Senior Director Supply Chain - USL

Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC•Maple Grove, MN

51d

About The Position

The Senior Director Supply Chain provides strategic leadership for material and supplier sourcing activities. The Senior Director is responsible for the procurement of materials, products and/or services in support of the sales plan and general business operations for Upsher-Smith. This position will lead strategy, operations, and governance for all outsourced drug substance and product manufacturing — ensuring supply reliability, regulatory compliance, cost optimization, and procurement excellence across the value chain. The ideal candidate is a seasoned manufacturing and supply chain leader who brings deep experience in external partnerships, technology transfers, and end-to-end procure-to-pay (P2P) management within a regulated pharmaceutical environment. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Engineering, Pharmacy, Biology, Supply Chain, or a related discipline required.
12+ years in supply chain/operations with 7+ years in pharma/biotech; 5+ years leading teams.
Proven leadership of end-to-end supply chains including CMOs/CDMOs, serialization, cold-chain, and distribution to U.S. channels.
Deep knowledge of GMP/GDP, DSCSA, FDA/ICH, and audit readiness.
Proficiency with ERP (e.g., SAP), planning tools, and serialization/EPCIS systems.
Strong financial acumen (COGS, PPV, inventory capitalization), contract negotiation, and vendor management.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree (MS, MBA, or PhD) strongly preferred.
Experience with generics, rare disease/specialty products, or temperature-sensitive therapies.
Global distribution/launch experience (EU/Canada/APAC) and trade compliance exposure.
Experience standing up S&OP in a high growth organization.

Responsibilities

Identifies and develops strategic direction for the Supply Chain function while overseeing end-to-end outsourced production for Upsher-Smith’s commercial and clinical products, ensuring uninterrupted global supply.
Lead technology transfers from Upsher-Smith’s internal manufacturing sites to external partners with efficiency, precision, and compliance.
Responsible for S&OP process include demand planning and supply planning to ensure USL achieves optimal inventory levels.
Collaborates with commercial organization to achieve targeted service levels.
Utilizes S&OP to direct review of short-term (monthly) and long-term (quarterly & annual) forecast to minimize backorders, Failure to Supply, excess inventory and maintain high level of customer service.
Build and manage high-performing strategic relationships with key CMOs and CDMOs across global markets.
Partner closely with QA and Regulatory Affairs to ensure all external manufacturing and procurement partners operate in full compliance with FDA, EMA, PMDA, and other global health authority standards.
Oversee the external manufacturing and procurement budgets, ensuring fiscal accountability, cost optimization, and long-term value creation.
Develop and track key performance indicators (KPIs) across the external manufacturing and procurement ecosystems to ensure measurable results.
Establish and lead governance frameworks for partner oversight, including executive business reviews, performance scorecards, and contract negotiations.
Analyzes and plans, anticipating obstacles and resource constraints, and develops contingency strategies to meet organizational priorities.
Develops and manages Department budgets within annual approved plan.
Evaluates staff performance, provides coaching, guidance, direction, and facilitates short and long-term development.
Champion the development and optimization of the end-to-end procure-to-pay (P2P) process — from supplier selection, sourcing strategy, and contract execution to purchase order, payment, and supplier performance tracking.
Establishes departmental policies and procedures and manages team to those standards.
Makes strategic decisions in an environment of constantly changing priorities.
Uses processes, tools and metrics to monitor, manage and improve performance, output and efficiencies to prevent critical deviations or delays from the business objectives.
Manages outside resources by planning and monitoring pricing trends, availability of supplies and supplier performance supporting quality and delivery expectations.
Leads the team for resolution of invoice discrepancies and quality issues (SCARs) to ensure continued supply of quality materials.
Responsible for establishing and maintaining supplier relationships.
Establishes supplier performance metrics through the development of strategic and tactical supplier management plans.
Negotiates supplier contracts to attain price, service advantages and supply continuation.
Recognizes legal consequences of supplier transactions and purchase orders.
Represents Procurement in the participation and contribution to Supplier Risk Management, Alliance Management, S&OP, and process change control.