R&D Procurement Lead: Clinical Study Vendors

Allergan; North Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

AbbVie is seeking a Manager, R&D Procurement to lead end-to-end clinical study vendor sourcing and contracting. You will collaborate with Clinical Operations, Legal, and Finance to define requirements, negotiate vendor agreements, and manage multiple studies across timelines and budgets.

Key responsibilities include drafting and redlining contracts, evaluating non-standard services, and mitigating procurement risks.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Supply Chain Mgmt, Clinical Operations, Life Sciences, Legal Studies, or a related field.
• Minimum of seven years of experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, clinical operations, pharmaceutical operations, supplier management, contracting, or a related business function.
• Experience supporting clinical development or clinical study activities, preferably within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, contract research organization, or healthcare industry.
• Demonstrated experience with clinical study vendor sourcing and contracting, including services such as central laboratories, central IRBs, imaging, ECG, and other specialized or non-standard clinical services.
• Experience drafting, reviewing, redlining, and negotiating commercial contracts, statements of work, budgets, change orders, and related procurement documents.
• Legal, paralegal, contract management, or other relevant legal experience is preferred, particularly experience interpreting contractual terms and partnering with Legal during negotiations.
• Experience sourcing and evaluating non-standard services, including supplier identification, competitive bidding, proposal evaluation, commercial analysis, and supplier selection.
• Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple clinical studies, vendors, contracting workstreams, deadlines, and competing priorities simultaneously.
• Strong communication, influencing, negotiation, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively across Clinical Operations, Legal, Finance, Procurement, and external suppliers.
• Previous experience managing teams or leading cross-functional workstreams, with a demonstrated ability to coach others and drive accountability
• Strong analytical skills and working knowledge of procurement operations, contract lifecycle management, supplier governance, risk mitigation, and applicable procurement policies. Knowledge of pharmaceutical clinical development processes and clinical study execution is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Manage clinical study vendor procurement activities from sourcing through contracting, ensuring timely and compliant execution in support of clinical study timelines and business objectives.
• Lead sourcing and contracting activities for clinical study service providers, including central laboratories, central IRBs, imaging providers, ECG vendors, and other specialized or non-standard services.
• Partner with Clinical Operations, Clinical Development, Legal, Finance, and other stakeholders to define requirements, and select appropriate vendors.
• Support the drafting, review, redlining, negotiation, and execution of vendor agreements, statements of work, budgets, change orders, and related contracting documents.
• Source and evaluate suppliers for non-standard clinical study services, including identifying qualified vendors, conducting competitive assessments, supporting requests for proposal, and documenting supplier-selection decisions.
• Manage multiple clinical studies and associated contracting workstreams concurrently, maintaining clear timelines, priorities, action logs, and status reporting.
• Track contract deliverables, approvals, milestones, and dependencies to identify and resolve issues that could affect study start-up, study execution, or supplier performance.
• Identify and mitigate procurement, commercial, contractual, operational, and supply risks in collaboration with Category Managers, Procurement leadership, Legal, and clinical business partners.
• Maintain excellence in source-to-contract and requisition-to-pay activities, including compliance with procurement policies, process controls, supplier governance, and documentation requirements.
• Identify opportunities to improve contracting and sourcing processes, reduce inefficiencies, manage savings leakage, and enhance assurance of supply for clinical study services.
• Lead or contribute to continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen clinical vendor sourcing, contracting, budget negotiation, and stakeholder collaboration.
• Lead and develop a team of Procurement Specialists, as applicable, by setting performance expectations, providing coaching, and building capabilities in clinical procurement and contracting.

Skills

Procurement experience

Strategic sourcing

Clinical operations

Contracting

Vendor management

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Negotiation

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Supply Chain Mgmt, Clinical Operations, Life Sciences, Legal Studies, or related field

Job description

AbbVie is seeking a Manager, R&D Procurement to lead end-to-end clinical study vendor sourcing and contracting. You will collaborate with Clinical Operations, Legal, and Finance to define requirements, negotiate vendor agreements, and manage multiple studies across timelines and budgets.

Key responsibilities include drafting and redlining contracts, evaluating non-standard services, and mitigating procurement risks.