Director, R&D Vendor Relationship Management

Job Description

The Head of R&D Strategic Vendor Relationship Management is accountable for leading the group that manages relationships for key R&D Strategic Vendors (IQVIA, Thermofisher, Covance, Q2 Solutions, etc.) with an annual budget of >$300M per year. This role also oversees the R&D Contracts Group (2 FTEs and 4 contractors) which triages all incoming contract requests within R&D (and WWM on an ad hoc basis). This role serves to define vendor relationship best practices across the organization and serves as a point of escalation to troubleshoot process, compliance, legal and financial issues as well as other cross-functional efforts. This person will work with both internal and external stakeholders to maximize the value brought by our key R&D vendors and will lead and support cross-functional teams (including Clinical Sciences, GSRS, R&D Research, Procurement, IT, Quality, Legal, Finance, Worldwide Medical) to prepare for and engage in interactions with our key vendors toward successful outcomes and will be a point of escalation in cases of a dispute. This person will lead the R&D vendor relationship management and contracts teams to provide thoughtful direction and counsel to team leaders/members on strategy and approach and will be the main point of contact for all R&D-wide vendor relationships during RFI/RFP and selection for new R&D-wide vendors.

• Leads the management and oversight of key strategic R&D outsourcing partner relationships including:
  • Defines and puts in place processes, behaviors and expectations for key vendors and ensures they are implemented
  • Ensures services are meeting expectations of performance and maintenance of relationship health
  • Leads Governance meetings between Biogen and the partner to ensure that all decisions (financial, scope of work, timeline, etc.) are made at the appropriate time, and escalates as necessary if there is an issue
  • Leads issue management and resolution, working with appropriate functional leadership, escalating as necessary both internally and externally
  • Responsible for ensuring open communication within the relationship, both internally and externally
  • Ensures Biogen service needs are adequately resourced, and that the vendor is abiding by all MSA/SOW terms
  • Act as main contact and facilitator for quality, compliance, internal/external audits and internal business processes
  • Liaise within R&D and across other groups (Global Procurement, R&D IT, Privacy and Security Officers, Corporate Compliance etc. to ensure vendor relationship is meeting all required policies and frameworks)
• Managers and leads team that includes current members of the R&D Contracts group and any additional vendor relationship managers (Vendor Ambassadors)
• Works closely with Global Procurement, Finance and Accounting to ensure that deliverables are received, and financials are correct and recorded appropriately; point person for any audits into Biogen’s relationship (how we work with the vendor) and workings with outsourced partner
• Part of team(s) in the RFI/RFP process and selection of new cross-functional, strategic R&D vendors, taking lead as appropriate to represent the broader R&D organization and to ensure alignment with R&D vendor and operational strategies
• Act as the single point of contact within Biogen for functions external to R&D interested in using an R&D vendor or needing help with escalations within their current contract

Qualifications

You have strong project management, communication, collaboration, and organizational skills. You have demonstrated the ability to drive risk management, mitigation and provlem solving.

• Bachelor's degree
• A minimum of 8-10 years pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry experience
• Extensive experience leading relationships with outsourced partners
• Extensive experience managing and resolving disputes, escalating as necessary both internally and with the partner
• Strong working knowledge of vendor contracts
• Ability to influence without authority and operate in a matrixed environment
• Ability to successfully implement change management and lead others through change
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving and troubleshooting abilities

• Advanced Degree

Additional Information

Our mission to find therapies for neurological and rare diseases is a unique focus within our industry and this shared purpose is what connects us as a team. We work together to overcome obstacles and to follow the science. We are resilient as we strive to make an impact on our patients’ lives and on changing the course of medicine. Together, we pioneer. Together, we thrive.