Global Supplier Quality Senior Manager (Secondment – 12 Months)

Pfizer•New York City, NY

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Global Supplier Quality Senior Manager provides oversight and performance management for a portfolio of raw-material suppliers supporting Pfizer’s manufacturing network. The role is accountable for ensuring that assigned suppliers consistently meet applicable Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements, regulatory expectations, quality standards, supply commitments, and business needs while advancing continuous improvement and risk mitigation. As the primary Global Quality contact and subject-matter expert for the assigned supplier portfolio, the Senior Manager independently evaluates complex supplier-quality issues, establishes risk-based oversight strategies, and leads cross-functional efforts to improve supplier performance and mitigate quality and supply risks. The role uses technical expertise, data-driven insights, and sound judgment to make or recommend product-quality and supplier-management decisions within established authority. It is an individual-contributor position that achieves results through technical leadership, partnership, governance, negotiation, and influence rather than direct reporting authority. The role partners with manufacturing sites, Procurement, technical functions, Regulatory Quality Assurance, and other stakeholders to strengthen supplier capability, standardize oversight, and deliver sustainable business value. It also supports supplier-management process optimization and digital transformation. The position is a 12-month secondment, considered flexible, with colleagues expected to follow site-based Log In For Your Day requirements (approximately 2.5 days per week in the office). The work location does not change; the position is posted for any Pfizer site in North America or Europe.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree with at least 6 years of experience, or master’s degree with at least 5 years of experience, or PhD with at least 1 year of experience.
Demonstrated experience providing quality oversight of suppliers or external manufacturers in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical-device, or another highly regulated industry.
Advanced working knowledge of GMP requirements and applicable FDA, EMA, ICH, and international regulatory expectations related to supplier qualification and oversight.
Expertise in supplier qualification, quality agreements, supplier-performance management, supplier changes, quality-event management, risk assessment, and supplier improvement.
Technical knowledge of active pharmaceutical ingredients, registered starting materials, excipients, or active pharmaceutical ingredient processing aids within at least one raw-material category.
Ability to evaluate complex technical and quality information, identify systemic risks, and make or recommend sound, risk-based product-quality and supplier-management decisions.
Experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives involving multiple sites, functions, regions, suppliers, and competing priorities.
Ability to influence decisions, negotiate commitments, facilitate issue resolution, and drive accountability without direct reporting authority.
Experience establishing and interpreting supplier-performance metrics, quality indicators, risk thresholds, and governance reporting.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present complex quality, compliance, technical, and risk information clearly to senior leaders, governance forums, suppliers, and regulatory stakeholders.
Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States for any employer; U.S. work visa sponsorship is not available now or in the future. The position requires permanent U.S. work authorization.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in pharmacy, chemistry, engineering, life sciences, business, or another relevant discipline.
At least 8 years of relevant experience in pharmaceutical quality, technical operations, procurement, supplier quality, or external manufacturing oversight, including significant supplier-quality or external-manufacturing experience.
Knowledge of additional material categories, such as processing materials, packaging components, or medical devices.
Experience supporting regulatory inspections, supplier audits, quality-system assessments, remediation programs, or significant supplier-quality investigations.
Experience leading global or multi-site supplier strategies within a complex manufacturing network.
Working knowledge of statistical analysis, data visualization, digital quality systems, supplier dashboards, predictive analytics, or other technologies used for supplier monitoring and risk management.
Lean, Six Sigma, quality risk-management, auditing, project-management, or change-management certification, or demonstrated equivalent experience.
Breadth of diverse leadership experiences and capabilities, including influencing and collaborating with peers, developing and coaching others, and overseeing and guiding colleagues’ work to achieve meaningful outcomes and business impact.

Responsibilities

Lead cross-functional governance for a portfolio of key suppliers through the Raw Material Center of Excellence across regions and products, driving alignment and standardization on material and supplier selection.
Establish and maintain supplier-performance frameworks, including key performance indicators, quality metrics, risk thresholds, governance routines, and escalation pathways; analyze performance data for adverse trends, systemic risks, and improvement opportunities.
Lead the evaluation and resolution of complex supplier changes, quality incidents, recurring performance issues, and other significant events with impacted sites and functions, ensuring actions are risk-based, timely, and sustainable.
Present supplier performance, quality risks, mitigation status, and decision requests to the Supplier Review Board and other governance forums.
Develop and execute global supplier-qualification strategies, including quality agreements, risk assessments, qualification requirements, monitoring plans, requalification activities, and change-management considerations.
Lead supplier requalification to maintain qualification status, material and product quality, regulatory commitments, and continuity of supply.
Develop and implement supplier-improvement plans to strengthen supplier capability and reliability and reduce recurring quality or supply issues.
Identify and prioritize high-risk suppliers through data-driven analysis and cross-functional input; lead risk assessments and align stakeholders on risk classifications, mitigation priorities, acceptance criteria, oversight requirements, and escalation decisions.
Exercise independent judgment to resolve complex supplier-quality matters involving incomplete information, competing priorities, multiple sites, or differing stakeholder perspectives.
Partner with Procurement, Technical, Site Quality, and RQA to align supplier strategies with product, site, network, and business requirements.
Support new product introductions, technology transfers, material changes, and supply-network changes by assessing supplier readiness and defining qualification and oversight requirements.
Represent Global Quality in Supplier Review Meetings with Procurement and GTEL, communicating quality expectations, negotiating sustainable commitments, and ensuring accountability for agreed actions.
Ensure assigned suppliers are managed in accordance with applicable GMP requirements, regulatory expectations, Pfizer standards, quality agreements, and approved supplier-management processes.
Maintain knowledge of relevant FDA, EMA, ICH, and other applicable regulatory requirements and assess the impact of evolving expectations on assigned suppliers and material categories.
Provide supplier-quality expertise for regulatory inspections, internal audits, quality assessments, inspection responses, and significant compliance matters.
Ensure supplier-oversight records, risk assessments, qualification documentation, performance reviews, and governance decisions are accurate, current, traceable, and inspection-ready.
Lead or support risk-based responses and remediation plans when audits, inspections, investigations, or performance reviews identify supplier-related deficiencies.
Lead initiatives to improve supplier quality and reliability, applying learnings to simplify and standardize supplier-management processes.
Adopt digital tools and systems for supplier monitoring and reporting, advance the SQM Digital Roadmap, and support a shift toward proactive, insight-driven supplier management.
Advance innovative processes and methodologies supporting Supplier Management centralization and process transformation while maintaining compliance.
Support the Sr Director Supplier Quality Management with additional tasks to progress process and governance optimizations.