Senior Category Manager

Position Overview

The Senior Category Manager acts on a global scale, collaborating cross-functionally to drive sourcing strategies that deliver sustainable and competitive supplies with superior service quality for interventional clinical trials. This role encompasses strategic oversight for a global category, active supplier management, stakeholder engagement, and continuous refinement of sourcing techniques.

Key Responsibilities

• Positively influence the Global Sourcing Clinical Development team's success by leveraging strategic acumen, persuasion, and assertiveness, managing sourcing within global Human Pharma clinical service categories.
• Take charge of a globally centralized category, consistently challenging the status quo, identifying improvements, and persuading senior management to adopt innovative working approaches.
• Serve as the global supplier manager for critical service providers, creating and enforcing a robust governance system that ensures compliance with industry standards and best practices.
• Strengthen partnerships with external strategic collaborators while closely monitoring the market to identify suppliers that align with business needs.
• Continuously scan supply markets for new partners, service providers, and solutions, proactively analyzing and mitigating risks within the category.
• Independently handle a substantial number of sourcing requests and secure successful negotiation results, managing resulting contracts alongside internal business partners.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to implement innovative working methods that enhance speed, cost efficiency, value creation, adoption of new technologies, and buying channel optimization.
• Support sourcing colleagues' growth through training and mentoring initiatives.

Candidate Requirements

• Proven expertise in procuring services in pharmaceutical or CRO environments within a global sourcing framework.
• Strong sourcing and operational experience particularly related to early clinical trials.
• Familiarity with market intelligence and sourcing strategies for Clinical Development services is advantageous; experience managing fully outsourced trials is a plus.
• Solid understanding of sourcing methodologies such as demand management, market and supplier analysis, compliance, due diligence, risk management, supplier management, contract oversight, and negotiation.
• Significant experience collaborating internationally on projects with cross-functional teams of internal and external stakeholders.
• Master's degree in business administration or an equivalent professional credential; candidates with a bachelor's degree coupled with relevant experience will also be considered.
• Open-minded, motivated, persuasive, with strong relationship-building skills internally and externally, eager to assume responsibility.
• Team-oriented disposition, adept at working collaboratively with diverse, cross-functional international groups.
• Excellent English communication skills; German is a desirable additional language.

Additional Details

This position is fully remote, open to applicants located anywhere in the UK or Ireland. Occasional travel to Germany several times yearly is required to assist with key stakeholder engagement and strategic sourcing efforts.

About the Employer

Boehringer Ingelheim is recognized as a Top Employer in the UK, underscoring their commitment to cultivating an outstanding workplace through progressive people practices and supportive human resource policies.

The organization values diversity as a strength and fosters a culture of independence, authenticity, and boldness, offering opportunities for career development in a respectful and welcoming environment. Employees benefit from programs dedicated to health and wellbeing and contribute to meaningful global healthcare accessibility initiatives. Being part of Boehringer Ingelheim means engaging with constant innovation that aims to transform lives for future generations.