Senior Manager, Global Procurement - Contract Manufacturing (CMO)

This is what you will do:

The Senior Manager, Global Procurement - Contract Manufacturing (CMO) is responsible for leading procurement strategy, CMO selection, commercial negotiations, and relationship management across Alexion's global external manufacturing network.

This role serves as a key commercial partner to External Manufacturing & Operations, Technical Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Regulatory, Finance, and Commercial teams to ensure Alexion has a robust, scalable, and cost-effective Contract Manufacturing Organisation (CMO) network capable of supporting late-stage development, launch readiness, and commercial supply requirements.

The successful candidate will bring deep experience working directly with biologics CMOs and external manufacturing partners, including CMO selection, contracting, commercial negotiations, capacity management, business issue resolution, and strategic CMO relationship management across biologic drug substance, drug product, and finished product manufacturing.

The role will help shape long-term external manufacturing strategy through market intelligence, CMO benchmarking, network optimisation, capacity planning, risk mitigation, and commercial partnership development while driving operational excellence, value delivery, supply continuity, and resilience across the external manufacturing network.

You will be responsible for:

Procurement Leadership & CMO Management

· Lead strategic procurement activities across Alexion's external manufacturing network, serving as the primary commercial lead for key CMO partnerships.

· Drive CMO identification, evaluation, selection, contracting, and commercial onboarding activities, supporting biologic drug substance, drug product, and finished product manufacturing requirements.

· Lead end-to-end sourcing processes including EOI, RFI, RFP, RFQ, CMO assessments, commercial evaluations, negotiations, and contract awards.

· Negotiate and execute complex commercial agreements including CDAs, MSAs, pricing agreements, capacity reservations, manufacturing services agreements, and statements of work.

· Develop and maintain strategic relationships with executive stakeholders across key CMO partners to support supply continuity, issue resolution, and long-term business objectives.

· Monitor external manufacturing market trends, capacity constraints, emerging technologies, and supplier capabilities to support network strategy and supplier diversification initiatives.

Financial & Value Delivery

· Drive total cost of ownership optimisation through cost modelling, negotiation, benchmarking, demand consolidation, and value identification.

· Lead savings, cost reduction, cost avoidance, and broader value delivery initiatives in support of procurement and business targets.

· Support business cases and decision-making through commercial insight, financial analysis, and market data.

· Use digital, data-driven, and AI-enabled approaches to improve sourcing effectiveness, decision quality, and procurement efficiency.

External Manufacturing Strategy & Business Partnership

· Partner closely with External Manufacturing & Operations (E&MO) teams to shape external network strategy and manufacturing sourcing decisions.

· Support make-versus-buy assessments, network design decisions, site-selection activities, technology transfers, launch readiness programs, and commercial supply strategies.

· Evaluate CMO capabilities, capacity availability, geographic risk, financial health, quality performance, and commercial competitiveness to support informed business decisions.

· Influence senior stakeholders across technical, operational, quality, and commercial functions to align sourcing strategies with business priorities.

You will need to have:

· Significant experience managing Contract Manufacturing Organisations (CMOs) within the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry.

· Demonstrated experience leading CMO sourcing, CMO selection, contract negotiation, and commercial relationship management activities.

· Experience supporting biologics, drug substance, drug product, and/or finished product manufacturing within GMP-regulated environments.

· Proven success negotiating complex commercial agreements with external manufacturing partners and resolving CMO-related business issues.

· Experience supporting commercial products, launch readiness activities, and late-stage development programs through external manufacturing networks.

· Strong understanding of pharmaceutical manufacturing operations, supply chain management, quality systems, and regulatory requirements.

· Experience working within highly matrixed global organisations and influencing senior stakeholders.

· Strong financial acumen with experience in cost modelling, CMO benchmarking, and value delivery initiatives.

· Ability to travel up to 10%.

We would prefer for you to have:

· Direct experience managing commercial relationships with global biologics CMOs.

· Experience supporting CMO site selection, network expansion, technology transfers, and manufacturing scale-up activities.

· Experience developing external manufacturing network strategies for commercial and late-stage clinical products.

· Previous responsibility for large-scale external manufacturing spend categories.

· Experience supporting supply agreements within biologics, rare disease, or specialty pharmaceutical organisations.

· A Bachelor’s degree in Science, Business, Procurement, or a related discipline.

Date Posted

22-Jul-2026

Closing Date

04-Aug-2026

Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates to perform at their best. If you have a need for any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.