Sr. Director, Vendor & Relationship Management

Kardigan•Princeton, NJ

3d•$244,000 - $318,000•Onsite

About The Position

Kardigan is a heart health company focused on modernizing cardiovascular drug development and advancing targeted treatments for cardiovascular diseases. The Sr. Director, Vendor & Relationship Management provides strategic and operational leadership for vendor governance, sourcing strategy, and relationship management across Kardigan’s clinical portfolio. The role defines sourcing strategies and operating models that support effective clinical trial execution through external partnerships and is accountable for ensuring CROs, central labs, and other clinical vendors meet performance, quality, and cost targets. The Senior Director oversees vendor selection, integration, governance, performance management, relationship health, and issue escalation, ensuring vendors are integrated into Kardigan’s operating model, ways of working, and culture. As a subject matter expert, the role applies vendor-management best practices, industry trends, and external benchmarking to develop and mature vendor relationships. This hands-on leadership position combines strategic work with building fit-for-purpose governance structures, processes, and team capabilities, including developing direct reports as the function scales. The role partners with Development Operations, Clinical Operations, Biometrics, Business Operations, Procurement, Legal, Quality, and cross-functional clinical development teams. It is based on-site in Princeton, New Jersey, four days per week (Monday through Thursday); candidates in South San Francisco may also be considered. Travel of up to 20–30% domestically and internationally may be required. The stated pay range is $244,000–$318,000 USD, with exact compensation varying based on skills, experience, and location.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business, life sciences, healthcare administration, or a related field.
At least 12 years of relevant experience in vendor management, operational leadership, procurement, or related roles within the biopharmaceutical industry, including oversight of CROs and other clinical vendors; candidates with an advanced degree and 10 or more years of relevant experience may be considered.
Proven experience building and managing external partner and vendor relationships, with strong negotiation and honest-brokering skills.
Demonstrated experience defining and implementing sourcing strategies and operating models and building and leading vendor governance frameworks, performance scorecards, and relationship-management programs in biotechnology or pharmaceuticals.
Knowledge of pharmaceutical-industry regulatory requirements and standards related to vendor management and outsourcing.
Thorough understanding of drug development and experience managing vendor relationships across the clinical-trial lifecycle.
Experience supporting global clinical trials and cross-functional development teams.
Late-stage clinical development experience.
Strong analytical capability and ability to translate vendor performance and cost data into practical insights, recommendations, dashboards, and executive-ready communications.
Experience building scalable governance processes, tools, templates, and operating rhythms in a growing organization.
Working knowledge of GxP, sponsor oversight expectations, and inspection-readiness considerations related to vendor oversight.
Ability to lead through influence across matrixed teams and partner effectively with Business Operations, Procurement, Legal, Clinical Operations, Quality, and external partners.
Demonstrated experience leading, developing, and growing a team of direct reports.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex operational, cost, and relationship information for senior leaders.
Comfort working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial biotechnology environment with a high degree of ownership, adaptability, and accountability.
Ability to work on-site in Princeton, New Jersey four days per week (Monday through Thursday), or potentially be based in South San Francisco.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 20–30% as required.

Nice To Haves

An advanced degree, such as an MBA or MS.
Strategic partnership or alliance-management experience.

Responsibilities

Define and implement sourcing strategies and operating models that enable efficient, high-quality clinical trial execution through external partnerships.
Assess portfolio resource demand and sourcing options, including build-versus-buy and vendor-mix decisions, in partnership with Procurement and relevant functions.
Apply vendor-management best practices, industry trends, and external benchmarking to evolve sourcing and governance models.
Lead the clinical-portfolio vendor governance model and ensure functional areas and study teams work effectively with vendors.
Model and reinforce partnership behaviors, including transparency, trust, shared accountability, constructive challenge, timely decision-making, and commitment to outcomes.
Oversee planning and leadership of Joint Operations Committees, Executive Steering Committees, and other vendor governance committees, including agendas, metrics, strategy, and follow-up actions.
Act as the senior point of contact for strategic, relationship-level vendor issues and escalations.
Develop and maintain vendor segmentation and oversight models aligned with vendor scope, risk, and criticality.
Promote compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards for vendor management and outsourcing, including appropriate partnership documentation.
Own vendor accountability for portfolio-wide performance, quality, and cost targets; collaborate with Business Operations and Finance on budgeting, forecasting, and accrual processes.
Develop and enhance vendor performance scorecards and dashboards, use analytics to identify risks early, and initiate mitigations and contingencies for performance and cost risks.
Collaborate across functions and partnerships to ensure vendors execute clinical trials within budget, on time, and to high-quality standards.
Translate vendor performance, cost, and relationship data into concise insights for Development Operations leadership, executive leadership, and governance forums.
Improve vendor-management processes, tools, templates, and reporting practices to increase speed, consistency, and inspection readiness.
Identify opportunities to use automation, AI-enabled tools, and fit-for-purpose systems to improve vendor oversight, scorecarding, and relationship reporting.
Partner with Procurement/Business Operations, Development Operations, and functional partners to identify, evaluate, select, and onboard vendors.
Lead integration of new vendors into Kardigan’s operating model and ways of working, and cultivate effective external partnerships.
Drive vendor-enabled process improvements and innovation initiatives that improve efficiency, quality, and relationship value.
Use negotiation and honest-brokering skills to resolve relationship, performance, and commercial issues, partnering with Procurement/Business Operations and Legal on contract terms and amendments.
Partner with internal stakeholders and external vendors to resolve relationship, performance, and delivery escalations that could affect study timelines or execution quality.
Address vendor performance and cost concerns, recommend mitigations, and drive corrective action plans when needed.
Coordinate with Procurement, Legal, and Finance/Business Operations to address vendor relationship issues alongside contractual and financial considerations.
Lead and develop direct reports through coaching, performance management, delegation, and succession planning as the function scales.
Build, lead, and mentor internal vendor-management capabilities and foster continuous improvement and accountability.
Serve as a senior business partner to Development Operations and cross-functional clinical development teams.
Represent Partner Strategy and Relationship Management in governance forums, project-team discussions, and operating-model initiatives as needed.
Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders and external vendor partners, balancing strategic influence with hands-on execution.
Contribute to departmental SOPs, working practices, and operating-model improvements.