At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at jnj.com.

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Job Function:

Procurement

Job Sub Function:

Multi-Family Procurement

Job Category:

People Leader

All Job Posting Locations:

Beerse, Antwerp, Belgium

Job Description:

Director, IM R&D Procurement – CMC Product Development Category

Required location: Beerse, Belgium

Contract type: Full time, permanent

Role Purpose

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine is recruiting for a Director, IM R&D Procurement – CMC Product Development Category, located in Beerse, Belgium.

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personalized. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver tomorrow’s breakthroughs and profoundly impact health for humanity.

The Director, IM R&D Procurement – CMC Product Development Category is a senior procurement leadership role responsible for developing and executing global category strategies supporting Clinical Manufacturing and CMC Product Development across the Innovative Medicine portfolio. This leader will drive value through strategic supplier relationships, robust market intelligence, supplier innovation, risk management, and category governance while supporting development programs from early-stage development through launch readiness.

This role requires an experienced procurement professional with deep expertise in strategic sourcing, supplier management, pharmaceutical development, and external manufacturing networks. The successful candidate will serve as a trusted advisor to senior business leaders while shaping supplier ecosystems that accelerate innovation, enhance operational performance, and support business growth objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Category Strategy and Leadership

• Develop and lead global category strategies supporting CMC Product Development and Clinical Manufacturing activities across all Innovative Medicine modalities.
• Own category strategy development and execution for services including Drug Substance, Drug Product, Process Development, Analytical Development & Testing, GMP Manufacturing, External Development Manufacturing, Technology Transfer, Scale-Up Activities, and Clinical Supply Manufacturing Support.
• Establish long-range category plans aligned with Innovative Medicine portfolio priorities, development pipelines, and business strategies.
• Continuously assess market dynamics, supplier capabilities, emerging technologies, and industry trends to ensure category strategies remain competitive and forward-looking.
• Drive category governance, decision-making frameworks, and performance management processes across key spend areas.

Supplier Relationship Management

• Develop and manage strategic supplier relationships to maximize innovation, quality, delivery performance, cost competitiveness, and business value.
• Lead executive-level supplier engagement and governance with key external partners.
• Identify and implement Supplier Enabled Innovation opportunities that support product development objectives and business priorities.
• Drive supplier segmentation strategies, performance management frameworks, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Establish robust risk management and business continuity strategies across critical supplier networks.

Business Partnership

• Serve as the strategic procurement partner to Therapeutics Development & Supply (TDS), CMC Product Development, Technical Operations, Clinical Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and R&D leadership teams.
• Influence senior business leaders regarding external market opportunities, supplier capabilities, innovation trends, and procurement strategies.
• Partner with business stakeholders to understand future portfolio requirements and translate these needs into category and supplier strategies.
• Support key development and launch milestones by aligning procurement strategies with business objectives and product lifecycle requirements.
• Provide strategic guidance on sourcing models, supplier partnerships, contracting strategies, and external manufacturing capabilities.

Value Creation and Financial Performance

• Deliver measurable financial value through strategic sourcing, productivity improvements, supplier collaboration, and category optimization initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to improve cost competitiveness while maintaining quality, compliance, innovation, and supply continuity.
• Lead benchmarking activities and competitive assessments to identify best practices and emerging opportunities.
• Develop and maintain a robust pipeline of value creation initiatives aligned with business needs.

Procurement Capability and Organizational Leadership

• Lead complex, cross-functional initiatives involving internal stakeholders and external supplier partners.
• Build strong relationships across Procurement, Finance, Legal, Quality, Technical Operations, and R&D organizations.
• Coach, develop, and mentor procurement professionals while fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Support advancement of category management capabilities and procurement excellence across the organization.
• Represent IM R&D Procurement within executive forums, governance structures, and strategic supplier engagements.

Requirements

Education

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent university qualification required. MBA, Master’s degree, or other advanced degree preferred.

Required Experience and Skills

• Fluency in English (written and oral) is required.
• Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, category management, supply chain, pharmaceutical development, or related functions.
• Demonstrated expertise in category strategy development and execution.
• Strong experience managing strategic supplier relationships and external partnerships.
• Experience supporting CMC, Product Development, Clinical Manufacturing, Technical Operations, or pharmaceutical supply chain environments.
• Proven ability to influence senior business leaders and drive cross-functional alignment.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to connect procurement strategies to business objectives.
• Experience leading complex negotiations and delivering measurable business value.
• Strong verbal, written, presentation, and executive communication skills.
• Demonstrated leadership, organizational change, and team development capabilities.
• Experience operating within highly regulated pharmaceutical or life sciences environments.

Preferred Experience and Skills

• Experience supporting Small Molecule, Biologics, Advanced Therapies, Cell & Gene Therapies, ADCs, Peptides, RNA-based therapies, and emerging modalities.
• Experience managing external manufacturing or development service categories.
• Demonstrated success driving supplier innovation and strategic partnerships.
• Experience working across global organizations and multicultural environments.
• Proven track record of building and developing high-performing teams.
• Experience leading large-scale transformation or category optimization initiatives.

Leadership Expectations

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Strong strategic thinking and external orientation.
• Executive presence and influencing capabilities.
• Ability to build trusted relationships with senior leaders and key suppliers.
• Commitment to talent development and organizational excellence.
• Strong collaboration and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Results-oriented leadership focused on innovation, value creation, and continuous improvement.
• Ability to lead through complexity, ambiguity, and organizational change.

 

 

Required Skills:

 

 

Preferred Skills:

Business Alignment, Business Data Analysis, Business Savvy, Category Management Strategy, Compliant Spend, Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA), Developing Others, Inclusive Leadership, Industry Analysis, Inventory Optimization, Leadership, Market Savvy, Negotiation, Performance Measurement, Predictive Modeling, Risk Management, Stakeholder Management, Supplier Collaboration, Sustainable Procurement, Vendor Management, Vendor Selection

  

 

The anticipated base pay range for this position is:

€119,200.00 - €204,355.00

 

 

Benefits:

In addition to base pay, we offer the following benefits*: an annual bonus with set target (% of pay) depending on pay grade / location, where the actual amount is based on the employees’ and companies’ performance of the previous calendar year, or sales commissions. Moreover, we offer vacation days, parental leave for a minimum of 12 weeks, bereavement leave, caregiver leave, volunteer leave, well-being reimbursement, programs for financial, physical and mental health. We also offer service anniversary and recognition awards, and subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees - and in some location’s eligible dependents - can participate in several insurance plans. For more information, visit Employee benefits | Supporting well-being & career growth | Johnson & Johnson Careers.

 

*This is for informative purposes only. Amounts and actual benefits may vary by location and are subject to change.