Strategic Sourcing Senior Manager, Temporary Labor & Talent Acquisition Service – Contract
About The Position
The Interim Strategic Sourcing Senior Manager, Temporary Labor & Talent Acquisition Services, will lead an enterprise-wide category that helps Vertex secure contingent talent and external talent-acquisition expertise. The role partners with Talent Acquisition, HR, business leaders, Legal, Finance, Procurement Operations, and suppliers to develop and execute sourcing strategies, lead complex sourcing events and negotiations, manage supplier performance and governance, and promote scalable workforce and recruitment solutions. The position may also support selected consulting-services sourcing projects as strategy in that area develops. This commercially focused role translates business needs, market insight, and supplier capabilities into practical solutions that create value, manage risk, and improve the experience of hiring managers and candidates. It is a six-month contract covering a leave of absence, with a hybrid schedule requiring three days onsite at Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Boston. The position is a W-2 assignment through a third-party agency partner.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree.
- 7–10 years of strategic sourcing, procurement, or category-management experience, including complex sourcing events, negotiations, and supplier management.
- Experience in contingent labor, staffing suppliers, MSP programs, recruitment services such as contingent search and executive search, RPO solutions, or related workforce solutions.
- Knowledge across multiple geographies, with particular focus on US and UK markets.
- Ability to manage senior stakeholders, influence decisions, navigate difficult conversations, and build trusted relationships.
- Strong commercial, analytical, project-management, communication, and presentation skills.
- Experience developing sourcing strategies, conducting market research and benchmarking, and identifying cost savings and broader value opportunities.
- Supplier relationship and performance-management capability, including governance and business-review processes.
- Experience working in a regulated environment.
- Knowledge of ERP, e-sourcing, business-intelligence, and reporting tools.
- Ability to independently manage multiple complex projects while collaborating with Legal, Finance, Compliance, Procurement Operations, HR, Talent Acquisition, and business stakeholders.
- A can-do, AI-ready mindset and ability to thrive in ambiguity and identify practical ways to improve sourcing outcomes.
Nice To Haves
- Pharmaceutical or life-sciences experience.
- Exposure to VMS platforms and systems such as Coupa or iCertis.
- Consulting-services procurement and SOW experience.
- Broader HR-services or recruitment-procurement experience.
- Experience across the extended-workforce ecosystem, including FMS and related workforce models.
- CCWP or contingent-workforce programme-management certification.
Responsibilities
- Lead category management for Temporary Labor and Talent Acquisition Services, including MSPs, staffing suppliers, RPO, contingent search, executive search, and related workforce solutions.
- Develop and execute category and sourcing strategies aligned with business and HR/Talent Acquisition priorities across geographies and complex spend areas.
- Lead end-to-end sourcing initiatives, including requirements definition, RFx development, supplier evaluation, bid analysis, stakeholder alignment, negotiation planning, and contract execution.
- Conduct market research, benchmarking, pricing analysis, and supplier assessments, and turn findings into actionable recommendations.
- Identify and deliver cost savings, commercial value, and continuous-improvement opportunities.
- Manage strategic supplier relationships, performance management, governance meetings, Executive Business Reviews, and supplier-improvement plans.
- Lead negotiations for SOWs, MSAs, amendments, renewals, pricing, service levels, and other commercial terms.
- Partner with business owners and risk subject-matter experts to identify, assess, and mitigate sourcing risks.
- Influence stakeholders and support adoption of workforce strategies, operating models, tools, and process improvements, including VMS and hiring-manager journey enhancements.
- Support selected consulting-services and SOW sourcing projects as needed.
