ~85% of the drugs approved by the FDA in 2019.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Charles River Laboratories is an Equal Opportunity Employer - M/F/Disabled/Vet.

If you are interested in applying to Charles River Laboratories and need special assistance or an accommodation due to a disability to complete any forms or to otherwise participate in the resume submission process, please contact a member of our Human Resources team by sending an e-mail message to crrecruitment_US@crl.com. This contact is for accommodation requests for individuals with disabilities only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.

For more information, please visit www.criver.com.

Nearest Major Market: Boston

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