Global Category Lead - Clinical Development Services

3310 Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.•Boston, MA

13h•Onsite

About The Position

This role is a member of the R&D Procurement team, leading 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.

Requirements

Bachelors degree
10+ years experience in procurement, category management, supply chain, or related commercial functions within complex global organizations
Proven ability to develop and execute category strategies
Strong commercial and financial acumen with a demonstrated track record of delivering measurable value through cost optimization, risk management, innovation, sustainability, and operational efficiency initiatives
Subject-matter expertise in clinical development or similar categories in healthcare, biotech or pharmaceutical industry
Ability to influence and challenge senior stakeholders, shaping business decisions and aligning procurement strategies with organizational priorities
Deep understanding of strategic sourcing, supplier relationship management, category management, and contract governance principles
Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and delivering results in complex, matrixed, and multi-stakeholder environments
Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to leverage market intelligence, data, and insights to inform decision-making and identify value opportunities
Demonstrated ability to build, develop, and lead high-performing teams while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Change-leadership and transformation experience, driving new operating models and ways of working across a function
Strong negotiation, communication, and executive stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence outcomes at all organizational levels
Experience leveraging digital technologies, automation, and data-driven approaches to enhance procurement performance, decision-making, and business value delivery
Demonstrated learning agility and continuous improvement mindset, with an interest in developing category expertise and leveraging digital, automation, and AI-enabled solutions
Knowledge of supplier risk management, business continuity planning, and sustainable procurement practices
Fluent written and spoken English

Nice To Haves

MBA of a relevant field would be and advantage

Responsibilities

Define and lead category strategies that maximize enterprise value from external spend through cost optimization, innovation, risk management, sustainability, and business growth
Act as a strategic partner to senior business leaders, aligning category priorities with organizational objectives and ensuring external spend supports critical business outcomes
Drive long-term business outcomes by shaping category strategy, supplier portfolio strategy, and enterprise spending decisions
Orchestrate cross-functional resources and stakeholder collaboration to deliver category goals, strengthen supplier partnerships, and ensure sustainable business performance
Manage a small team of category managers
Develop and execute category strategies that align external spend with enterprise objectives, business priorities, and long-term value creation goals
Shape demand and business requirements by challenging specifications, operating models, supplier strategies, and sourcing approaches to optimize total value and return on investment
Lead complex strategic programs and category value plans, ensuring delivery of cost, productivity, innovation, sustainability, quality, and risk management objectives
Drive cross-functional collaboration across business, operations, finance, legal, and procurement teams to deliver End-2-End category strategies and strategic initiatives
Build and maintain a high-performing supplier ecosystem that balances innovation, competitiveness, resilience, and long-term business needs, while including Quality and Sustainability requirements.
Own strategic supplier relationships, governance, and performance management to drive continuous improvement, innovation, and value delivery
Ensure supplier strategies, commercial models, and contractual frameworks support business objectives, regulatory requirements, quality standards, and supply continuity
Synthesize market intelligence, supplier insights, and business data into compelling narratives that influence strategic decisions and stakeholder alignment
Act as a strategic business partner to senior stakeholders, influencing spend decisions, investment priorities, operating models, and external resource deployment
Lead, develop, and enable high-performing teams by building critical capabilities, fostering collaboration, and driving a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and business partnership
Coach category managers and associates toward excellent, business-aligned category strategies, embedding adherence to best-practice category-management methodology and raising the quality and consistency of strategy development and execution across the team
Attract, develop, and retain category talent in a competitive market, actively building succession strength and career pathways across the team
Allocate people and priority across the category portfolio, making cross-category trade-offs to maximize aggregate enterprise value
Accountable for the value-delivery agenda across the category portfolio, setting and governing the targets and KPIs — spanning the enterprise value framework of P&L impact, P&L protection, and cash improvement, plus value beyond savings (risk, business performance, innovation, quality, sustainability) — and holding category managers accountable for realization.
Own the contracting and commercial strategy across the portfolio, governing Master Service Agreement (MSA) management and the frameworks that downstream Service Agreements, SOWs, and purchase orders draw against, while leading the most strategic, enterprise-critical agreements directly.
Accountable for end-to-end management of the total category spend portfolio, ensuring every dollar of spend is owned, compliant, and optimized — setting the spend, tail-spend, and buying-channel strategy that category managers execute within their categories.
Understand business continuity and supply continuity principles, with ability to assess supply risks, develop mitigation strategies, and ensure resilience across supplier networks and critical operations