Associate Director - Procurement - Lilly Medicine Foundry

At Lilly, we unite caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We are a global healthcare leader headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our employees around the world work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to our communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. We give our best effort to our work, and we put people first. We’re looking for people who are determined to make life better for people around the world.

Lilly recently announced a $4.5 billion investment to create the Lilly Medicine Foundry, a new center for advanced manufacturing and drug development. The first-ever facility of its kind, combining research and manufacturing in a single location, the Medicine Foundry will allow Lilly to further develop innovative solutions to optimize manufacturing processes and increase capacity for clinical trial medicines, while also reducing costs and environmental impact.

This position will initially support site readiness from a procurement perspective including the coordination of key procurement activities and the establishment of vendor/supplier relationships. The role will transition to be responsible for ongoing procurement activities once the site is operational. During the construction phase, this role will be based at the Lilly Technology Center – North and later move to the Foundry in Lebanon, Indiana once the facility is ready.

Do you have an entrepreneurial, self-starter mind set? Consider joining this dynamic team embarking on groundbreaking efforts to reach patients faster!

Key Objectives/Results

• Develop strong understanding of the site and ensure that the procurement strategy aligns with the Foundry’s objectives. Communicate consistently with site leadership to ensure this alignment is maintained.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with Lilly’s Global Procurement organization as well as counterparts at Lilly manufacturing sites.
• Establish and cultivate relationships with local site suppliers (including negotiations) while integrating global suppliers into the site’s supply chain.
• Support Lilly’s supplier diversity initiatives.
• Establish, maintain, and update master supply agreements for which the Lilly Medicine Foundry is the lead site or key influencer. Apply expertise and guidance from Global Procurement and align with global strategies.
• Lead supplier relations management activities for strategic third-party suppliers. Drive action items, resolve issues, and continuous improvement initiatives with suppliers.
• Seek out and implement quality, reliability, efficiency, and cost savings projects with suppliers. Consolidate and present gathered and forecasted site savings, in agreement with Global Procurement methodology.
• Make and/or support decisions regarding quality of materials/suppliers and settlement of material/supplier issues, while maintaining high-quality supplier relations.
• Conduct benchmarking analysis to evaluate market landscape for supported categories.
• Work with Global Procurement and Site Finance to establish strong arguments for the formation of new supplier relationships and for the establishment of new service lines with existing suppliers.
• Form and maintain close working relationships with demand planners and buyers as appropriate to ensure supply continuity, security, integrity while optimizing processes and minimizing waste, and accurate materials data (e.g., safety stock needs, pricing).
• Ensure compliance with Lilly procurement and financial policies and procedures, and regulatory commitments.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in business, engineering, or similar field.
• 5 or more years of experience in supply chain, manufacturing, R&D, and/or procurement related functions.
• Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Lilly will not provide support for or sponsor work authorization and/or visas for this role.

Additional Preferences

• MBA
• Green or Black Belt training
• Experience working in a regulated environment
• Previous project management and vendor negotiation experience
• Ability to work autonomously, prioritize responsibilities, and be oriented toward action.
• Independent decision maker with ability to influence diverse organizations, both internally and externally.
• Strong teamwork, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to adapt to continual change within a startup environment.

Other Information:

• Initial location at Lilly Technology Center, Indianapolis throughout 2025, 2026. 
• Permanent locatio