Associate Director - IT Procurement (Emerging Technology)

Contribute to our truly global Procurement team, which reflects the full diversity of the people we serve. Your voice counts: different experiences, backgrounds and ways of working are respected here. United by curiosity, we share insights to challenge conventions. By collaborating and innovating with each other, our stakeholders and our suppliers, we are creating the most competitive supplier ecosystem. In this role, you will be developing long-term strategic plans for the entire spend area within AstraZeneca or Region. You will also be managing customer and supplier relationships to ensure that Category Strategies are highly aligned to current and future Business needs and that the supply base is capable of supporting these strategies. You'll have accountability for a spend category or market across a region or the whole of AstraZeneca (maybe single or multiple functional areas). Leading both demand and supply side activities.

Accountabilities:
• Global Accountability for the IT Software category, mostly focused in Emerging Technology – including the negotiation of large enterprise software agreements and partnering with the Global IT organization.
• Oversee implementation of category plan to ensure that the underpinning process improvement and procurement activities deliver the expected business value in accordance with the strategic plans.
• Support Director in the development of long-term strategic plans for agreed scope of spend area.
• Support the Director in strategic relationship management (customer and supplier) - to ensure that Market & Category Strategies are aligned to current and future Business need and that the supply base is capable of supporting these strategies.
• Work with relevant Director(s) to ensure a fully integrated and customer-aligned AZ-wide category plan.
• Work alongside Global Procurement Services (GPS), our Procurement team based in Poland, who support each of the AZ Functional Procurement teams, in advising on and driving procurement strategies to make decisions necessary to purchase products and services in congruence with organizational objectives.
• Coordinate the introduction of new and modified products and services with appropriate departments.
• Analyze and resolve issues raised in procurement audit reports.
• Advise on contracts and agreements for the supply of complex, emerging technologies and services with new and existing suppliers.
• Develop, evaluate or manage internal and external relationships with suppliers and other cross-functional teams.

Essential Skills/Experience:
• Degree level or equivalent qualifications
• Significant experience in similar environment at a management level
• Sound understanding of Safety, Health and Environment
• Project management, change management and people management skills
• Good working knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry
• Technical expertise in at least one Procurement area, and competence in several others
• Communication skills and ability to influence others
• Comfort with risk and ambiguous situations

Desirable Skills/Experience:
• Experience in line management, technical support and project management

When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions. That's why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn't mean we're not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility. Join us in our unique and ambitious world.

Broaden your mind to thrive in our dynamic environment. Take an enterprise-wide approach to influence the whole value chain, from internal functions to external partners and suppliers. In our fast-paced and demanding environment, it takes resilience and commercial knowledge to anticipate and react to changing business requirements. Help us to keep evolving in line with our global responsibilities by delivering rapid change with intuitive solutions.

Ready to make a difference? Apply now!