Associate Director, Procurement Category Management & Capability Leadership – AI/Emerging Technology

AbbVie•North Chicago, IL

14d•$141,500 - $268,500

About The Position

The Associate Director, Category Management partners with VP-level business and functional stakeholders to develop global procurement strategies for artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, software, and related services. This player-coach role combines software strategic sourcing expertise with consultative stakeholder partnership and influence across a matrixed organization. The role builds procurement capabilities and process playbooks, delivers training, advises stakeholders on sourcing approaches, gathers and aligns business use cases, and leads negotiations for large, complex technology contracts and initiatives. Through market expertise, analysis, and cross-functional collaboration, the position translates business priorities into sourcing strategies that deliver value while meeting governance, risk, and regulatory requirements. The position also leads supplier relationship and risk-management strategies, integrates sustainability and ESG considerations into category strategies, and manages sourcing initiatives from demand assessment through contract execution. It evaluates commercial models and total cost of ownership, works with Legal, IT, and risk functions on AI-related contractual considerations, and develops repeatable guidance, training, and improvement programs. The role requires balancing hands-on deal leadership with capability building, project and program leadership, and internal consulting.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, Technology, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
At least 10 years of experience in procurement, supply chain, technology, consulting, or a related business or operations function.
Previous experience leading category teams or IT teams, working in consulting, partnering with major suppliers, and reporting to senior leaders.
Strong proficiency in developing high-impact executive-level deliverables.
Demonstrated expertise in software strategic sourcing and category management, including market analysis, competitive bidding, licensing and subscription models, consumption-based pricing, total cost of ownership, utilization, and renewal strategies.
Proven ability to develop negotiation strategies and lead large, complex technology contract negotiations, including AI and emerging-technology agreements, in partnership with Legal, IT, and relevant risk functions.
Strong project and change-management capabilities.
Strong consultative business-partnering and stakeholder-influence skills, including listening, diagnosing needs, facilitating discovery, framing options and trade-offs, and influencing without direct authority.
Ability to gather and align use cases, build consensus across business, technology, procurement, and risk stakeholders, and foster collaborative supplier relationships.
Experience building practical procurement and process playbooks, tools, and templates, and designing and delivering training and coaching for varied audiences.
Ability to translate complex software and AI sourcing concepts into actionable guidance and balance capability building and internal consulting with hands-on negotiation and initiative leadership.
Strategic thinking and accountability, anticipation of future trends, and responsibility for impactful procurement outcomes that challenge the status quo.
Innovative problem-solving skills, executive presence, and influential communication at all organizational levels.
High cross-functional leadership and conflict-resolution skills, including navigating and harmonizing diverse team dynamics.
Exceptional interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence for empathetic interaction, effective communication, and relationship-building across a matrixed organization.
Resilience under pressure and an autonomous work ethic, with the ability to maintain performance in challenging situations and make independent decisions.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

Partner with VP-level business and functional stakeholders to develop global software, AI, and emerging-technology procurement strategies aligned with business priorities, governance, stage-gate processes, approvals, and risk and regulatory requirements.
Drive innovation and thought leadership, leading complex programs and initiatives from strategy through implementation and aligning procurement projects with business objectives and long-term strategic direction.
Build, maintain, and deploy procurement capability and process playbooks for intake, use-case assessment, software sourcing, supplier evaluation, negotiation, contracting, and renewals.
Translate market insights and lessons learned into repeatable tools, templates, and guidance.
Design and deliver training, coaching, and knowledge-sharing for procurement teams and business partners, keeping guidance aligned with evolving governance, market conditions, and business needs.
Contribute market intelligence and knowledge of industry trends, emerging technologies, and market dynamics to cross-functional strategic decision-making.
Develop strategic value drivers with category suppliers to build collaborative partnerships, challenge the status quo, achieve cost savings, optimize processes, and enhance procurement value.
Integrate sustainability and ESG measures into category strategies and collaborate with suppliers on sustainable and responsible sourcing practices.
Lead Supplier Relationship Management strategies and drive supplier innovation and solutions that address long-term business needs.
Develop and activate mitigation strategies to proactively manage procurement risk and ensure compliance.
Lead supplier roadmaps, strategies, and programs for large, complex AI and emerging-technology initiatives.
Personally lead high-value, complex contract negotiations and align cross-functional stakeholders on objectives, commercial trade-offs, negotiation strategy, and approvals.
Direct cross-functional teams and manage strategic category-related projects from initiation to completion.
Identify process optimization and efficiency opportunities, using data analytics to develop long-term continuous-improvement programs.
Drive end-to-end strategic sourcing, from demand assessment and competitive supplier evaluation through contract negotiation and execution.
Evaluate licensing, subscription, and consumption-based pricing; total cost of ownership; utilization; renewal options; and supplier dependencies to strengthen commercial outcomes.
Partner with Legal, IT, and relevant risk functions on AI contractual considerations, including data use, intellectual property, security, performance commitments, and exit provisions.
Gather, clarify, and assess AI and emerging-technology use cases with business and technology stakeholders; align requirements, expected value, priorities, and dependencies.
Identify common needs and opportunities to aggregate demand, avoid duplication, and connect use cases to appropriate sourcing approaches and adoption plans.
Operate as a player-coach and trusted internal consultant, framing options and trade-offs, constructively challenging assumptions, and influencing without direct authority to build stakeholder alignment and put capability strategy into action.