Manager, R&D Procurement

AbbVie•North Chicago, IL

9d•$109,500 - $208,500•Onsite

About The Position

The Manager, R&D Procurement is responsible for managing the end-to-end procurement process, from strategic sourcing through contracting, ensuring execution aligns with category strategy, business requirements, and procurement policies. This role will provide procurement support for clinical study vendor contracting activities, including the sourcing, negotiation, and contracting of vendors that provide services necessary to conduct and execute clinical studies. Examples include central laboratories, central institutional review boards (IRBs), medical imaging, electrocardiogram (ECG) services, and other required services to support the study. The role will partner closely with Clinical Development, Clinical Operations, Legal, Finance, and other business stakeholders to evaluate suppliers, negotiate contracts and budgets, and ensure timely execution of agreements in support of multiple clinical studies. The position requires strong project management, organizational, contracting, and stakeholder-management skills to effectively manage concurrent studies, vendors, and contracting activities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Supply Chain Mgmt, Clinical Operations, Life Sciences, Legal Studies, or a related field.
Minimum of seven years of experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, clinical operations, pharmaceutical operations, supplier management, contracting, or a related business function.
Experience supporting clinical development or clinical study activities, preferably within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, contract research organization, or healthcare industry.
Demonstrated experience with clinical study vendor sourcing and contracting, including services such as central laboratories, central IRBs, imaging, ECG, and other specialized or non-standard clinical services.
Experience drafting, reviewing, redlining, and negotiating commercial contracts, statements of work, budgets, change orders, and related procurement documents.
Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple clinical studies, vendors, contracting workstreams, deadlines, and competing priorities simultaneously.
Strong communication, influencing, negotiation, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively across Clinical Operations, Legal, Finance, Procurement, and external suppliers.
Strong analytical skills and working knowledge of procurement operations, contract lifecycle management, supplier governance, risk mitigation, and applicable procurement policies.

Nice To Haves

Legal, paralegal, contract management, or other relevant legal experience is preferred, particularly experience interpreting contractual terms and partnering with Legal during negotiations.
Experience sourcing and evaluating non-standard services, including supplier identification, competitive bidding, proposal evaluation, commercial analysis, and supplier selection.
Previous experience managing teams or leading cross-functional workstreams, with a demonstrated ability to coach others and drive accountability
Knowledge of pharmaceutical clinical development processes and clinical study execution is preferred.

Responsibilities

Manage clinical study vendor procurement activities from sourcing through contracting, ensuring timely and compliant execution in support of clinical study timelines and business objectives.
Lead sourcing and contracting activities for clinical study service providers, including central laboratories, central IRBs, imaging providers, ECG vendors, and other specialized or non-standard services.
Partner with Clinical Operations, Clinical Development, Legal, Finance, and other stakeholders to define requirements, and select appropriate vendors.
Support the drafting, review, redlining, negotiation, and execution of vendor agreements, statements of work, budgets, change orders, and related contracting documents.
Source and evaluate suppliers for non-standard clinical study services, including identifying qualified vendors, conducting competitive assessments, supporting requests for proposal, and documenting supplier-selection decisions.
Manage multiple clinical studies and associated contracting workstreams concurrently, maintaining clear timelines, priorities, action logs, and status reporting.
Track contract deliverables, approvals, milestones, and dependencies to identify and resolve issues that could affect study start-up, study execution, or supplier performance.
Identify and mitigate procurement, commercial, contractual, operational, and supply risks in collaboration with Category Managers, Procurement leadership, Legal, and clinical business partners.
Maintain excellence in source-to-contract and requisition-to-pay activities, including compliance with procurement policies, process controls, supplier governance, and documentation requirements.
Identify opportunities to improve contracting and sourcing processes, reduce inefficiencies, manage savings leakage, and enhance assurance of supply for clinical study services.
Lead or contribute to continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen clinical vendor sourcing, contracting, budget negotiation, and stakeholder collaboration.
Lead and develop a team of Procurement Specialists, as applicable, by setting performance expectations, providing coaching, and building capabilities in clinical procurement and contracting.