Director of Procurement and Sourcing

• This position is currently based in our Cambridge, MA office. Please note that our offices will be relocating to Waltham, MA later this year, and this role will transition accordingly. We follow a flexible, “magnet not mandate” approach to in-office work, encouraging collaboration and onsite engagement while supporting hybrid flexibility based on role and business needs.*

Nearly 37 million Americans are currently affected by Chronic Kidney Disease. 37 million. At Akebia we take that number very seriously and every day we come to work, with the purpose of bettering the lives of each person impacted by kidney disease and the renal community that serves them.

Our tenacious, passionate employees’ challenge the status quo and work to develop unique therapeutics that have the potential to set new standards of care for people living with kidney disease.

This is life-changing work, and we are all in, are you?

# Director of Procurement andSourcing

• *Job Summary:**

Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, this role is responsible for leading, enhancing, and overseeing all aspects of the requisition-to-pay processes and sourcing. The role will support Akebia’s research activities, including on-going clinical trial activities, as well as ongoing commercialization of the company’s two approved products. This includes managing Akebia’s global contracting process and negotiating contracts, including vendor purchase agreements, MSAs, SOWs, license agreements and NDAs. The role will entail overseeing the continued enhancement and execution of tools and systems to support all functions with sourcing, negotiating, reviewing, and executing contracts and procurement transactions to meet the needs of the organization and drive continuous improvement. He/she will lead the organizational evolution by addressing gaps in core capabilities and associated process and technology/systems upgrades, as appropriate. The leader will work closely with departments across the organization.

• *Essential Duties & Responsibilities**

Organizational and Leadership

• Lead the Procurement and Sourcing organizational structure to support the current and future needs of the company.
• Work with ET/LT to improve and enhance procurement function
• Draft, review, revise and negotiate a wide variety of contracts with customers and suppliers.
• Lead contract negotiations, liaising with relevant department leaders as appropriate; support and advise internal clients.
• Analyze contract risk – highlight and communicate business and financial risks/considerations during contract negotiation process.
• Maintain tracking systems to provide stratus report on pending contracts; track and report various requisition-to-pay turnaround times.
• Enhance and streamline current procurement processes, in collaboration with Finance and Legal departments.
• In collaboration with Finance, ensure the execution of a seamless and efficient Requisition-to-Pay process in support of corporate financial reporting activities.

Sourcing

• Set the strategic and tactical direction for Strategic Sourcing and Procurement, aligned with the company’s goals and company policy.
• As a business partner, support all internal functions that have requirements to identify new and the most appropriate sources of supply.
• Drive the GMP Strategic Sourcing initiatives by engaging CMC and Supply Chain functions in addressing current and future needs; ensure compliance with GxP and regulatory requirements.
• Establish and execute category supply strategies, lead cross-functional sourcing and contract negotiations; examine and re-evaluate existing contracts, where appropriate.
• Leverage functional departments and oversee centralization of RFP and supplier selection process, driving the team towards timely decisions.
• Ensure appropriate communication, issues resolution, and involvement across functions, programs, and providers to create an atmosphere of joint accountability for cost control, quality delivery, and business relationships.
• Lead the supplier business review process and participate in the creation and implementation of Master Service Agreements driving best-in-class cost models and pricing.
• Lead cross-functional vendor management initiatives to drive improvement in the overall supplier performance.
• Work extensively with the Clinical Development and CMC functions in securing and managing preferred CRO’s and CMO’s, including dual manufacturers at competitive pricing.
• Develop and implement appropriate KPI’s to measure both supplier and functional effectiveness.

Procurement Operations

• Review and execute procurement transactions on behalf of all functions, including obtaining all necessary internal approvals to necessit