Senior Director - IT Procurement

AstraZeneca • Gaithersburg, MD

2d • Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking an accomplished and strategic IT Procurement Category Senior Director to lead our global IT Procurement. This pivotal role acts as a strategic business partner to AZ IT as well as the various digital functional leadership teams —translating technology roadmaps and product priorities into commercial strategies and supplier outcomes. You will steer category management excellence, implement groundbreaking initiatives, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to enable speed, innovation, resilience, and compliant value creation across the AZ IT portfolio. You will develop a high-performing, partnership oriented culture that supports our IT and Procurement teams in realizing their ambitious goals.
Key Responsibilities:
Category Management Excellence: Develop and complete an innovative global category strategy for IT procurement that drives continuous improvement and delivers balanced value—co-shaped with AZ IT to align with technology roadmaps, architecture standards, and service delivery needs.
Leadership and Team Development: Lead, mentor, and develop a team of procurement professionals. Encourage a culture of excellence, collaboration, and professional growth, embedding a business partnering mentality and proactive engagement model with AZ IT
Functional Leadership team: Play a key role on the IT and Infrastructure Procurement Leadership team, giving to the overall success of the function as well as lead / mentor functional teams to deliver scorecard objectives.
Strategic Sourcing: Identify and complete strategic sourcing opportunities that align with company and product goals. Leverage deep market insights and benchmarking to optimize and innovate procurement processes, timing sourcing events to IT delivery cadences (e.g., sprint/PI planning) and supporting rapid proofs-of-concept through to scale-up.
Supplier Relationship Management: Build and maintain positive relationships with key suppliers and strategic technology partners (cloud, SaaS, data/AI, engineering services, niche R&D platforms). Drive joint value creation for AZIT use cases, negotiate commercial models that fit consumption patterns, and ensure measurable outcomes.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate closely with AZIT and Digital product owners, engineering, architecture, cybersecurity, finance, and senior leadership to align procurement strategies with business objectives. Facilitate portfolio planning and demand shaping to optimize total cost, risk, and speed-to-value.
Risk Management: Identify, assess, and manage risks associated with IT procurement. Partner with Legal, Privacy, InfoSec, QA, and IT to ensure compliant contracting and robust supplier controls for regulated R&D environments; implement operational resilience and continuity plans for critical services.
Performance Metrics and Reporting: Define and manage benchmarks and goals and breakthroughs (operational key reports) in partnership with IT (e.g., availability, velocity, unit economics, adoption). Run joint governance and QBRs with suppliers, report on value realization (savings, cost avoidance, productivity, risk reduction, innovation), and highlight areas for improvement.
Market Intelligence for IT: Provide insight on tech market trends, vendor roadmaps, licensing shifts, and regulatory impacts to inform IT make/buy decisions, architecture choices, and derisking strategies for AZIT.
Sustainability and Inclusion: Embed ESG, accessibility, and supplier diversity goals into the technology vendor base, balancing compliance with innovation needs in AZIT.
Change Management: Lead participant education on new commercial models, vendor consolidation, and process changes; create clear playbooks and standards (e.g., data rights, model IP, validation, decommissioning) to help IT teams consume Procurement services seamlessly.
Qualifications:

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree
• Minimum of 10+ years of experience
• Demonstrated experience in IT procurement, with at least 5 years in a leadership role managing category teams.
• Strong leadership and team management skills with a track record of developing talent and acting as a thought partner to IT customers.
• Excellent negotiation, communication, and interpersonal skills; comfortable facilitating executive-level discussions and shaping decisions with data.
• Proven ability to influence cross-functionally and inspire change within a complex, global organization, balancing speed, risk, and value in regulated settings at the VP/SVP level.
• Deep understanding of IT market trends, sourcing strategies, vendor management, and domains such as cloud, SaaS, data platforms, AI/ML tooling, cybersecurity, and validated/GxP systems.
• Demonstrated ability to translate business and scientific objectives into commercial strategies and supplier outcomes.
• Commitment to driving category management excellence and achieving strategic business objectives through collaborative business partnering.

Nice To Haves

• Global procurement experience is preferred; exposure to R&D tech environments and partnering with VP/CIO/CTO or product organizations is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Develop and complete an innovative global category strategy for IT procurement that drives continuous improvement and delivers balanced value—co-shaped with AZ IT to align with technology roadmaps, architecture standards, and service delivery needs.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of procurement professionals. Encourage a culture of excellence, collaboration, and professional growth, embedding a business partnering mentality and proactive engagement model with AZ IT
• Play a key role on the IT and Infrastructure Procurement Leadership team, giving to the overall success of the function as well as lead / mentor functional teams to deliver scorecard objectives.
• Identify and complete strategic sourcing opportunities that align with company and product goals. Leverage deep market insights and benchmarking to optimize and innovate procurement processes, timing sourcing events to IT delivery cadences (e.g., sprint/PI planning) and supporting rapid proofs-of-concept through to scale-up.
• Build and maintain positive relationships with key suppliers and strategic technology partners (cloud, SaaS, data/AI, engineering services, niche R&D platforms). Drive joint value creation for AZIT use cases, negotiate commercial models that fit consumption patterns, and ensure measurable outcomes.
• Collaborate closely with AZIT and Digital product owners, engineering, architecture, cybersecurity, finance, and senior leadership to align procurement strategies with business objectives. Facilitate portfolio planning and demand shaping to optimize total cost, risk, and speed-to-value.
• Identify, assess, and manage risks associated with IT procurement. Partner with Legal, Privacy, InfoSec, QA, and IT to ensure compliant contracting and robust supplier controls for regulated R&D environments; implement operational resilience and continuity plans for critical services.
• Define and manage benchmarks and goals and breakthroughs (operational key reports) in partnership with IT (e.g., availability, velocity, unit economics, adoption). Run joint governance and QBRs with suppliers, report on value realization (savings, cost avoidance, productivity, risk reduction, innovation), and highlight areas for improvement.
• Provide insight on tech market trends, vendor roadmaps, licensing shifts, and regulatory impacts to inform IT make/buy decisions, architecture choices, and derisking strategies for AZIT.
• Embed ESG, accessibility, and supplier diversity goals into the technology vendor base, balancing compliance with innovation needs in AZIT.
• Lead participant education on new commercial models, vendor consolidation, and process changes; create clear playbooks and standards (e.g., data rights, model IP, validation, decommissioning) to help IT teams consume Procurement services seamlessly.

Benefits

• qualified retirement program [401(k) plan]
• paid vacation and holidays
• paid leaves
• health benefits including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees