Sr. Specialist, Supplier Relationship Management & Process Optimization (Hybrid)

Merck • Upper Gwynedd Township, PA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

Global Clinical Supply (GCS) is part of our Research & Development Division and oversees the integrated clinical supply chain for all our Company's assets in clinical trials. GCS manages planning, sourcing, labelling, packaging, and delivery of clinical supplies for over 1,000 trials across more than 60 countries, complying with US and global regulations. Within GCS, the External Partnerships and Sourcing (EPS) team handles third-party vendor relationships, sources qualified direct materials and services and manages supplier performance. By maintaining strong external partnerships, EPS supports efficient, high-quality clinical supply delivery for successful global trials.
The Senior Specialist, Supplier Relationship Management & Process Optimization will be primarily focused on relationship management activities, such as supplier governance and escalation management. This individual will also focus on the deployment and continuous improvement of the established supplier governance framework and onboarding/offboarding of suppliers while developing a stronger framework supporting supplier integrations beyond our existing strategic partners. This role will include driving effective and consistent supplier governance to ensure robust performance management, consistent governance frameworks, clear objectives, effective scorecard practices, and effective use and maintenance of the External Partnerships Playbook. This role will lead the Relationship Management Center of Excellence meetings and related activities to promote consistent practices and collaboration across all service lines.
This role will also deploy advanced project management and problem-solving skills to drive process optimization across key areas within EP&S. This role will focus on taking ownership of projects that span multiple service lines and/or suppliers, proactively lead cross-functional initiatives, and ensure end-to-end results are achieved. Deviation management and support of supplier investigations will also be performed by this individual as needed.

Requirements

• BS/BA degree
• Minimum of 3 years of working experience with or within a healthcare/consumer care/pharma or technology industries; project management or relationship management experience.
• Strong escalation, interpersonal, communication, and leadership skills.
• Ability to lead by influence and work effectively in matrix organizational structures
• Demonstrated ability to develop strong relationships and execute on priorities with a diverse group of stakeholders
• Strategic thinking and independent decision-making abilities with an out of the box mindset
• Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly, effectively and tactfully to interact with different global professional levels and external stakeholders
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Strong command of Microsoft Tools: Word, Powerpoint, Excel.
• A dedication to solving complex and challenging problems with a creative mind and imaginative strategies.

Nice To Haves

• Other tools such as PowerBI, PowerAutomate, QlikSense a big plus.

Responsibilities

• Organize, facilitate and execute routine Relationship Management Center of Excellence (CoE) meetings by establishing intentional agendas with clear next-step actions to promote consistent practices across the relationship management functions within EP&S and ensuring a streamlined attendance and focus on scorecard effectiveness driving efficient E2E supply chain accountability.
• Further develop and maintain the External Partnerships Playbook.
• Triage, resolve, and close escalations across EP&S raised by internal stakeholders by swiftly assessing issues, coordinating solutions, and ensuring thorough documentation and completion.
• Effectively support supplier performance in accordance with our established governance process with clearly defined objectives against established KPIs.
• Identify, develop, and deploy improvements to governance frameworks. Improve processes across EP&S functions and GCS suppliers, focused on increasing efficiency, advancing automation/dashboarding, supplier scorecard and developing or maintaining operational resources and tools.
• Onboarding and offboarding of new or existing suppliers according to External Partnerships Playbook.
• Work with suppliers to improve existing processes, ensuring consistent application and supporting sourcing management as needed.
• Effectively project manage key EP&S priorities to support LT and XLT as needed.
• Support any deviation management and supplier related investigations as needed and support broader EPS as overflow deviation support.

Benefits

• The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.
• We offer a comprehensive package of benefits. Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days.
• More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits.

What This Job Offers

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