About Autolus

Autolus is a biopharmaceutical company, advancing innovative therapies at both clinical and commercial stages of development, focused on next-generation, programmed T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. Using a broad suite of proprietary and modular T cell programming technologies, the company is engineering precisely targeted, controlled, and highly active T cell therapies designed to better recognize cancer cells, break down their defence mechanisms, and eliminate these cells. Autolus has a pipeline of product candidates in development for the treatment of haematological malignancies, solid tumours, and autoimmune diseases.

Why Autolus

Our team is passionate in the pursuit of excellence and in pushing the boundaries of cancer therapy and autoimmune diseases to deliver life-changing treatments to patients. Whilst working at Autolus you will enjoy a flexible, diverse, and dynamic working environment which actively promotes creativity, leadership and teamwork. In addition to this Autolus is proud to offer a competitive salary, performance related bonus as well as private medical insurance, life assurance and pension.

Our Promise

Autolus is developing complex, breakthrough therapies for a globally diverse market and equally recognises that diversity amongst our people is critical to our mission. As we draw on our differences, what we’ve experienced, and how we work, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Role Summary

Reporting to the Global Head of Procurement the Senior Director, Category Management has a broad span of control and is the category expert accountable for leading the development and management of a cluster of categories for a function e.g., Research & Development, Medical Affairs trials, Translational Medicine.

The individual has overall accountability for delivering category initiatives / projects, Critical Supplier Management and Stakeholder Management for the function. The Category Manager will develop long-term business strategies aligned with key stakeholders, with spend under management typically > £40m. The individual is accountable for managing critical supplier agreements, strategic sourcing, monitoring, and evaluating and improving supplier performance, developing the supplier base, and conducting research to support the category strategy.

Through the rigorous application of Category Management tools, techniques, processes, and systems the Category Management Senior Director will deliver operational and financial value to the business in line with agreed functional and business goals. In addition, they will take personal ownership to lead large and/or complex commercial category and strategic sourcing projects, plus provide subject matter expertise for other supply and contractual arrangements as required. This includes taking hands on accountability to ensure there is an appropriate Supplier Relationship Management framework in place for all suppliers within their category to ensure supplier performance, compliance, and value realization.

The position will provide financial and business analysis (e.g., Data mining of Procurement and Financial Systems, output analysis and interpretation), supporting external global market intelligence for their category area and acting as the focal point for category subject matter expertise to the global business and procurement community to proactively generate operational and financial opportunities for the business while appropriately managing risk and quality.

This is a business facing hands on role, interacting across multiple business functions and levels of seniority.

Key Responsibilities

• Develops and drives simple high impact category strategies with corresponding execution plans to generate financial & operational value, achieve savings and performance targets.
• Has overall accountability for category strategy management to support business partner goals and objectives
• May lead complex change programs including business transformation, facilitating Make/Buy and Core/Non-Core business discussions at leadership levels
• Executes category strategies, related projects and initiatives to ensure full value realisation
• Leads the Supplier Relationship Management program for assigned category
• Contract lifecycle management for key contracts to ensure they are optimised for commercial needs
• Analyse category spend management opportunities and deploy appropriate strategic plans
• Establish, lead, and support cross functional strategic sourcing teams.
• Collaborates with key stakeholders to understand business priorities and identify how Procurement can optimally partner to support business partner objectives
• Accountable for managing critical supplier agreements including new sources within given categories/commodities, critical renewals, negotiation of terms, issue identification, tracking and resolution
• Negotiate high-level complex contracts while delivering world-class results
• Develops successful partnerships with key business partners to achieve desired results
• Mentors and develops Procurement & Category Management best practices through line management and/or matrix leadership
• Conducts research to understand the supply market trends and risks, applying relevant knowledge within Autolus, as appropriate
• Collaborates effectively with Procurement Operations to ensure alignment and compliance of category strategy and projects with Capex and Opex P2P processes and policies
• Collaborates with key business partners to ensure a comprehensive understanding of business requirements and that these are factored into all strategic sourcing projects
• Expert at strategic sourcing and supplier negotiation
• Continuously identifies and implements strategies and improvement initiatives to reduce cost, improve quality and result in a lower total cost of ownership
• Will support the Global Head of Procurement to set & achieve supplier diversity goals for managed categories, as required
• Develops forecasts and implementation plans to ensure category strategy goals are achieved
• Continuously evaluates supplier performance and creates and leads teams to improve supplier performance as necessary
• Develops deep knowledge and experience in the category
• Contributes to the development of project plans and key deliverables
• Lead risk management efforts for assigned categories
• Deliver presentations and recommendations to Executive Leadership
• Understand business impacts and align with stakeholders to effectively assess risk levels, manage supply continuity, develop contingency plans and establish risk management and mitigation strategies

Demonstrated skills and competencies

E – Essential

P – Preferred

Experience

• (E) Significant strategic and operational procurement experience with a solid knowledge of category management tools, processes, and systems
• (E) Track record of development and delivery of high impact category strategies and related strategic sourcing projects
• (E) Leadership experience, delivering complex change projects
• (E) Results-oriented mindset
• (E) Proven track record to deliver results and achieve goals
• (E) Demonstrated ability to develop effective working relationships with others, especially in matrix leadership positions
• (E) Experience managing critical suppliers and associated contractual agreements
• (E) Experience successfully leading cross-functional teams
• (E) Ability to build support and consensus
• (E) Proven financial and business acumen
• (P) Knowledge in financial analysis & modelling (e.g., TCO, TEI, NPV & Cost Modelling)
• (P) Knowledgeable in outsourcing/insourcing models & concepts e.g., Captive, Build Operate Transfer, Managed Service, Business Process Outsourcing, Functional & Full-Service concepts
• (P) Experience in leading international projects
• (P) Experience of Management Consulting and/or facilitating complex business change e.g., M&A, Integrations, business transformation

Qualifications

• (E) Bachelor’s degree in a business-related field, or equivalent
• (P) Post graduate business-related qualification such as MBA
• (P) CPSM, CIPS or other related professional procurement certification

Skills/Specialist knowledge

• Expert knowledge of supply base, respected industry leader in categories managed e.g. Research Services, Interventional & Non Interventional clinical trial execution & related operations functions
• Expert in category management and key process : Strategic Sourcing, Demand Management, Process Improvement, Supplier Relationship Management
• Ability to negotiate complex and critical agreements with suppliers
• Current knowledge of leading supply chain practices and benchmarks
• Able to identify and innovate solutions to ensure business agility and create competitive advantage for Autolus
• Analytical thinking & proven financial acumen
• Proven leadership track record
• Creating, maintaining, and enhancing critical internal stakeholder relationships
• Team orientated, track record of developing people and teams
• Outstanding communication and collaboration skills, able to engage stakeholders at all levels
• Strategic thinker with solid facilitation ability supported by excellent interpersonal competencies (communication, leadership, influencing)
• Proven Project management capabilities
• Ability to deal with ambiguity and complexity
• Change management and process improvement skills with direct experience in delivering business process change
• Proven capability in complex negotiation, conflict resolution and stakeholder management
• Able to manage effectively in a global, fluid, interactive, matrix environment
• Skilled and experienced in project and risk management
• Expert proficiency in basic MS Office© software: Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, Project etc.