Associate Director, Vendor Management (Commercial Product Sourcing)

GOALS:

• The Associate Director, Vendor Management (Commercial Product Sourcing) is responsible for providing leadership and direction to facilitate the procurement and management of comparator drugs within Global Clinical Supply Chain (GCSC). Under the direction of the Director of Centralized Ancillary and Commercial Drug Product, this role collaborates with the Clinical Supply team to develop and execute sourcing strategies for commercial IMP and AxMP for clinical trials.

• Work with both internal and external stakeholders and suppliers in order to develop and communicate sourcing forecasts, plans, and timelines to ensure that all project objectives are met in a timely and compliant manner.

• The Associate Director, Vendor Management (Commercial Product Sourcing) may also contribute actively to cross functional teams as required.

• Lead Global Clinical Supply Chain group initiatives including the development and execution of the Takeda GCSC comparator strategy as well as other key vendor management and relationship projects.

ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Assess existing comparator framework, including existing, priority vendors, identifying potential gaps/opportunities and seeking stakeholder feedback (TAU’s/GPT’s, Clin Ops, Procurement, Regulatory, etc.)  to improve strategy and ensure robust supply chain, including leveraging potential new strategies as needed.
• Create/maintain decision tree/matrix for determining appropriate sourcing strategy dependent upon study country footprint, local regulatory and documentation requirements while maximizing efficiencies and overall corporate spend.
• Lead oversight of comparator vendors - including facilitation of routine operational meetings as well as broader Business Review Meetings, also developing vendor service level expectations and reviewing vendor performance metrics.
• Collaborate with Procurement in reviewing comparator category vendors, identifying gaps and requirements for new vendors and co-leading evaluation and selection of new vendors.
• Maintain a central intake repository for collection and tracking of all comparator information requests and subsequent purchases.
• Act as central point of contact between GCSC team and comparator vendors for all comparator requests.
• Maintain oversight of all comparator purchases to enable Takeda to track and understand best pricing options as well as leverage buying power across multiple programs requiring similar products.
• Maintain an ongoing forecast of all future comparator requirements for both internal and external use.
• Support comparator quote processing and related procurement issues.
• Provide guidance to GCSC and study teams regarding study-specific comparator strategies based upon best practices and study/product-specific issues including use of generics versus brand-name, market availability and regulatory impacts.
• Collaborate with QA and Procurement in the evaluation, qualification of comparator vendors as well as supporting development and review of contracts.
• Work closely with Logistics function to pro-actively plan, document, and facilitate global cross-border supply strategies, including requirements associated with controlled substances, compliance to global trade standards, and in-country investigational product regulatory requirements for delivery of product to final destinations.
• Accountable and responsible for amending budgets through defined change management processes. Manage all finance activities with clinical team including request for proposal for bidding and vendor selection, purchase orders and invoice approval.  Responsible for forecasting for materials, costs and managing variances across multiple programs with multiple late phase protocols.
• Coach and mentor less experienced staff.
• Evaluate current processes, identify, and implement improvement opportunities and implement business processes related to the Clinical Supplies Team as required.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Degree in a science or technical discipline, or significant job-related experience.

• 8-12 years relevant Pharmaceutical Industry and/or Contract Provider experience is preferred.

• Experience with Medical Devices a plus.

• Strong understanding of cGMP requirements.

• Proficiency in computer software applicable to IRT, Excel and MS Project or equivalent project management software is a plus.

The estimated salary range reflects an anticipated range for this position. The actual base salary offered may depend on a variety of factors, including the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, specific and unique skills, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job.The actual base salary offered will be in accordance with state or local minimum wage requirements for the job location.

U.S. based employees may be eligible for short-term and/or long-termincentives. U.S.based employees may be eligible to participate in medical, dental, vision insurance, a 401(k) plan and company match, short-term and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, a tuition reimbursement program, paid volunteer time off, company holidays, and well-being benefits, among others. U.S.based employees are also eligible to receive, per calendar year, up to 80 hours of sick time, and new hires are eligible to accrue up to 120 hours of paid vacation.